Browse this! Es lo Maxtheon! So many browsers, so little time, so little incentive to change...  I’ve tried a variety of different browsers over the years, and overall I’ve wanted a better browsing experience, but time after time I keep falling back to IE. Mind you that this was not due to superior feature, usability, reliability; rather it was just there… always.  Furthermore, it always seemed that whenever I installed or tired a new browser, some problem or issue would arise, so I’d end up loosing all the benefits of another browser.

Not wanting to spend hours troubleshooting, I simply uninstalled any new browser that gave me attitude and just kept using IE, which was somewhat reliable but at least predictable.  

As to the question of website content, IE has always done a decent job, mostly because all sites are tested for IE, while other browsers are ignored... not to mention the various ActiveX components and other site particular goodies that only seem to work for IE.

So one day I stumble upon the Maxthon browser… it’s the best of both worlds.  Maxthon uses the IE engine, which means that all the sites I know and love look and more importantly act the same… it even shares (not imports) the favorites/bookmarks, but has some really great added features that make it soooooo worthwhile, those being:

• Tabbed browsing – This is the most important feature, which allows you to have as many windows open at once, without actually having tons of browsers open (and it seems to take up less resources).


• Groups – like your favorites, this feature simply lets you store websites in, well, groups.  Yes, I know you can create folders in your bookmarks, but trust me this is much better, as I’ve found that when doing research, you like to have all related materials in a single place, and thus this lets you open all at once (or not) and just seems to be far more intuitive to use than bookmark folders.


• Space saver (or at least my name for the this nifty function) – by simply pressing “Alt + ~” the Maxthon browser ‘disappears’ into the little icon area of your desktop, out of your way until you press the magic buttons again and poof… its back and ready for action.


• Resume – ever be working/researching/surfing and then ended up with a great bunch of windows open that perhaps you did not necessarily want to save, but also did not want to loose?  If so, you’ll be happy to know that when closing, Maxthon will actually ask you if you would like to resume with the same websites next time you open it up. It will also allow you to save them into a group if you prefer, or both if it floats your fancy.


• Other – yes there is more, much more in fact, but the truth is that if you are not convinced by now, there is not really much point in continuing, as the rest of the other features are great but more goodies than deal makers…. Nonetheless, here is a quick list of other feature (for a complete list visit the Maxthon feature list):


• Mouse Gestures


• Super Drag&Drop


• Privacy Protection


• AD Hunter


• RSS Reader  -  GREAT FEATURE!


• IE Extensions Support


• External Utility Bar


• Skinning

In conclusion, if your unhappy with your browser, its worth upgrading… if your happy with your browser, its worth upgrading… and if your afraid of commitment… don’t be, you can always keep both side by side.

Hope to have helped.

/ps



  ¶ 9/02/2005 02:32:00 PM