Hi all' I have installed Maxthon Browser and am checking it out. So far i think it's pretty good. However I can't find a place that tells me what country makes it. Can anyone tell me? Thanks in advance.
I would be more concerned with not where a software company is based but with said company's history / current standing as far as trust is concerned. Google will usually bring plenty of results to make a wise decision. I have tried it myself as I have tried many browsers out there, I just prefer Opera myself. On a side note, I use a Russian security software (DefenseWall) and a Chinese software for security purpose (ShadowDefender) My opinion is that Maxthon browser is no less secure then a any other decent browser out there.
Thanks guys for the input. I actually like the Maxthon browser. I too use Shadow Defender at times. My only concern is if they phone home with my info.
In 1999, current CEO Ming Jie "Jeff" Chen founded Hong Kong-based Mysoft International Limited to distribute the MyIE browser.[16] In 2005 the company received seed funding from venture capital firm WI Harper Group and Morten Lund, the first Skype investor, and Chen moved the company to Beijing.[17][18]In 2006, Maxthon received further investment from the US-based venture capital firm Charles River Ventures.[19] On April 10, 2007, TechCrunch reported that Google had invested at least US$1 million in Maxthon;[20] this was denied the following day by Chen.[21]However, in an interview with the Chinese portal Sina.com, Chen did not rule out future "co-operation" between the two businesses.[22] Maxthon won CNET WebWare 100 Awards in 2008[10] and 2009,[11] and was #97 in PCWorld’s list of the 100 Best Products of 2011.[12] Maxthon was one of the twelve browsers Microsoft presented in 2010 at BrowserChoice.eu, a website that allows users of Windows residing in the European Economic Area to choose which default web browser they would like to use on their computer.[23] In late 2010 Maxthon began releasing new compatibilities, including browsers for Android[8] Mac,[24] iPhone[25] and iPad.[26] As of August 2012, Maxthon is still in the first tier of browsers in BrowserChoice.eu after the removal of Apple Safari.[27] The Maxthon Cloud Browser was released on December 10, 2012.[28] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxthon I've been using Maxthon for years, IMO it's the best browser out there.
If it is closed source then expect it to phone home. If it is open source then expect it to be exploited. Either way whatever you put out there is going to find its way into appropriate hands.
Daveski17: Thanks for the history of Maxthon, it looks solid. It would be great if it supported NoScript.
You're welcome. I believe Mx was around even before Firefox. I used the Gecko engined Maxthon at one time. It has so much built in it doesn't really need that many extensions, if any. The only one I actually use is Flager, which at least has WOT results, not unlike Flagfox. The extensions often don't keep up with Mx's relatively regular upgrades. Like Chrome it has its own flashplayer. There are even ways of adding DuckDuckGo and Start Page as the default search engine. Flager: http://extension.maxthon.cn/detail/index.php?view_id=340 (if you use Flager I would set it to update every day in settings) PortableApps also do a version: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/maxthon_portable
I think it´s probably safe to use, a back-door would have been discovered by now, I suppose. Personally I´m not impressed by this browser at all (it could have been so much better), plus it doesn´t even have a "NoScript" extension.
I don't think it poses more security risks than any other browser based on Trident engine. Nowadays the main 3 engines are used in browsers (at least for the most popular), i.e. Blink, Trident and Gecko. The core is the essential, the rest is UI, so provided that Maxthon updates Trident core regularly, the browser should be on par with IE as far as security is concerned.
AFAIK Maxthon now uses and is based around the Blink rendering engine. The Trident core is a plug-in to the version of IE you are running. The core can be changed however. I only run Mx with the Blink engine. Also the inbuilt adblocker only works in Blink mode. In this way I'm guessing it is as safe as Chrome (x86) at least. Maxthon also runs on Macs and Linux.
Oh, sorry for misleading. I tried Mx once a few years ago and it used IE core at the time. Anyway up to date browser core (regardless browser) is essential for security.
I think when you download Mx on Windows it utilises the Trident (IE) core as default, it can be changed in the GUI drop-down menu. This was the same when Mx used Gecko instead of Blink pre version 3. In fact Mx was originally called MyIE2 I believe.
