Brenda wrote:

><<Maxthon's website looks good, but will everything work if I discontinue
>using IE?  Is there some way to remove IE or is it just better to leave it
>alone?>>


A tabbed browser is one which opens new links within the one instance of
the browser, with tabs along the bottom of the page, just like the
taskbar.  The advantages of this are two-fold:

1. Using IE in its original form, you are opening the whole browser program
several times over as you browse to each new site. This will very quickly
use up all your memory. With a tabbed browser, which is using just the one
instance of the browser to open multiple pages, you can open many pages (I
often have 20 open at a time) without running out of memory. In effect, the
browser is only opening once instead of many times.

2. With the original IE, it has to load each page or link again as you
switch from one page to another.  Even loading out of the browser cache,
this is noticeably slower than with tabbed browsing, which keeps each page
alive for instant recall.  I think every browser now except IE is in the
tabbed form, and the next edition of IE will finally catch up when it comes
out.

Maxthon is an IE skin.  It is simply a new skin, or interface, for IE.  You
are not getting rid of IE, you are still using it as the basic
browser.  Maxthon simply adds a lot more features to it, the tabbed
browsing being the most important.  There's a Maxthon add-ons site where
you can add over 200 extra buttons---most of which are highly
specialised.  Some are useful---for example there's a zoom button you can
add, by which you can zoom in or out of any internet picture which appears
in the browser.

Basically you will find that the appearance is very similar to what you're
used to in IE, so there's no real learning curve.  Just a whole lot more
options.  There's a superb intelligent built-in popup stopper, and a button
by which you can choose whether or not to use tabs.

A couple of hints if you decide to get it---there are 5 tiny buttons along
the bottom of the browser page.  Click the "Enable filters" one to activate
the popup stopper. And click the "Open links in New Windows" one for tabbed
browsing.  I've never found a use for the one marked "Simple collector".
Reading its description doesn't enlighten me much.  Perhaps someone can
tell us if they've found a use for it.

You still keep the basic IE options, plus you get an extra toolbutton for
the Maxthon options.

Once you've got used to tabbed browsing, you'll never revert to the plain
vanilla IE. for example, let's suppose you got to a website, or open a
google search, where you might want to look at 20 links.  You click on each
of the chosen links, and each of those pages opens silently while you are
still reading the first page.  Then you end up with 20 tabs along the
bottom.  Just click on each tab to hop to and fro between each page at
will.  No waiting, it's all loaded ready to go.  Try that in the basic IE
and you'll crash very quickly.

Because you keep IE, you can still use it as an alternative browser by
itself if you wish.

I've been using this browser skin since it first came out in its Chinese
guise of MyIE several years ago, when you could only download it from a
Chinese webpage.  But, surprisingly, the English version of the program
itself was written in impeccable English and you'd never guess its origins.

I've found it extremely stable and reliable.

The alternative is Avant, not Avast as I previously wrote.  I haven't used
it, but I believe it's very similar and equally as popular.

Don Penlington


 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html

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