Sunday, September 25, 2005
Avant (or MAXTHON-OPERA-IE-HUH?)
So I run the installer, and before Avant opens up, you’ll never believe what happened. The thing asked me what size icons I want and where I’d like the tab bar. Now there’s something I can get behind, customization right out of the box. Why doesn’t any other browser do this?
Unfortunately for Avant, even with the smaller icons, the User Interface is still relatively bulky. Granted, it isn’t Maxthon bulky, but it’s still an eyesore. Actually, and I feel relativley secure in this assertion, but Avant is doing way too much Maxthon. May as well be the same program. So, if you want my review on Avant browser, check out my review on Maxthon.
But that’s a cop out, isn’t it? So let me get started here. Avant is yet another IE shell, relying on the Internet Explorer rendering engine while improving functionality. It’s a bit more complex than Maxthon, though the learning curve isn’t so steep that even someone new to third party browsers will be lost. After I customized the UI, it’s almost sleek. It feels a little dated, and reminds me a bit of Opera 6 and 7. Actually, this is a great place to mention that Avant was “originally a clone of Opera with the Internet Explorer engine, Avant offers many options present in Opera, which do not exist in the standard Internet Explorer”. Found that here thanks to the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s most wonderful creation, Wikipedia.
Avant is in no way easy on the RAM, and I’d have to say that’s its downside. If you’ve got too many windows open within Avant, watch out or your system is going to slow to a crawl. All in all a decent program, but it tries to hard to be Opera and Maxthon, and it just doesn’t work. Hey, if you want Opera, click on this wonderfully supplied link. And you know, if you want to try Maxthon, it’s over here.
If for some reason you want them both with a bit more functionality, but also a bit more confusing, check out Avant Browser. It won’t kill you. I promise.
Unfortunately for Avant, even with the smaller icons, the User Interface is still relatively bulky. Granted, it isn’t Maxthon bulky, but it’s still an eyesore. Actually, and I feel relativley secure in this assertion, but Avant is doing way too much Maxthon. May as well be the same program. So, if you want my review on Avant browser, check out my review on Maxthon.
But that’s a cop out, isn’t it? So let me get started here. Avant is yet another IE shell, relying on the Internet Explorer rendering engine while improving functionality. It’s a bit more complex than Maxthon, though the learning curve isn’t so steep that even someone new to third party browsers will be lost. After I customized the UI, it’s almost sleek. It feels a little dated, and reminds me a bit of Opera 6 and 7. Actually, this is a great place to mention that Avant was “originally a clone of Opera with the Internet Explorer engine, Avant offers many options present in Opera, which do not exist in the standard Internet Explorer”. Found that here thanks to the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s most wonderful creation, Wikipedia.
Avant is in no way easy on the RAM, and I’d have to say that’s its downside. If you’ve got too many windows open within Avant, watch out or your system is going to slow to a crawl. All in all a decent program, but it tries to hard to be Opera and Maxthon, and it just doesn’t work. Hey, if you want Opera, click on this wonderfully supplied link. And you know, if you want to try Maxthon, it’s over here.
If for some reason you want them both with a bit more functionality, but also a bit more confusing, check out Avant Browser. It won’t kill you. I promise.
