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An IE-Based Tabbed Browser from China

wannabgeek writes "CNET reports that a new browser, Maxthon is gaining wide popularity in China. 14 percent of Chinese websurfers have used it ... Part of the reason, it has features that help in circumventing the Chinese government censors. CNET says it was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas this year, and is slowly gaining foothold in Europe as well as the U.S."

163 comments

  1. Wait until PETA hears about *this*... by daveschroeder · · Score: 4, Funny

    "CNET reports that a new browser, Maxthon is gaining wide popularity in China. 14 percent of Chinese websurfers have used it ... Part of the reason, it has features that help in circumventing the Shinese government censors. CNET says it was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas this year, and is slowly gaining foothold in Europe as well as the U.S."

    First, women slaving away making iPods. Now, they've got trained dogs doing their network censorship. This could have an impact on Shinese-American relations.

    Where will it end?

    Perhaps China will start using Slashdot editors to proofread the English versions of official propaganda for spelling and grammar! That's almost like trained dogs!

    1. Re:Wait until PETA hears about *this*... by TheGreek · · Score: 1, Funny
      Where will it end?
      In the alley where you're found bludgeoned to death.
    2. Re:Wait until PETA hears about *this*... by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 0, Troll

      Is timothy drunk today or something? We've got that crazy "VOiP users probably use Firefox" submission, and now we've got Shinese censorship from a browser that's not new at all (Maxthon has been around for quite a while).

      --
      "Sufferin' succotash."
    3. Re:Wait until PETA hears about *this*... by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Funny
      Perhaps China will start using Slashdot editors to proofread the English versions of official propaganda for spelling and grammar! That's almost like trained dogs!

      OTOH, there is a major difference; you can probably train dogs to actually catch such errors...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:Wait until PETA hears about *this*... by denttford · · Score: 2, Interesting
      --

      Leben Sie jetzt die Fragen.
    5. Re:Wait until PETA hears about *this*... by Excelsior · · Score: 1

      Perhaps China will start using Slashdot editors to proofread the English versions of official propaganda for spelling and grammar! That's almost like trained dogs!

      Come on, show a little respect for dogs.

    6. Re:Wait until PETA hears about *this*... by gnarlin · · Score: 1
      Funny you should mention that...

      I know this is way off-topic, but I had to post this quote from the article you pointed to:

      The switch from gunshots to injections is a sign that China "promotes human rights now," says Kang Zhongwen, who designed the Jinguan Automobile death van in which "Devil" Zhang took his final ride.

      This is just one of the most outrageous piece of hypocrisy I have read in a long time. All this really does is hide the killing from the rest of the population. The guy ends up just as died and since shooting people is generally cheaper (we must always keep a close eye on the economy, right?) then the reasons for killing people with injections instead of just shooting them is to make it more discrete.

      So, Why not just shoot them in the "death van" and save money?

      --
      A bad analogy is like a leaky screwdriver.
    7. Re:Wait until PETA hears about *this*... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's just like America's switch from senseless warmongering to "spreading peace and democracy".

  2. Thank God! by GonzoTech · · Score: 1

    The people need protection from both the Chinese and the Shinese... Glad to see someone is finally helping these folks!

    --
    "Snatching defeat from the mouth of victory on a daily basis."
    1. Re:Thank God! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just because I like wearing latex doesn't mean I'm going to attack you.

  3. Shinese? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    SHINESE? Oh please... come on, at least try a little bit.

    1. Re:Shinese? by FinchWorld · · Score: 1

      Although I cannot be certain, I can guess from 'Shinese' that it could be some sort of cleaning product, maybe its Mr Sheens Aunty?

      --
      "I may be full of crap about this game, and I may be wrong, and that's fine." -Jack Thompson
  4. IE Based, huh? by Goblez · · Score: 3, Funny

    So that means that the goverment can exploit it to add censoring? Won't that be a switch from what we're used to?

    --
    - Kal`Goblez
  5. them pesky dogs by Bananatree3 · · Score: 1, Informative

    Apperently the Shinese dog breed have taken over the government of China Hopefully they will be kind to their previous masters.

    1. Re:them pesky dogs by Devil's+BSD · · Score: 5, Funny

      I for one (as a Chinese person) welcome our new Shinese puppy overlords...

      --
      I'm the Devil the Windows users warned you about.
    2. Re:them pesky dogs by Cheapy · · Score: 2, Funny

      They'd probably run the country better too...

      --
      Would you kindly mod me +1 insightful?
    3. Re:them pesky dogs by ichigo+2.0 · · Score: 1

      Apperently the Shinese dog breed have taken over the government of China Hopefully they will be kind to their previous masters.
      (Score:2, Informative)

      Hmmm. :)

  6. Grathiath by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 2, Funny

    If all you have to do is lisp to avoid Chinese government censors to connect Chinese people to the rest of the planet, then Spain is going to take over the world again.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

    1. Re:Grathiath by Jnfields · · Score: 0

      lol! So that is so Wrong...or should I say Wong?

  7. Drunk? by dwandy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Wath timmmothy drunk when he wrote thith?

    --
    If you think imaginary property and real property are the same, when does your house become public domain?
    1. Re:Drunk? by cloudkiller · · Score: 1

      This is /., he probably had spent too much time on newegg.

      --
      [an error occurred while processing this sig]
  8. Engrish? by thoughtlover · · Score: 5, Funny

    "...features that help in circumventing the Shinese government censors."

    Hrm. It almost sounds like one of our Engrish-reading friends submitted this story from behind the Great Firewall of Shina.

    --
    No sig for you! Come back one year!
    1. Re:Engrish? by mattjb0010 · · Score: 1

      Kid: Dad, why did they build the Great Wall of China?
      Dad: Umm, that was in the time of Emperor Nasi Goreng. They, um, built it to keep the rabbits out. Yeah, big rabbit problem in China.
      Kid: [looks out car window in awe of his fathers knowledge]
      [Cut to a classroom scene] Teacher: And now Billy will present his talk on China.
      (TV ad from Australia. It probably is a little bit more humourous if you know that they built a "rabbit proof fence" for thousands of miles in parts of Australia to keep out the rabbits).

    2. Re:Engrish? by pjay_dml · · Score: 1

      I love that ad :D

    3. Re:Engrish? by Mark+Maughan · · Score: 1

      Why not eat them?

    4. Re:Engrish? by srpatterson · · Score: 1

      because under the new world order, only America is allowed to stockpile holy hand grenades.

      --
      -- The Heineken Uncertainty Principle: You can never be sure how many bears you had last night.
    5. Re:Engrish? by mkw87 · · Score: 0
      Is that on youtube or anywhere? I'd like to see that, and learn more about this giant fence. I mean, I know you guys have trouble with poisonous toads/frogs, but rabbits in the past too?

      (thinks of monty python)

      --
      Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling a pig in mud. Soon, you realize the pig is dirty, and he likes it.
  9. Raccoon Slashdotter by operagost · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ooh... Shinese!

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    1. Re:Raccoon Slashdotter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shh, ya wanna get sued?

  10. New browser? by transwarp · · Score: 5, Informative

    Maxthon hasn't been new for a long time. In fact, the only thing in the article I hadn't heard a million times already was that it's made by a Chinese company. And this "parallels" feature they're working on--sounds like MDI.

    1. Re:New browser? by TheSpoom · · Score: 3, Informative

      Amen, tagged this 'oldnews' as soon as I saw it. I remember seeing this browser at least a year ago. I'm pretty sure they just use the IE ActiveX control; from there, you can pretty much do anything. Tags would seem (on first glance, without doing any research) to be pretty trivial to implement.

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
    2. Re:New browser? by m85476585 · · Score: 1

      I used to use Maxthon back when it was called MyIE2. I don't remember exactly when, but it was probably early 2004. It was almost better than Firefox, and the only reason I switched to FF was to get rid of IE. This will make it very hard for Firefox to take hold in China.

    3. Re:New browser? by Incoherent07 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I actually in some ways preferred Maxthon's interface to Firefox's, at least out of the box, but I could never get the Gecko support working, so I switched as well.

      --
      This is my sig. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.
    4. Re:New browser? by kukyfrope · · Score: 4, Informative

      I use Maxathon on my computers with tiny amounts of RAM, like my old 866mhz 128mb machine that runs WindowsXP. I've got a minimalistic install of WindowsXP on it and use it for only browsing the web. Firefox was too slow on that machine with how many tabs I like to open up, yet with Maxathon I had open 30 tabs and in task manager, it was only using about 15-20mb of RAM.

      The main pitfalls of the app are it's still based on IE so the DOM Firefox support isn't there, and while Maxathon has an "AdBlock" like feature, Firefox's is cleaner and collapses the page where graphics previously were, while Maxathon keeps the ad space open and blank. And it still isn't great about handling file opening (torrent especially).

      Overall it's a great little browser and on old machines I can live with its few features I wish worked differently in exchange for super low memory usage.

    5. Re:New browser? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tags would seem (on first glance, without doing any research) to be pretty trivial to implement.

      I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you're in management.

    6. Re:New browser? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always used to use Mozilla quite and later firefox on old 450Mhz 128MB boxes running win98, though it worked better under linux on the same hardware, without any trouble, the idea of using a seriously deficient rendering engine, with all the lack of standards support and exploitation which that entails, purely because it allows you to browse 30 websites simultaneously seems odd to me. Have you tried newer versions of Firefox with the browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers key set to a lower value? Or even a different Geko based browser such as http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/

      how does the now free Opera cope, i hear that it's excellent in low memory situations and it's got one of the best rendering engines around.

      If these developers want to help the people of china why don't they do it with an opensource browser engine, or even as an extension to the most popular opensource browser?

    7. Re:New browser? by RonnyJ · · Score: 1

      From the version history on the website: v 0.1 [2002-07-11]

    8. Re:New browser? by schweini · · Score: 1

      you should give other gecko-based browsers like K-Meleon a try on lower-end windows PCs. I think K-Meleon is snappier than Firefox because it leaves out the whole XUL layer, and uses native windows widgets, or something like that. I even deployed it on Pentium II machines.

    9. Re:New browser? by Derek+Pomery · · Score: 1

      I use the Mozilla Suite on my old laptop with 96MB of memory and a 300Mhz processor.
      Entire suit takes around 15MB with a half-dozen tabs open.
      It uses the memory that is available.
      And of course, wasn't in windows, so IE wasn't already using memory in background.

      --
      -- perl -e'print pack"H*","6e656d6f406d38792e6f7267"' /. ate my old sig. Bastards.
    10. Re:New browser? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    11. Re:New browser? by It's+the+tripnaut! · · Score: 1

      I am posting this using Firefox 1.5.0.4 on a Celeron 300 with 96mb of RAM. I also have 12 tabs up. It ain't slow on this box.

    12. Re:New browser? by jkmullins · · Score: 1

      I like Maxthon's ad handling better. Collapsing the page can do odd things to the formatting of some pages and make them look really weird. Maxthon keeps the formatting the way the page author intended so there's nothing unexpected when it is rendered. Even though that takes up more screen space, I find it typically makes things more readable.

    13. Re:New browser? by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Maxthon keeps the formatting the way the page author intended so there's nothing unexpected when it is rendered.

      No it doesn't. It removes the ad. (speaking as a webmaster here)

  11. A new browser? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Maxthon's been around for years. It used to be called MyIE.

    1. Re:A new browser? by m85476585 · · Score: 4, Funny

      It was actually called MyIE2, and why was that modded funny?

    2. Re:A new browser? by Jugalator · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, it was simply renamed.

      And the copyright notice on the website is from 1999, which sounds about right to me.

      CNET has been smoking something good in this case.

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    3. Re:A new browser? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because we don't meta moderate these guys enough. ;-)

    4. Re:A new browser? by ZeroExistenZ · · Score: 1
      Maxthon's been around for years. It used to be called MyIE

      People really are in wonder when they discovere that there are "browsers" other then IE and seen extatic when they discovere "a new one".

      Today in the newspaper (article (Dutch)) they wrote "Internet Explorer has a new competitor, called Opera!"... new...12 years isn't as new to me...

      --
      I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
  12. CNET: all the news that's fit to subjugate by pelican66 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why doesn't CNET just come out and give the Chinese government the IP addresses of every Chinese websurfer using Maxthon? Better yet, the company's in Beijing - why not just throw a street address up there? Of course, if the web is censored in China, then the censors aren't reading unfiltered CNET in English, are they? Naaaaaah!

    --
    My company doesn't speak for me, nor do I speak for my company.
    1. Re:CNET: all the news that's fit to subjugate by TheBogie · · Score: 1

      You're absolutely right. What's next on CNET, an article about which car battery inflicts the most pain when connected to someone's nuts? CNET, Yahoo, and Google need to stop helping the chinese oppress their citizens!

    2. Re:CNET: all the news that's fit to subjugate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's wrong with the concept of freedom of the press? Just because the information may be problematic to some does not discount my need to know anything and everything. Geez. If CNN can disclose military information, then this surely airing. (hint: sarcastic post here)

  13. Re:It's an addon and hardly new by Profane+MuthaFucka · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Very True. It used to be called MyIE, and was renamed. It's an add-on for Internet Explorer, and has Asian language support front and center. That's why it's so popular in China. First thing it asks when you start the install is what language you want to use.

    It's not too bad, except that it's pretty cluttered, and it's still MSIE.

    --
    Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
  14. Shape & Color? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Browsers are very much like a car," said Jacobsson. "Most people don't care what engine is inside, (they) choose which type fits, with the right shape and color."

    Yes, I use Opera because it's round & red.

    1. Re:Shape & Color? by treeves · · Score: 1

      That's certainly why I drive a Hummer H3 with a Black and Decker rechargeable cordless screwdriver for a motor!

      --
      ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
  15. Re:So what, it's windows only... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're right. Support for 95% of the market doesn't mean shit if important little you can't run it on your platform of choice.

  16. Maxthon, Not New by Webz · · Score: 4, Informative

    Maxthon isn't all that new. Long time users know it as MyIE2.

    If you've ever wondered what a browser with an IE-engine and tabs that didn't suck is like, try Maxthon. It's really lightweight.

    For development purposes and sometimes just pure speed (IE feels faster than Firefox sometimes), I keep a copy on my machines alone Firefox.

    1. Re:Maxthon, Not New by DeafByBeheading · · Score: 3, Insightful
      wondered what a browser with an IE-engine... that didn't suck is like

      Mod parent oxymoronic.

      And no, I'm not trolling. Most of IE's problems are due to its engine.
      --
      Telltale Games: Bone, Sam and Max
    2. Re:Maxthon, Not New by RoyGBatty · · Score: 1
      IE feels faster than Firefox sometimes

      I've noticed this too. But chicken or egg? Is it because more sites are optimized for IE than Firefox, perhaps?

      --
      I was always fascinated with rock 'n' roll, or girls, or something like that when I was a kid. - Gary Sinise
    3. Re:Maxthon, Not New by Webz · · Score: 1

      In my experience as a web developer, unless we're talking about high-end, intensive, cutting edge dynamic content, rarely ever are sites optimized for one browser or another. And usually, certain features are a path of exclusivity, so optimized really isn't the word. IE supports these visual filters, this that and the other, and Mozilla supports some xyz new CSS attributes. Whatever.

    4. Re:Maxthon, Not New by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Mod parent oxymoronic.

      And no, I'm not trolling. Most of IE's problems are due to its engine.


      While it's true that third-party browsers using Trident are vulnerable to the same security flaws as IE (and, of course, share the same CSS and other rendering bugs), there are a number of flaws in IE that are corrected by third-party browsers.

      Because third-party browsers don't support IE toolbars, they aren't as affected by spyware. Third-party browsers generally have search boxes, tabs, and other features that IE lack.

      And, quite frankly, saying that IE "sucks" ignores the reality of the situation.

      From a developer's perspective, IE "sucks" because it means that I have to bend over backwards to support IE's broken CSS implementation (although, to be honest, the CSS standard sucks in many ways anyway). But even if IE stopped "sucking" in this regard tomorrow, it wouldn't make a bit of difference to me - as a user, IE's crappy CSS support doesn't really affect me (because developers work around it), and as a developer, I'm still going to have to develop for IE6 because it will represent a significant portion of my users for years to come.

      But from a user's perspective, IE isn't really that bad. From a security perspective, it's subpar, but IE has greatly improved in that regard since SP2. Users neither know nor care whether their browser has decent CSS2 support.

    5. Re:Maxthon, Not New by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know that having no toolbars doesn't make the browsers any more safe against spyware? You won't see the effects of the spyware varieties that install toolbars, but you'll still be affected by them in every other way (ie. spying).

    6. Re:Maxthon, Not New by Chops · · Score: 1
      But even if IE stopped "sucking" in this regard tomorrow, it wouldn't make a bit of difference to me - as a user, IE's crappy CSS support doesn't really affect me (because developers work around it), and as a developer, I'm still going to have to develop for IE6 because it will represent a significant portion of my users for years to come.

      That's the spirit! What's with these people who keep adding features and fixing bugs in software, when everybody knows that there are a bunch of old versions of the software sitting around, just not including those fixes yet?

      Jesus. How do you even get up in the morning? After all, that only gets you to the other side of your bedroom, and that's a hell of a long way from the office. You might as well just stay in bed; it's hopeless.
    7. Re:Maxthon, Not New by GuanoBoy · · Score: 1
      IE feels faster than Firefox sometimes

      I've noticed this too. But chicken or egg? Is it because more sites are optimized for IE than Firefox, perhaps?


      I think it's because sites powered by (or "encumbered by") IIS are "optimized" for Internet Explorer: http://grotto11.com/blog/slash.html?+1039831658
      --
      WWW
  17. Notice how this browser looks a lot like IE7? by GonzoTech · · Score: 1
    Notice how this browser looks a lot like IE7?

    Has anyone tried introducing any other other NUMEROUS options of web browsers to this country? Firefox, Mozilla, Opera, etc, etc...

    --
    "Snatching defeat from the mouth of victory on a daily basis."
    1. Re:Notice how this browser looks a lot like IE7? by TheSkepticalOptimist · · Score: 1

      Most likely because it is based on IE would be my assumption.

      --
      I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
  18. Re:So what, it's windows only... by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful
    There's no linux version, unless I missed something, if that's the case, mod this down. Otherwise, does anyone have it working in wine?

    You should be modded down as redundant anyway, because the title of the story begins "An IE-Based" [...] which makes it quite fucking clear that it's Windows-only, since IE/mac is gone, gone, gone.

    If linux users want to run it, they can do it in vmware on a pirated copy of windows like everyone else.*

    *Actually, I only run Windows 98 in my vmware right now, and I actually have a license for it... but this is a statistical anomaly.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  19. Re:So what, it's windows only... by ranolen · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You do know that there is more to the computer world then linux. Windows has a perfectly fine place here.

  20. Re:So what, it's windows only... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Let's see, the ARTICLE TITLE says "An IE-based Tabbed Browser".

    We've gone from RTFArticle to RTFSummary and finally we need RTFTitle.

    It's based on Internet Explorer. Which is part of Windows. And, therefore, no, there is no Linux port as there is no Linux port of Internet Explorer.

    RTFT.

  21. Fun With Statistics by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 4, Interesting


    From TFA:

    According to Maxthon research, about 14 percent of the Chinese Web population has used the browser and 17 percent employs it for Web search.
    So...3 percent of the Chinese Web population employs the Maxthon browser for Web search without having used it?
    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:Fun With Statistics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it just means that 14 percent of the Chinese Web population has 'used' (at some point) the broswer, and 17 percent 'use' (now) it as a web searcher.

    2. Re:Fun With Statistics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      no, I think it means 17% out of the 14% that use it.

  22. Re:So what, it's windows only... by eneville · · Score: 1

    I saw the IE part, but just because it uses the IE renderer does not mean that it requires the IE executable, just like Opera...

  23. Ok guys, get over it. by DoctorDyna · · Score: 2, Interesting
    You are all falling over yourselves comically to point out the fact that sombody said "shinese". It's not that funny.

    Out of all you wonderfully articulate people, nobody has anything interesting to say? I think this kinda squashes a huge mis conception that most of the Slashdot community seems to have, that is only people who don't know any better want anything to do with IE. Obviously, these people who created this aren't newbs.

    --
    Windows has more viruses because linux has more virus coders.
    1. Re:Ok guys, get over it. by Target+Practice · · Score: 1

      "Out of all you wonderfully articulate people, nobody has anything interesting to say?"

      Sure. You spelled misconception incorrectly :)

      Come on. Incorrect spelling and grammar are some of the finer points of Slashdot. You could change it from "News for Nerds" to "Fifth Grade Proofreading Test" without much trouble.

      --
      There's a 68.71% chance you're right.
    2. Re:Ok guys, get over it. by eclectro · · Score: 1

      You are all falling over yourselves comically to point out the fact that sombody said "shinese".....Out of all you wonderfully articulate people, nobody has anything interesting to say?

      You must be a new Shinese person here.

      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    3. Re:Ok guys, get over it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think this kinda squashes a huge mis conception that most of the Slashdot community seems to have, that is only people who don't know any better want anything to do with IE. Obviously, these people who created this aren't newbs.

      They aren't newbs, but that doesn't mean they're not wrong.

      Their browser skin fixes many of the minor problems with IE, like its lack of tabs and adblocking, but it leaves in all its major problems, like its inability to handle the basic level 1 CSS standard that everyone else got their heads around last century.

      At this point, it's a lost cause. Firefox, Opera, and IE 7 between them have left Maxthon (nee MyIE) redundant. Of course its creators aren't just going to abandon all their hard work, so doubtless it will continue to lurch along for a few years yet. But that, again, does not make it worth using.

    4. Re:Ok guys, get over it. by Khammurabi · · Score: 1
      You are all falling over yourselves comically to point out the fact that sombody said "shinese". It's not that funny.
      Okay, but does this mean that it's actually called the "Great Wall of Shiny"?
    5. Re:Ok guys, get over it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      You are all falling over yourselves comically to point out the fact that sombody said "shinese".

      I don't think anybody cares that somebody who probably doesn't speak English as their native language mixed up "sh" and "ch".

      I think the real problem people have is that somebody who does speak English as their native language, and who is paid to correct errors like these, is seemingly entirely incompetent, either in doing his job, or in spotting glaringly obvious errors in his native language. Is he lazy or is he stupid?

    6. Re:Ok guys, get over it. by SoCalChris · · Score: 1
      Obviously, these people who created this aren't newbs.
      I'm not saying that these people are noobs, but have you ever used the IE ActiveX control? It is trivially simple to throw together a web browser using it, and Visual Basic.

      Having never used their product though, I can't really comment on the level of sophistication that it has though.
    7. Re:Ok guys, get over it. by BraksDad · · Score: 1

      hmmm...

      Even MS Word pickes up this error.

      --
      Slowly waving my hand - "This is not the sig you are looking for."
  24. Microsoft will fix it by Bromskloss · · Score: 0, Troll

    Next update of Windows will prevent it (the browser) from running. No worries.

    --
    Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
    1. Re:Microsoft will fix it by baadger · · Score: 1

      Microsoft make the IE engine extremely integration friendly, why on Earth would they want to prevent people from using their web engine?

      There probably isn't an engine as easy to integrate into your application as IE, although there is a drop in compatible Mozilla/Gecko ActiveX control.

    2. Re:Microsoft will fix it by Bromskloss · · Score: 1
      Microsoft make the IE engine extremely integration friendly, why on Earth would they want to prevent people from using their web engine?
      To prevent the Chinese from being free and read what they want, of course! Anyway, I saw a funny Slashdot comment, recently. ;-)
      --
      Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
  25. It's been known to be safer than IE by baadger · · Score: 2, Informative

    On occasion the authors of Maxthon have hacked in third party protection against zero day exploits. I can't be arsed finding the reference, but I thought i'd mention it since this is such an uninteresting news post.

  26. In Communist China.... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 2, Funny

    Browser tabs YOU!

    1. Re:In Communist China.... by mfaras · · Score: 3, Funny

      In communist china, search engines search YOU!

      --
      Don't nail me to your cross, buy a new King Size cross from Vatican Technologies(tm)

    2. Re:In Communist China.... by Joebert · · Score: 1
      If the title would have been,
      ... IE Tabbed Browser ...
      Read "eye tabbed browser"
      Instead of,
      ... IE-Based tabbed browser ...

      That would have been funny.
      --
      Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
    3. Re:In Communist China.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, no -- in communist China, browser keeps tabs on you!

    4. Re:In Communist China.... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      No, that's not how you do it, your comment is actually funny and makes sense.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  27. hard to tell.... by Churla · · Score: 1

    Hard to tell from the fact that most of the developers aren't using their actual names. But it looks to me like this might be being developed a substantial amount of work from behind the great firewall.

    In which case be ready for it, or it's contributors, to vanish if/when it actually starts showing up as a means of bypassing that nations security. The Chinese who run things there are not the laughable Team America Kim Jong-il-esque style of villans. They're smart people. I mean look, they got Google to bend to their will...

    --
    I'm a fiscal conservative, it's a pity we don't have a political party anymore
    1. Re:hard to tell.... by HaMMeReD3 · · Score: 1

      For the record, kim jong-il isn't chinese, he's north korean, and in team america, that wasn't a puppet, that was really him.

      Lets remember that not all asians are shinese.

      Also, on the fact of google, china didnt leave uch of a choice, either blacklisted or censored. I'm sure google is not gonna give up a significant percentage of the worlds population just to be the "good guy" and fight censorship.

  28. USED it? by clragon · · Score: 4, Interesting
    14 percent of Chinese websurfers have used it
    have used it? I've used countless softwares in the past, but the ones that I continue to use is only a fraction of that. Just because a Chinese websurfer have used it once does not mean they thought it was a good software and continued to use it. IMO some more evidence should be provided before saying this internet browser it is "gaining wide popularity in China"
    1. Re:USED it? by grumpyman · · Score: 1

      >> have used it? Similar to those stats claiming firefox download exceed XXX millions.

    2. Re:USED it? by zephc · · Score: 1

      well, the page DOES say (as of this writing) almost 60 million downloads so far.

      --
      "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
    3. Re:USED it? by clragon · · Score: 1
      well, the page DOES say (as of this writing) almost 60 million downloads so far.
      This was actualy one of the reasons why I wrote about how unreliable "14 percent of Chinese websurfers have used it" is at determining the popularity of the web browser.
      The population of China, according to google, is 1,306,313,812.
      14 percent of that would be 182,883,934. Compare that to the 60 million downloads and what do you get? So basicly the article indicated that 14 percent of the Chinese population have tried the web browser, but only one third of them actualy downloaded it? Does this really indicate the browser's popularity?
      And that is assuming all the 60 million downloads are from the Chinese, the article also said "it is catching on in Europe" meaning a portion of the 60 million downloads are probably not from China...
      Statistics like the one from the article are misleading and dont really paint the whole picture for you.
    4. Re:USED it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The number of Chinese web surfers, I assure you, is significantly less than the entire population of China. Try reading and/or thingking a bit more next time.

  29. Re:So what, it's windows only... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "You're right. Support for 95% of the market"

    Market share != installed base.

  30. Don't All Browser have Proxy Options? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't understand what this browser has that makes it so good for using proxies? Can someone please explain?

    1. Re:Don't All Browser have Proxy Options? by eggoeater · · Score: 1

      Because which proxy you use can be changed via a button on the tool bar.
      None of this drilling into a stupid properties, sub-menu screen, third tab from the left, click here, check that, fill out this form in triplicate crap.

      I use this feature at work to switch between our normal proxy and a test proxy, or to turn off proxy completely.

  31. Re:So what, it's windows only... by quokkapox · · Score: 1
    Actually, I only run Windows 98 in my vmware right now, and I actually have a license for it... but this is a statistical anomaly.

    Sheesh, everybody's got a plethora of surplus windows licenses lying around, we can't buy PCs without them.

    Err, did you mean you actually have a license for vmware? Now that would be funny...

    --
    it's a blue bright blue Saturday hey hey
  32. Re:So what, it's windows only... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    You're an idiot.

    With that out of the way, Opera doesn't use any part of IE at all. Hell, it barely even uses Windows libraries, since the UI is built using Qt.

    Opera uses as much IE as Firefox uses IE: practically none. (Practically because some people might consider opening downloaded files in the Windows shell to be part of IE - namely Microsoft lawyers when trying to prove that IE is a core part of Windows.)

  33. Re:So what, it's windows only... by bunions · · Score: 2, Informative

    just for completeness: http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/index-en.html Explore all your internets from loonix. Works pretty well, except tooltips show up as fully-decorated windows.

    --
    there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
  34. Re:So what, it's windows only... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    That's way cool, thank you for linking it here. I happen to have windows in a vmware on my linux, and you can install multiple IEs on Windows, so I don't particularly need it, but it's cool anyway.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  35. The poor man's IE7 by helmutvs · · Score: 1

    This sounds like IE 7. Only this one is built on top of the previous IE, so it's less secure than 7. Plus, it's missing a whole lot of features that 7 has. But hey, at least it's free, right?

    --
    There are no uninteresting things. There are only uninterested people.
    1. Re:The poor man's IE7 by vecctor · · Score: 1

      The key thing to remember is it came long before IE7. In fact, considering IE7 isn't actually out, this is still the case.

      It brought tabbed browsing and all the other modern browser features to the IE engine. This is a big win if you are forced to use IE renderin for various things (as ./ers will be well aware of).

      Once you get it configured the way you like it, its nice to use.

      --
      Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
    2. Re:The poor man's IE7 by n101 · · Score: 2, Informative

      It works fine with the IE7 core too, so it's as security as IE is. Most (if not all) features that IE7 has will be added to Maxthon 2.0, which will probably be out before IE7.

  36. Re:So what, it's windows only... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Nah, I meant a windows 98 license. The sticker is on the bottom of my stinkpad. I'm awfully glad I never got a vmware license, since it's free now...

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  37. Why??? by illtron · · Score: 0

    Is this like being different for the sake of being different? If it's based on IE, it's still garbage. Use Firefox or Opera. If you really want IE with tabs, just use the IE Tab Firefox extension and set it to work for every page. That way you get a shitty rendering engine AND good karma.

    --
    Slashdot: 24 hours behind every other site or your money back!
    1. Re:Why??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Karma based on which piece of software you use? Jesus, buddy... get some perspective.

    2. Re:Why??? by illtron · · Score: 1

      Yes, you will literally reach enlightenment if you use Firefox. That's what I was implying. I hope that wasn't lost on anybody.

      --
      Slashdot: 24 hours behind every other site or your money back!
  38. This isn't new... by Mark+LeMunyon · · Score: 2, Informative

    Maxthon is not new, and it's not a browser iteself. Its just a shell for IE.

    1. Re:This isn't new... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Following that line of thinking, Firefox is not a browser, just a shell for Gecko.

      Also... not to troll, but I expect IE7 on Vista to be more secure than Firefox on any version of Windows because of the sandbox in which IE runs on Vista.

  39. TorPack? by aymanh · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Maxthon, a browser made by a tiny Beijing company of the same name, has attracted millions of users in China for functionality that can funnel traffic through a Web proxy and circumvent government controls on information in search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Baidu.com and other popular sites or Internet service providers in that country.
    Neither the article nor Maxthon's feature list go into the details of how this feature is implemented, does it simply provide a list of open proxy and an easy way to switch to one of them? Or is it something more sophisticated? Anyone tried this feature?

    I wonder if Chinese users are aware of TorPack, it is Tor + portable Firefox + some extensions. Being Firefox-based, it can benefit from the wide range of extensions available, and is arguably more secure.
    --
    python>>> q="'";s='q="%c";s=%c%s%c;print s%%(q,q,s,q)';print s%(q,q,s,q)
  40. Re:So what, it's windows only... by eneville · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    > You're right. Support for 95% of the market doesn't
    > mean shit if important little you can't run it on
    > your platform of choice.

    95% of the readers don't care about your post.
    95% of users don't care what the internet runs in.
    4.5% of the world does care.

    I don't think this article means shit to the readers to be
    honest.

  41. SILENCE HERETIC! by bunions · · Score: 1

    WE CAST THEE OUT!

    --
    there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
  42. Wow... by dep01 · · Score: 1, Funny

    That's great and all, aside from the fact that it's built upon Internet Explorer.

    --
    "hey, could you pass me a paper towel? er.. I mean... DEPLOY ABSORBTION PANEL!"
  43. Maxthon Access ? by Brit_in_the_USA · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I see on the Maxthon web site a related product called "Maxthon Access". Does anyone have any addtional information /reviews about this product?
    It looks like it offers "PC Anywhere" features, but the Maxthin browser is a required component (?).
    Has anyone used it and could comment?
    Is it safe / secure?
    Any (known) spyware / back doors to it?

    1. Re:Maxthon Access ? by yjchung · · Score: 1

      It's a Maxthon branded Avvenu service. http://avvenu.com/
      Basically allows access to your files via a browser interface.

    2. Re:Maxthon Access ? by NaDrew · · Score: 1
      Brit_in_the_USA (936704) said...
      I see on the Maxthon web site a related product called "Maxthon Access". Does anyone have any addtional information /reviews about this product?
      It looks like it offers "PC Anywhere" features, but the Maxthin browser is a required component (?).
      Has anyone used it and could comment?
      Is it safe / secure?
      Any (known) spyware / back doors to it?

      yjchung (801385) said...
      It's a Maxthon branded Avvenu service. http://avvenu.com/
      Basically allows access to your files via a browser interface.


      I work for Avvenu--we've just released a new version of the software--and I assure you there is no spyware or any other crap included.
      --
      Vista:XPSP2::ME:98SE
  44. Maxthon can use Gecko as well? by aymanh · · Score: 5, Informative
    It looks like Maxthon isn't entirely IE-based, its Wikipedia entry suggests that it can use the Gecko engine as well (which is the same rendering engine used by Firefox):
    Maxthon (formerly MyIE2) (pronounced "max-ton") is a freeware browser. It uses Trident, the same layout engine used by Internet Explorer as its default layout engine, but can use the Gecko technology used in Mozilla Firefox as well.
    --
    python>>> q="'";s='q="%c";s=%c%s%c;print s%%(q,q,s,q)';print s%(q,q,s,q)
    1. Re:Maxthon can use Gecko as well? by maggard · · Score: 1

      I've used Maxthon, nee MyIE2, for years now. Natively it is a well-written shell over MS IE. Interestingly MS has even featured Maxthon in some of their conferences. Maxthon has a decent set of plug-ins that can overcome many of IE's worst shortcomings, including fixing PNG alpha-layers, control over flash, etc.

      And yes, Maxthon can also use the Gecko Active-X (or whatever it's called this developer season) engine. Note "can", I haven't seen any interest in this since it was first done about 2 years ago and the code looks pretty stale now. Honestly I expect most folks just use FireFox directly instead of switching engines (though the switch is trivial). If you're trying to load or compare sites it's probably worth it for sanity & debugging to do so in a full native browser stack instead of an alternate engine under a shell.

      --
      I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
    2. Re:Maxthon can use Gecko as well? by jkmullins · · Score: 1

      If you want a browser that does this easily, check out Netscape 8.1 at http://browser.netscape.com. You can assign trust settings and layout engines on a site-by-site basis, completely on-the-fly, and the browers remembers your settings and automatically uses them each time to visit.

  45. You know what is sad by fullphaser · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is that a third party browser like that could gain such a sizable market share in china that quickly, granted its still IE but they are seeking out browsers none the less. Whats that say about the US & internationally, which still reports firefox and other 3rd party browsers at no more than 10% according to some studies (I can't remember the link right now)
    Hey mabye China has got something right?

    --
    Did someone say cake?
  46. Repeat after me. by Chas · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    It is still IE.

    Spiffy skinjobs on the browser are nice and all, but they've been done before. The fact is, you're STILL running the fugly IE6 engine underneath, with all it's nasties and security issues.

    NO EFFING THANK YOU!

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  47. avant browser by toirdnim · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Avant Browser is another tabbed browser based on the IE engine. I prefer firefox for most of my browsing, but I use avant when I have to load up my company's intranet site, which breaks in firefox.

    1. Re:avant browser by Ant+P. · · Score: 3, Informative

      Firefox can be an IE shell too, you know.

  48. It can also use Gecko by Zarel · · Score: 2, Informative

    It used to be called MyIE2, not MyIE. It also has the ability to use Gecko (the Firefox rendering engine), too. I'm surprised no one's brought that up yet.

    --
    Want a high quality FOSS RTS game? Try Warzone 2100!
  49. Finally, someone one understands IE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and has found a good use for its poor security. Instead of infecting the user's PC, why not use its flaws to ignore government censorship?

  50. Re:So what, it's windows only... by Joebert · · Score: 1
    I don't think this article means shit to the readers to be honest.

    Untill you consider the great firewall of "shina", spam, & INTERNET FUCKING EXPLORER !

    Sorry, Lewis Black moment.
    --
    Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  51. FSF to the Rescue by colinrichardday · · Score: 1

    Hey, Stallman can Lisp.

  52. How ironic by j1mc · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wait, so this shelled version of IE exploits security holes??

  53. Proxy by sxmjmae · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maxthon uses a proxy. If the China's government is smart they would release Maxthon that uses it own proxy - let the end users view censored infor. Let use Maxthon spread. Then you have a nice log of who the trouble makers are and can take them down at any point. I for one would not trust a browser that uses a proxy to surf the internet. I think the AOL browser also routes all your internet traffic through their proxy servers.

    --
    My Sig indicates the end of the comment I posted.
    1. Re:Proxy by zephc · · Score: 1

      "Yeah! Get those damn thought-criminals!"

      --
      "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
    2. Re:Proxy by CaseyB · · Score: 1
      You have no idea what you're talking about. Maxthon CAN use a proxy, just like IE can. Maxthon differs only in that it's much easier to toggle proxy use on and off, and switch between multiple proxies.

      These features are important for Chinese users specifically because they have to find and use open proxies in order to circumvent the censors.

  54. Re:So what, it's windows only... by Vexorian · · Score: 1

    There is an IE port for linux, I've seen many articles on how to install IE in wine.

    --

    Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
  55. The Browser's awards are misrepresented by Eric+Coleman · · Score: 1

    If you go to the Maxthon page link and scroll to the bottom it lists awards that it's won. The first and only one I clicked was the last one on the page, p2btech, because I never heard of it. It's an article that doesn't even mention the Maxthon browser at all. It rates a few different browsers from a long time ago, Firefox 0.8 and Opera 7.5.

    1. Re:The Browser's awards are misrepresented by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was MyIE2.

    2. Re:The Browser's awards are misrepresented by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maxthon's former name was MyIE2. It was the Editor's Choice on that page. =)

  56. This isn't really new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm actually using it right now. I've been using this browser for the past few years, ever since it used to be called MyIE. It has most of the same features and a few a like more than Firefox like the mouse gestures feature.

  57. Geez by kanzels · · Score: 1

    What is this hype about? It's just IE again with all bugs and non-standardness :( Don't spread it please...

    --
    Pixel image editor - http://www.kanzelsberger.com
    1. Re:Geez by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At 90% I think IE IS the standard.

    2. Re:Geez by kanzels · · Score: 1

      But they're not supposed to make standards, just follow them :)

      --
      Pixel image editor - http://www.kanzelsberger.com
  58. Actually, in Shina this ia JAILBAIT ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually, in Shina this ia JAILBAIT ! bit flamebait. Oh, the heartache.

  59. Are you a sore loser or something? by zeuson · · Score: 1

    Why so much negativity? Have you been brain washed by the media?

    1. Re:Are you a sore loser or something? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's pissed off because he can't get a job. Even though he's "good at computers."

  60. Hewo, welcome to Shitty Wok, may I take your order by r_jensen11 · · Score: 1

    Oh cwap...

  61. Yes this helps the government, because... by ickeicke · · Score: 1

    Yes this helps the government, because now they can keep tabs on the users...

    sorry for the obvious, but while I'm at it; In Soviet Russia, the tabs keep you!

    --
    Firehed - Unfortunately, thanks to medical breakthroughs, common sense is not as common as it once was.
  62. Its made in china too by Dj-Zer0 · · Score: 1

    Did anyone see that Maxthon is actually made in china
    9/F Flat D, Tower 1, Sky Tower,
    38 Song Wong Toi RD, Kowloon,
    Hongkong, China


    From --> http://www.maxthon.com/donate.htm

    --
    http://iesucks.org
  63. Not new..I used it for a long time by microbee · · Score: 1

    ..and recently switched to firefox.

    Don't get me wrong. Maxthon is a decent browser. Aside from tabbed browsing its pop-up and ad blocking was terrific and ahead of competitors before others caught up.

    The only drawback, of course, was that it uses IE engine, which means it's vulnerable to most IE holes and bad system interaction (like often freezes with outlook).

    Firefox 1.5 has become good enough (with tab mix, adblock and other goodies) so I switched a while ago.

  64. Bah, that's nothing. Try OffByOne. It's uber-light by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The OffByOne browser is way lighter on resources, even lighter than Opera. It does tabbed browsing too. Best of all, it's self-executable, caches entirely in RAM, and not reliant on any other browser. It fits nicely on a floppy too. Granted, its features are minimal, but it's great for surfing message boards and slashdot on even an early Pentium with even a quarter of the RAM you have.

  65. You forgot to prefix your comment with... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... In Soviet China.

  66. Re:So what, it's windows only... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If linux users want to run it, they can do it in vmware on a pirated copy of windows like everyone else.*

    *Actually, I only run Windows 98 in my vmware right now, and I actually have a license for it... but this is a statistical anomaly.

    So where the fuck do you get off assuming that everyone else is running a pirated copy? Oh, everyone's a no-good pirate but you, huh?

  67. Isn't this like Avant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I could have sworn I used something that looked just like this before FF came out... it was called Avant :)

    -Christian

  68. New? by mkw87 · · Score: 0

    Ive had this browser installed on my parents computer for over 2 years now b/c when I set up their computer many, many pages were still firefox incompatible pages (mostly gov't pages and other major organizations, which is all the pages my parents usually visit anyways - dial up sucks). I just recently took it off and put firefox on it b/c I have yet to see many pages FF wont load properly.

    --
    Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling a pig in mud. Soon, you realize the pig is dirty, and he likes it.
  69. new browser? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since when is Maxthon new? Has been around for years!

  70. I can see it now... by Jason9x19 · · Score: 1

    Millions of Chinese staring at screenfuls of tabs saying, "The page cannot be disprayed"

  71. Re:Bah, that's nothing. Try OffByOne. It's uber-li by JamesGecko · · Score: 1

    It's also freaking slow. I did a comperison between a bunch of low-requirement browsers a few years ago and MyIE2 (aka, Maxathon) was quite clearly the fastest of the lot.

    The order of slowness goes something like this:

    MyIE2
    Netscape 3
    Opera
    K-Meleon
    Off-by-one
    Mozilla

    (However, keep in mind that this was a while back and continued development on most of the browsers listed has probably rendered this obsolete)

  72. Anti-China as marketing scheme? by taweili · · Score: 1

    How easy is it to get attention in Slashdot with keywords like "China proxies and freedom?" I live in China and work in IT field. I never heard of Marthon until I heard of it in CNet podcast and saw it on Slashdot. Slashdot effects are used to promote the very browsers supported by the authority. Somehow a 1984 moment...