Maxthon ( and formerly known as
MyIE2) is a
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
-based
freewareFreeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee.The opposite of Freeware is Payware.-History:...
(more specifically donateware)
web browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
for
WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces...
. From its early MyIE2 roots, Maxthon has developed a growing user base, especially in China, and in 2006 it received commercial backing for Maxthon 2.0. Maxthon2 uses the
TridentTrident is the name of the layout engine for the Microsoft Windows version of Internet Explorer. It was first introduced with the release of Internet Explorer version 4.0 in October 1997; it has been steadily upgraded and remains in use today...
layout engine, like Microsoft's
Internet ExplorerWindows Internet Explorer , is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems starting in 1995...
, while Classic Maxthon (Maxthon 1.x) continues to support both Trident and the
GeckoGecko is a layout engine currently developed by Mozilla Corporation, known as the layout engine of the Firefox web browser, Mozilla Application Suite, Nvu, Mozilla Thunderbird and many more...
engine used in Firefox.
Maxthon ( and formerly known as
MyIE2) is a
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
-based
freewareFreeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee.The opposite of Freeware is Payware.-History:...
(more specifically donateware)
web browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
for
WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces...
. From its early MyIE2 roots, Maxthon has developed a growing user base, especially in China, and in 2006 it received commercial backing for Maxthon 2.0. Maxthon2 uses the
TridentTrident is the name of the layout engine for the Microsoft Windows version of Internet Explorer. It was first introduced with the release of Internet Explorer version 4.0 in October 1997; it has been steadily upgraded and remains in use today...
layout engine, like Microsoft's
Internet ExplorerWindows Internet Explorer , is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems starting in 1995...
, while Classic Maxthon (Maxthon 1.x) continues to support both Trident and the
GeckoGecko is a layout engine currently developed by Mozilla Corporation, known as the layout engine of the Firefox web browser, Mozilla Application Suite, Nvu, Mozilla Thunderbird and many more...
engine used in Firefox. Maxthon3, currently under alpha testing, supports Trident and the
WebkitWebKit is a layout engine designed to allow web browsers to render web pages. The WebKit engine provides a set of classes to display web content in windows, and implements browser features such as following links when clicked by the user, managing a back-forward list, and managing a history of...
engine.
Maxthon seeks to provide many rich features and a highly customizable
interfaceA graphical user interface is a type of user interface item that allows people to interact with programs in more ways than typing such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 Players, Portable Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment with images rather than...
, without losing any of the compatibility of Internet Explorer.
In January 2006, Maxthon developers partnered with
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices...
in its booth at the
Consumer Electronics ShowThe International Consumer Electronics Show is a non-public trade show held each January in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association. At the show, many previews of products are introduced, or new products are announced. The show is held at the Las Vegas...
.
Maxthon won its first WebWare 100 Award in 2005, and won the WebWare 100 Award also in 2008 and 2009.
Maxthon is reported to be the second most popular browser in China, and it has been downloaded more than 200 million times worldwide.
History
Maxthon was based on MyIE, originally created by Changyou, a Chinese programmer, who wanted to customize his Internet Explorer browser. Changyou posted most of the code onto his
BBSA Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
, before leaving the project in 2000. Jeff Chen continued development and released a new version, called MyIE2. MyIE2 grew quickly, with contributions from users around the world in areas including
pluginIn computing, a plug-in consists of a computer program that interacts with a host application to provide a certain, usually very specific, function "on demand"...
s,
skinsIn computing, skins may be associated with themes as custom graphical appearances that can be applied to specific software and websites to suit its the purpose or topic, or the tastes of different users....
and
debuggingDebugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware thus making it behave as expected...
.
MyIE2 was renamed to Maxthon in 2004. It received seed funding from the first
SkypeSkype is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and, in some countries, to free-of-charge numbers, are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee...
investor
Morten LundMorten Lund, is an entrepreneur from Copenhagen, Denmark. Along with Soren Kenner, Lund is founder and managing partner of LundKenner, a venture capital firm focusing on technology ventures...
, and WI Harper Group in 2005. In 2006 Maxthon received further investment from the US-based
venture capitalVenture capital is a type of private equity capital typically provided for early-stage, high-potential, growth companies in the interest of generating a return through an eventual realization event such as an IPO or trade sale of the company...
firm Charles River Ventures.
On April 10, 2007, it was reported that
GoogleGoogle Inc. is an American public corporation, earning revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, social networking, and video sharing services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the same technologies. Google has also...
had invested at least US$1 million in Maxthon; this was denied the following day by Chen. However, in an interview with Chinese
portalA web portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. Apart from the standard search engine feature, web portals offer other services such as e-mail, news, stock prices, information, databases and entertainment...
Sina.comSina.com is the largest Chinese-language infotainment web portal. It is run by SINA Corporation which was founded in 1999. The company was founded in Mainland China, and its global financial headquarters have been based in Shanghai since October 1, 2001....
, Chen did not rule out future "co-operation" between the two businesses.
Features
- Tabbed document interface
In the area of graphical user interfaces, a tabbed document interface is one that allows multiple documents to be contained within a single window, using tabs to navigate between them...
- Saves open tabs in case of program shutdown or system crash
A crash or in computing is a condition where a program stops performing its expected function and also stops responding to other parts of the system. Often the offending program may simply appear to freeze...
- Undo
Undo is a command in many computer programs. It erases the last change done to the document reverting it to an older state. In some more advanced programs such as graphic processing, undo will negate the last command done to the file being edited....
for any tabs accidentally closed
- AD Hunter - an advert-blocking utility that blocks pop-ups
Pop-up ads or pop-ups are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to attract web traffic or capture email addresses. It works when certain web sites open a new web browser window to display advertisements...
, bannersA web banner or banner ad is a form of advertising on the World Wide Web. This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking to the website of the advertiser...
, and floating ads in webpages
- Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform originally acquired by Macromedia and currently developed and distributed by Adobe Systems. Since its introduction in 1996, Flash has become a popular method for adding animation and interactivity to web pages...
, Java appletA Java applet is an applet delivered to the users in the form of Java bytecode. Java applets can run in a Web browser using a Java Virtual Machine , or in Sun's AppletViewer, a stand-alone tool for testing applets. Java applets were introduced in the first version of the Java language in 1995...
and ActiveXObject Linking and Embedding is a technology that allows embedding and linking to documents and other objects developed by Microsoft. For developers, it brought OLE Control eXtension , a way to develop and use custom user interface elements...
blocker
- Skinnable
In computing, skins may be associated with themes as custom graphical appearances that can be applied to specific software and websites to suit its the purpose or topic, or the tastes of different users....
- Customizable tabs and interface
- Programmable mouse gesture
In computing, a mouse gesture is a way of combining computer mouse movements and clicks which the software recognizes as a specific command. Mouse gestures can provide quick access to common functions of a program. They can also be useful for people who have difficulties typing on a keyboard...
s
- External utility bar - toolbar that allows you to open third-party programs
- RSS reader
In general internet terms, a news aggregation website is a website where headlines are collected, usually manually, by the website owner. Examples of this sort of website are the Drudge Report, and the Huffington Post...
- Supports many Internet Explorer plugin
In computing, a plug-in consists of a computer program that interacts with a host application to provide a certain, usually very specific, function "on demand"...
s as well as plugins of its own
- Partial Gecko engine
Gecko is a layout engine currently developed by Mozilla Corporation, known as the layout engine of the Firefox web browser, Mozilla Application Suite, Nvu, Mozilla Thunderbird and many more...
support with the use of a third-party program
- A search toolbar with 8 different search engines (user extendable)
- Automatic updating service
- Groups - the ability to bookmark & open multiple pages simultaneously
- URL aliases - open URLs by just typing a word in the address bar
- Simple collector - a small notepad-like utility, used to collect any text from webpages. You can write scripts in it and run them in the current webpage
- Integrated web services - user extendable, but by default includes translators, Google's cached version of pages, Whois and anonymous web proxies
Version 1.x
The original Maxthon 1 series is still maintained and available for download on the official Maxthon site as Maxthon Classic.
http://www.maxthon.com/download.htm#classic
The web site provides a brief summary of the features included and compares the 1 series to the newer 2 series:
- "Classic Version Features: Use less system resources, more stable, better compatibility, Mouse Gesture, Super Drag&Drop, Ad Hunter, Undo List, Simple Skin Support, Plugins Support..."
The latest release of the Classic Version is 1.6.5.18 and is currently available for download on the official website. This updated version has been tested and found to function properly with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 on Microsoft Windows XP Home, XP Professional, all releases of Windows Vista and the 7000 build on what is currently referred to as Microsoft Windows 7 Beta.
There are a number of addons available for Maxthon Classic on their dedicated addon site
http://addons.maxthon.com/en_US and even more are available on their discussion forums.
http://forum.maxthon.com/index.php Specific threads may provide direct download links as well.
http://forum.maxthon.com/viewthread.php?tid=74784&extra=page%3D1 It should be noted that some addons are build specific, but when that is the case, a clear indication of compatibility can often be found.
http://forum.maxthon.com/viewthread.php?tid=74784 Downloads of earlier releases are available for testing and/or general use should issues with the latest releases arise.
Version 2.x
The latest release version of Maxthon 2.5.1 is currently available for download on the official website.
New features in versions 2.x include
http://maxthon.neo101.nl/featureguide/maxthon2newFeatures.html:
- New layout
- New customization options
- New default icons
- Maxthon Security Updates
- Multi-user support
- Content blocker
- Improved Performance & Stability
- Maxthon Smart Accelerator
- Magic Fill
- Link validator
- Improved favicon support
- Improved favorite search
- Favorite + Feed manager
- Automatic online favorite & feed synchronization
- Page find tool
- Plugin installer
- Plugin + Skin updater
- Improved proxy support
- Tab manager
- Frameless mode
- New Configuration Interface
- Anti-Freeze
Full
changelogs for 2.x versions
Future Versions
Maxthon's upcoming major version, 3.0, currently under alpha testing, will support two engines,
TridentTrident is the name of the layout engine for the Microsoft Windows version of Internet Explorer. It was first introduced with the release of Internet Explorer version 4.0 in October 1997; it has been steadily upgraded and remains in use today...
and
WebkitWebKit is a layout engine designed to allow web browsers to render web pages. The WebKit engine provides a set of classes to display web content in windows, and implements browser features such as following links when clicked by the user, managing a back-forward list, and managing a history of...
. Information and pictures of the new version have been released, showing that the browser will be able to quickly switch between several browsing modes, offering greater speed or standard compliance. The new version is also said to score 100/100 on the
Acid 3Acid3 is a test page from the Web Standards Project that checks how well a web browser follows certain selected elements from web standards, especially relating to the Document Object Model and JavaScript....
standard compliance test.
External links