14 DAY TRIAL // Most statistics sharing information about web browser popularity trends are generally limited to displaying the usage drift of Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari. However, their engines have been implemented in a ton of other browsers that sometimes bring more functionality and comfort than the original container.
This is exactly the case of Maxthon, which was initially developed as an improved version of Internet Explorer back in the days when Mozilla Firefox was not even a concept (Maxthon pre-dates Firefox by a few years and it was called MyIE) and which has kept on growing and raking users ever since. According to the developer, this little gem has over 200 million downloads worldwide and it sure won't stop at this, given that it offers powerful features out-of-the-box, such as mouse gestures, anti-freeze (Ajax may cause some browsers to freeze, but not Maxthon), super drag and drop (type queries in search engines by merely selecting and dragging and dropping words/phrases in a webpage), tab undo (if you close a tab by mistake the action can be reversed by using a key combination – Alt+Z).
Although the popularity of Maxthon is not admitted all over the world, it is one of the most used in its homeland, China. It rivals with Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer, carrying a very tight competition. Starting today Maxthon can also be downloaded in Softpedia flavor – a fully functional Maxthon 2 edition customized for Softpedia users.
A customized URL Alias section in the application sports aliases for opening Softpedia home page (type in “softpedia” or “sp” in the address bar and hit enter) as well as the all-searching Google (type “g” in the address bar to open it). You can add your own web shortcuts for a quick reach to other web destinations under the Navigation tab of the Maxthon Setup Center panel.
Looking for something on our portal straight from Maxthon is as easy as typing in the alias corresponding to the section you want the search to be performed in, followed by your query. The sections supported are Windows Software (alias “download”), Drivers (alias “driver”), Games (alias “game”) and Scripts (alias “script”). As an example, if you want to look for Maxthon on Softpedia you have to type the following in the address bar: download maxthon. The page will return all the results containing the term “maxthon,” ordered by relevance.
Needless to say that you're given free hand to customizing the section with your own search aliases in order to better suit your needs.
But two characteristics stand out among all: split view and online favourite service. The first one transforms Maxthon into a dual-paned browser which allows you to view two different pages at the same time. The feature works great on a widescreen monitor. One of its advantages is that it permits you to carry on surfing while a page still struggles to load, without missing its progress.
The applicability of the second feature highlight, the online favorite service, is easy to grasp as it basically permits carrying all your favorite addresses to any Windows computer you move to. Suffice it to register with Maxthon and start the next session with a personal account in order to have all the online stored favorites with you.
On the Asian market Maxthon has been a keen competitor for Internet Explorer, even before Firefox popped out, although both of them run on the same engine. Given its customization options, ease of use and speed comparable to Mozilla's Firefox, Maxthon is a serious and convenient alternative to web browsing utilities. For a piece of the Softpedia Edition of the application check out this link.
