Avant vs. Maxthon

[John Corliss]

I'm a little frustrated with Maxthon lately. There is really no help
file, and there seems to be several bugs for which I can't figure out
any workaround.

Has anybody enough experience using both browsers (actually overlays
for IE) to say which program is the better?

Avant: http://www.avantbrowser.com/
Maxthon: http://www.maxthon.com/en/index.htm

--
Regards from John Corliss
No adware, cdware, commercial software, crippleware, demoware,
nagware, shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses
or warez please.

Because Andy Mabbett is stalking me in this group, I have him killfiled.

 

[Doc]

I'm a little frustrated with Maxthon lately. There is really no help
file, and there seems to be several bugs for which I can't figure out
any workaround.

Has anybody enough experience using both browsers (actually overlays
for IE) to say which program is the better?

Avant: http://www.avantbrowser.com/
Maxthon: http://www.maxthon.com/en/index.htm

Maxthon's predecessor, MyIE2, is way more stable. I reverted.

 

[badgolferman]

I'm a little frustrated with Maxthon lately. There is really no help
file, and there seems to be several bugs for which I can't figure out
any workaround.

Has anybody enough experience using both browsers (actually overlays
for IE) to say which program is the better?

Avant: http://www.avantbrowser.com/
Maxthon: http://www.maxthon.com/en/index.htm

I finally plunged into the IE-based tabbed browsers with Avant 10 build
29. It works very nicely and I haven't experienced any bugs other than
the memory leak in the previous build which was corrected inside of a
week.

MyIE2/Maxthon didn't appeal to me the several times I tried it mostly
because of the Send Page feature and some configuration quirks I was
having. Avant seems to be more suited to me and it's the only tabbed
browser I've seen yet where the Send Page feature actually works.

 

[Chrissy Cruiser]

I'm a little frustrated with Maxthon lately. There is really no help
file, and there seems to be several bugs for which I can't figure out
any workaround.

You wouldn't listen to anybody, Genius, when told the MYIE was stable and
all that you would need but OHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOO, the Grape John Corliss
Knows All.
--
If you add up the name 'George Bush' in Hebrew letters it comes out:

G = 3 (gimel)
e = 5 (heh)
o = 70 (ayin)
r = 200 (resh)
g = 3 (gimel)
e = 5 (heh)
B = 2 (beth)
u = 70 (ayin)
s = 300 (shin)
h = 8 (cheth)
total = 666 (Antichrist)

 

[John Corliss]

Maxthon's predecessor, MyIE2, is way more stable. I reverted.

I've heard others say and do the same. So the scale leans more towards
Avant at this point.

--
Regards from John Corliss
No adware, cdware, commercial software, crippleware, demoware,
nagware, shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses
or warez please.

Because Andy Mabbett is stalking me in this group, I have him killfiled.

 

[John Corliss]

I finally plunged into the IE-based tabbed browsers with Avant 10 build
29. It works very nicely and I haven't experienced any bugs other than
the memory leak in the previous build which was corrected inside of a
week.

MyIE2/Maxthon didn't appeal to me the several times I tried it mostly
because of the Send Page feature and some configuration quirks I was
having. Avant seems to be more suited to me and it's the only tabbed
browser I've seen yet where the Send Page feature actually works.

About the only thing that puts me off of Avant from what I've read is
it's inclusion of the "built-in Yahoo/Google search engine". Don't see
any need for that, really. However, guess I'll give it a try. Thanks
for replying.

--
Regards from John Corliss
No adware, cdware, commercial software, crippleware, demoware,
nagware, shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses
or warez please.

Because Andy Mabbett is stalking me in this group, I have him killfiled.

 

[badgolferman]

About the only thing that puts me off of Avant from what I've read is

it's inclusion of the "built-in Yahoo/Google search engine". Don't see
any need for that, really. However, guess I'll give it a try. Thanks
for replying.

The Search bar can be disabled although it was useful with the many
search engine options it allowed. I have the regular Google toolbar
enabled instead.

 

[jo]

I've heard others say and do the same.

IIRC, the last MYIE2 build was an install file that felt bloaty compared
to earlier builds that were zipped no-installs.
I forget now which was the last MYIE2 build that I liked...

 

[John Corliss]

John Corliss wrote:




IIRC, the last MYIE2 build was an install file that felt bloaty compared
to earlier builds that were zipped no-installs.
I forget now which was the last MYIE2 build that I liked...

Thanks Jo. However, I've just finished installing and tweaking Avant
and find it preferable to Maxthon (at this point.)

--
Regards from John Corliss
No adware, cdware, commercial software, crippleware, demoware,
nagware, shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses
or warez please.

Because Andy Mabbett is stalking me in this group, I have him killfiled.

 

[John Corliss]

The Search bar can be disabled although it was useful with the many
search engine options it allowed. I have the regular Google toolbar
enabled instead.

Thanks. I've just finished installing and tweaking Avant and can see
now that this is the case. And I agree with you. What's nice too is
that it's not (as far as I can tell) a BHO either.

Maxthon insisted on closing other favorites folders when you opened a
new one. I prefer that it not do that and have it set not to do so in
Internet Explorer. Avant respects that setting unlike Maxthon.

As for any complaints, I have only a minor one so far and it's that
the tab bar is at at the bottom of the window. Do you know if there's
some way to move it to the top? I read the help file, but couldn't see
anything listed about it.


--
Regards from John Corliss
No adware, cdware, commercial software, crippleware, demoware,
nagware, shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses
or warez please.

Because Andy Mabbett is stalking me in this group, I have him killfiled.

 

[Phil]

As for any complaints, I have only a minor one so far and it's that
the tab bar is at at the bottom of the window. Do you know if there's
some way to move it to the top? I read the help file, but couldn't see
anything listed about it.

Make sure the toolbars are unlocked then just drag it up to where you want
it to go, much like Windows' quick launch bar, then lock the toolbars
again.

 

[Fuzzy Logic]

Thanks. I've just finished installing and tweaking Avant and can see
now that this is the case. And I agree with you. What's nice too is
that it's not (as far as I can tell) a BHO either.

Maxthon insisted on closing other favorites folders when you opened a
new one. I prefer that it not do that and have it set not to do so in
Internet Explorer. Avant respects that setting unlike Maxthon.

As for any complaints, I have only a minor one so far and it's that
the tab bar is at at the bottom of the window. Do you know if there's
some way to move it to the top? I read the help file, but couldn't see
anything listed about it.

It can be moved to the top (that's where I have it). Just make sure your
toolbars are unlocked and click on the vertical bar on the very left side of
the tab bar and drag it to where you want.

 

[Fuzzy Logic]

I'm a little frustrated with Maxthon lately. There is really no help
file, and there seems to be several bugs for which I can't figure out
any workaround.

Has anybody enough experience using both browsers (actually overlays
for IE) to say which program is the better?

Avant: http://www.avantbrowser.com/
Maxthon: http://www.maxthon.com/en/index.htm

I looked at both and in the end preffered Avant. They are very similar but I
found Avant more customizable. YMMV

 

[omega]

IIRC, the last MYIE2 build was an install file that felt bloaty compared
to earlier builds that were zipped no-installs.

The refusal to offer any no-install download choices is very annoying.

It's a self-contained program, settings stored in local ini. MyIE's only
reg writes would be user-added (say, if asked it to handle associations).

Avant, OTOH, is built to litter the environment. It forces one to store all
their settings files way off in the appdata directory, and gives no choice
there. It forces writes on the HKCR section of the registry (CLSIDs etc).
And that which may or may not still be the case with the latest version: It
puts its name into the header that will be sent out when you are browsing the
web with any MSIE-based web browser. As well, its installer added global menus
for its own self that would show up in one's other installed MSIE-based browsers.

I'm ignoring the offensively retarded - and destructive - behavior on registry
associations committed by earlier incarnations of Avant. I'm talking about
the latest version 10, about the way it is designed. I installed the ver 10
only for minutes, for purpose of learning whether its horrid registry disaster
was fixed. That part was fixed -- but its behavior to litter files off in the
appdata dir, and to do HKCR writes, it remains inherent design. (I'll append
to the end of my post a paste of the reg section of my install report, to
illustrate what I mean by its HKCR writes. Just note that it makes greater
sense for anyone interested to create their own logs, particularly for the
sake of covering any differences between one Avant release and another.)

It is Bloodchen's program which is refreshingly clean and standalone.

All this might be trivial or irrelevant for most users -- but for those
who do care about this kind of thing, impact on reg and external files,
then this part of the contest is not contest. MyIE/Maxthon beats Avant
by a million miles.

Of course, while Maxthon wins, it still gets demarked at least 20
penalty points for refusing to offer any distribution other than the

I forget now which was the last MYIE2 build that I liked...

I was happiest back somewhere around version 7x. Before the onset of the
nag-donation windows. And, before Bloodchen so broke my heart by eliminating
the one feature that mattered to me more than all the subsequently-added
features combined: the tabs counter in the status bar. :<


--
Karen S.

________________________________
Installation Report
Avant Browser Version 10
9.29.2004 7:43 AM

Keys added: 31
--------------
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MenuExt\Add to AD Black List
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MenuExt\Block All Images from the Same Server
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MenuExt\Open All Links in This Page...
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MenuExt\Search
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Siber Systems
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Siber Systems\RoboForm
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AvantBrowser.URLFilter
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AvantBrowser.URLFilter\Clsid
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AvantBrowser.WBHelper
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AvantBrowser.WBHelper\Clsid
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{211E947C-FAB5-44C8-BE37-FF6641B4F9CD}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{211E947C-FAB5-44C8-BE37-FF6641B4F9CD}\LocalServer32
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{211E947C-FAB5-44C8-BE37-FF6641B4F9CD}\ProgID
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{211E947C-FAB5-44C8-BE37-FF6641B4F9CD}\TypeLib
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{211E947C-FAB5-44C8-BE37-FF6641B4F9CD}\Version
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{6CDCF6A3-08F2-4D9C-AF94-9300DCB167B0}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{6CDCF6A3-08F2-4D9C-AF94-9300DCB167B0}\LocalServer32
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{6CDCF6A3-08F2-4D9C-AF94-9300DCB167B0}\ProgID
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{6CDCF6A3-08F2-4D9C-AF94-9300DCB167B0}\TypeLib
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{6CDCF6A3-08F2-4D9C-AF94-9300DCB167B0}\Version
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{D548C17A-2B3A-46DB-BC3F-5C55F73F1E75}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{D548C17A-2B3A-46DB-BC3F-5C55F73F1E75}\ProxyStubClsid
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{D548C17A-2B3A-46DB-BC3F-5C55F73F1E75}\ProxyStubClsid32
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{D548C17A-2B3A-46DB-BC3F-5C55F73F1E75}\TypeLib
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{A54B1FB7-5428-4353-8DE6-256598676AAA}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{A54B1FB7-5428-4353-8DE6-256598676AAA}\1.0
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{A54B1FB7-5428-4353-8DE6-256598676AAA}\1.0\0
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{A54B1FB7-5428-4353-8DE6-256598676AAA}\1.0\0\win32
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{A54B1FB7-5428-4353-8DE6-256598676AAA}\1.0\FLAGS
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{A54B1FB7-5428-4353-8DE6-256598676AAA}\1.0\HELPDIR
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AvantBrowser
[...]

 

[omega]

IIRC, the last MYIE2 build was an install file that felt bloaty compared
to earlier builds that were zipped no-installs.

I hadn't installed the Maxthon build yet, had still been running MyIE.
Just now looked in my Bloodchen zip folder, and found a Maxthon setup zip
from a few months back. And I think I might have to turn my position around
and sorta kinda defend the distribution form.

That file (the minimal download one at least, of the two types offered),
it was a self extracting zip. So the folder was pre-built. First launch,
a setup choice dialog came up. It asked me to choose which plugins I want.

One of those is those choices is the adware UCMore thing. I have the belief,
after thinking it over, that UCMore is the reason that MyIE/Maxthon is not
distributed in a no-install form. Bloodchen must definitely have a contract
with UCMore where he is paid to include that in all his downloads.

Since you can say "no" right at the door (and UCMore is not serious malware,
anyway, just something undesirable from privacy and etc angle), I do not
complain. Bloodchen gets some monetary compensation from our downloading,
without our having had to install the UCMore thing.

 

[Mike Andrade]

Both of them suck big time.

 

[Susan Bugher]

Since you can say "no" right at the door (and UCMore is not serious malware,
anyway, just something undesirable from privacy and etc angle), I do not
complain. Bloodchen gets some monetary compensation from our downloading,
without our having had to install the UCMore thing.

I did a little googling:

http://www.websearchguide.ca/netblog/archives/001896.html

<q>
February 17, 2004
UCMore Toolbar is not spyware

UCmore Search Engine Tool Cleans Up Image Search Engine Marketing (Feb
16) - UCMore is a search companion utility that can recommend sites
based on the one you are viewing - similar to Alexa. Anti-spyware
products usually identify it as spyware. But UCMore, according to this
entry, has been accepted by a couple of the watchdog anti-spyware
organizations.
</q>

http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/UCmore.html

<partial quote>
Privacy violation

In v3: URLs opened are posted to the servers at users.ucmore.com
together with a unique ID.

In v4, no: there is no tracking ID.
</q>

Susan

 

[Tim Weaver]

omega wrote:

I was happiest back somewhere around version 7x. Before the onset of the
nag-donation windows. And, before Bloodchen so broke my heart by
eliminating the one feature that mattered to me more than all the
subsequently-added features combined: the tabs counter in the status
bar. :<

Why did you like the tabs counter feature so much?

("Because I'm a geek" doesn't count.)

 

[omega]

Why did you like the tabs counter feature so much?

("Because I'm a geek" doesn't count.)

How about, "Because I'm a greedy, compulsive geek" ?

I liked to have project groups that would often get into the range of 70+
tabs, and that was a good ceiling. And, max on my w98 resources allowance
was about 110 tabs. So I need to know when I'm passing the ~70 range.

On a web search project, then I especially watch my tabs counter. I consider
that I have got the bulk of the info on the subject query handled once
I've brought things down to under ~30 pages. When I've brought it down to
under say ~20, where I've saved the fullest or most useful pages, into a
set of "favorites groups," that's the count where I feel things are at the
level I was aiming for.

The tabs counter served me very usefully in different projects involving
web information. I was dependent on it in a central way, kind of the same
way we're regularly looking at the clock during various projects.

Eh, but Bloodchen utterly ignored my plight (and others who valued the tabs
counter as well).

 

[omega]

http://www.websearchguide.ca/netblog/archives/001896.html

<q>
February 17, 2004
UCMore Toolbar is not spyware

UCmore Search Engine Tool Cleans Up Image Search Engine Marketing (Feb
16) - UCMore is a search companion utility that can recommend sites
based on the one you are viewing - similar to Alexa. Anti-spyware
products usually identify it as spyware. But UCMore, according to this
entry, has been accepted by a couple of the watchdog anti-spyware
organizations.
</q>

http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/UCmore.html

<partial quote>
Privacy violation

In v3: URLs opened are posted to the servers at users.ucmore.com
together with a unique ID.

In v4, no: there is no tracking ID.
</q>

I was not aware of that change. Thank you for the information.
Also useful for any who might be interested in reconsidering trying
out the UCMore add-on.