The "Avant Browser" Is Wonderful... I Love It!!!

[arwalden]

Have you ever tried surfing with a tabbed web browser?

Try Avant Browser, an upgrade to Internet Explorer. Avant Browser is a fast, stable, user-friendly, versatile multi-window browser.

Avant Browser is freeware. That's right. No cost to you ever. No limitations. You can donate if you want, but it's certainly not required.

http://www.avantbrowser.com/

[BigMcLargehuge]

1. I use the tabbed browsing feature in Safari

can't imagine how I got along without it before.

[Ivory_Tower]

2. Sounds like Opera

I've like the MDI design of Opera -- this looks similar. Is "tabbed browsing" something different, or is that just a different term for MDI?

I might have to check this one out. I still have occasional glitch issues with Opera (but each release gets better).

[arwalden]

4. Yep... It's The Same Concept...

One application button appears on your taskbar and each new browser window is a "child window" rather than a new instantiation of the application. (Did I say that right?)

-- Allen

[sybylla]

3. Netscape 7.X is tabbed also

Upgraded earlier in the summer and love the tabbing. Seemed awkward at first but now I wouldn't go back.

[arwalden]

5. It Automatically Kills POPUPS!! Toggling on/off Java and Flash...

... is a SNAP via a dropdown menu option under the "Tools" menu. (You don't have to search through the "Options" tab-card dialog box scroller. Avant makes it very easy!

[cprise]

11. Netscape, Mozilla, Opera have had this for years

And what a shocker... they've got people excited over turning off Java and Flash, the only two non-MS technologies that are added to web pages.

Funny... Mozilla allows me to block popups and even entire ad sites, without shutting off Java and Flash. What's more, I can tell Mozilla to accept cookies only from sites that I specify (a great privacy feature). And Mozilla doesn't contain ActiveX, an MS technology almost no one uses... except as a backdoor for spreading viruses.

I know you feel hip and savvy having found this "upgrade", but instead of just a dog what you have now is a dog in a tutu.

[cprise]

6. Sad that Avant has to 'upgarde' IE

...because Microsoft won't get off their duff.

Too bad this won't fix the many BUGS and security holes that IE contains. Many of the HTML features it 'supports' are broken in some interesting way so web designers have to work around these problems. And aside from the most glaring security holes, MS is not going to fix these problems anytime soon.

[ironflange]

7. Avant is nice

I used to use it, but now I use Mozilla Firebird. I don't have to associate with IE at all now.

[BattyDem]

8. It looks great but

it's an upgrade for IE, so I won't try it. I use Netscape 7.x for browsing and email - it doesn't have the security holes that IE/Outlook has. Everytime a virus makes the rounds, all my IE/Outlook using friends and relatives get hit but I don't. :-) I can't get rid of Windows, because I have too much money invested in software but at least I can eliminate little bits of Microsoft from my life. ;-)

Thanks for the link - I'm going to keep my eye on this company to see if they release a standalone browser at some point. I'm always willing to try something new.

To those who never tried tabs - THEY ROCK! You'll never go back! Netscape also allows you to bookmark a group of tabs together - so if you're researching something and you have 10 tabs open, you can create one bookmark that will open all those tabs when you need them again.


By the way, if anyone is looking for a replacement to the ridiculously over-priced MS Office, check out OpenOffice. It's an open-source office suite and it's great. Did I mention it's free?
Includes:
Word Processor
Spreadsheet
Drawing and Illustration Program
Multimedia Presentation Creator
Datasource Editor
HTML Editor
MS Office compatibility
PDF export
XML inport/export
XHTML support
Flash export

versions for Windows - Linux - Mac OS X - Solaris

If you already have a recent version of office, you probably won't want this unless you really want Microsoft out of your life. But ... if you can't afford MS Office or if you have an old version, you should really check this out. I was amazed at how good it is.
http://www.openoffice.org/

[TreasonousBastard]

10. I use Opera and Mozilla, and Open Office.

OO 1.3 is like a real office suite now, although it has its limitations.

The WordPerfect Family Pack at a discount price whups its ass, and I hardly use anyting else anymore for text.

Well, except for Easy Office, which I think is the best free office suite for most people. Rock solid and does almost everything.

www.-press.com

YOu can download the small package or buy the 700MB CD cheap.

[BattyDem]

12. I never knew about Easy Office

I'll have to check it out. I'm sort of the local "tech support" for my family, friends and neighbors. (I keep saying I'm going to get a 900 number so I can make a few bucks when they call, LOL!) Anyway, I'm always gettings questions about hardware and software - one of the most frequent is "I need a word processor and a spreadsheet. I don't want to pay hundreds of dollars, so what's out there besides Microsoft Office?" :-)

[Devils Advocate NZ]

9. I think it's pretty pointless...

the "Tabbed" browser design that is.

I use IE, and the task bar is just fine as a tab bar. You open multiple windows and just switch between them on the task bar. Why add an extra row of buttons when you don't need to?

By opening multiple instances of IE using the "new window" command in the file menu, you are doing the same thing as opening a new window in this application. In fact the dialog boxes show this in IE.

If you start IE, then use the file menu to create a new window, then save the current page in a folder on your HD, when you go back to the original instance and save the current page there, you will see that the save dialog opens in the same folder as you used on the second instance.

Basically, the two instances are sharing certain global data in exactly the same way as this application does.

However if you start IE twice from the shortcut, you get two seperat unlinked copies of IE running. This DOES use more resources, but not much, because the way IE is intergrated into windows, at least one copy of IE is actually always running.

To see what I mean, open Windows Explorer and type in a URL in the address bar at the top. You'll end up seeing the web page just as if you were using IE. In fact, the desktop itself is a version of IE.

If you go to the close program dialog box, one of the base tasks of windows is "Explorer". The other is "Systray". Systray is the task bar, and "Explorer" is the desktop. "Explorer" is the same code that runs "Windows Explorer" (it points to the same EXE file) and all of them are linked to the same DLL files as IE.

This was what the whole Netscape/MS anti-trust suit was about. MS intentionally built the internet functionality into Windows so that they could claim that IE is part of the operating system rather than a seperate application.

When you uninstall IE, all you are really doing is disabling the specific web browser called IE. I believe that even with IE uninstalled you can still browse the web in an IE like interfact using Windows Explorer.

Basically, the whole lot is linked together in such a way that running IE is really no extra overhead, no matter how many copies you have open. Hell I sometimes have up to 30 IE windows open at once, and never experience any kind of slow down.

So, for me, the screen real estate is the prime concern, and thus having an extra row of buttons above the task bar to do exactly what the task bar does seems rather redundant to me.

[cprise]

13. Software trusts and extra overhead

"This was what the whole Netscape/MS anti-trust suit was about. MS intentionally built the internet functionality into Windows so that they could claim that IE is part of the operating system rather than a seperate application."

You described the means, not the end. MS welded the HTML components to Windows so they could achieve an instant >90% browser market penetration without having to work for it.

What's funny is that people will download new wrappers for IE and think they've upgraded to something new and unusual.

In any case, IE extacts it's toll in extra overhead everytime you start Windows. And as much as people dislike the application pre-load functions that sit in your system tray and make your boot times longer, there is no choice in the matter when it comes to the (now invisible) IE pre-load. If you use a non-Microsoft browser, MS is still wasting your time and resources.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

19. That is my point...

Does adding EXTRA overhead to the overhead that is already there in the background make sense? Until MS actually removes the IE code from windows then no matter what browser you run in the foreground, IE is runnning in the background anyway.

So, if system resources are the problem, you are far better sticking with IE.

Now if tabbed browsing is the ONLY thing this browser does better than IE (which it doesn't as I have pointed out, it just adds a level of redundancy) then there is no point using it.

If you are switching to Mozilla then you need to recognise that you aren't really getting rid of IE, and thus some IE problems still exist and you still have to keep up with the IE patches, just to be sure.

[lazarus]

15. I don't even use the taskbar

I've got the taskbars on top and bottom on autohide, and I'm in fullscreen mode (F11). I don't even see the browser. To change windows I just alt + tab.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

20. Good point. I must try that one day :-)

I am probably going to piss some people off with this, but I actually LIKE Internet Explorer, no matter how bad some people think it is.

As an amateur programmer, I REALLY LIKE the fact that IE is easily extensible. As this program shows, if you think there is something that IE can't do, you can write your own wrapper and do it yourself.

Basically IE allows programmers to add internet functionality to their programs easily without having to reinvent the wheel.

[arwalden]

14. I Like The "Skins"....

... not the Washington Redskins. The different button-bar styles and colors and textures are interesting.

I stay away from the WILD and overly colorful options that are too distracting, but it's still fun to change the look.

-- Allen

[DS1]

16. arwalden, for the next week, you're my freakin' HERO!

YEEE-EEESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


This is exactly what I've been looking for!!!! *My IE stand-alone is f'd up and can't open new windows, long story*

Finally! Back to fast animations and flash movies (it's a living), fast page displays, no more being told to F off because of Opera!

Ahh, sweet sweet IE in tabbed format *swoon*

[arwalden]

17. Glad You Like It. --- Also... TAKE THE TIME TO...

... actually read and try-out the "Did You Know..." informational dialog box that pops up whenever you start up AvantBrowser.

It has many useful tips and tricks that you might not have discovered otherwise.

-- Allen

[DS1]

18. I will, right now I'm reading the skin creation FAQ

might be a fun project