The new Maxthon Cloud Browser

http://www.maxthon.com/?lang#product

It's still a RC (release candidate). The description sounds interesting. Anyone tested?

 

That looks like a nice idea. But, anytime "cloud" is mentioned, privacy and security concerns come up. Namely, where will the browsing data go? I hate to sound paranoid, but I think it's a legitimate question to ask how this all works.

 

AFAIK, locally. And to their servers if you enable the Maxthon Passport account and related features.

"All user data is encrypted to ensure security."

I read this on the product description for Mac.

 

I upgraded to & then uninstalled Maxthon 4. I may have another look at it one day.

 

Were there specific issues you had, or was it just not your cup of tea? I've yet to try it myself, I've spent some time in the forum there and I admit I'm finding some difficulty figuring out what the developer is planning for it. It seems some users look at it as a step backward as well. I couldn't say since I haven't used Maxthon very recently.

 

Based on a quick look, it appears to me that "Maxthon Cloud Browser" is basically an ordinary browser with built-in sync (settings, history, bookmarks, usernames/passwords/form data, tabs, etc) and built in backup/sharing (notes, snippets, links, files, etc) features. That's some sensitive data that will be passed through and/or stored on their servers. So anyone considering it should thoroughly investigate the details and potential gotchas.

 

Doesn't seem that special. It just sounds like they're getting sync and calling it cloud, which is fine, that's what sync is, but it's not like they're doing anything new.

 

personally i wont trust any cloud browsing unless they proof all the data is being encrypted with a pass provided by user!

 

This actually came out December 21st. It has had 3 versions released since then, mostly patches. Maxthon doesn't require cloud implementation, the cloud feature is really to just sync up everything between devices and computers, and is entirely optional. Essentially it is a reworking of Maxthon 3. One of the better features is that it can find errors on pages, and instantly reload the page with another more compatible engine. (ultra vs compatibility mode)

Maxthon is serious business, and the CEO takes privacy and security quite seriously. Maxthon is pretty fast, and uses either Webkit or IE-10 rendering engine within it, with some security features overtop of it. It isn't the prettiest browser out there, but effective nonetheless. Skinning features do not work with version 4, which is disturbing but likely will be fixed as the browser is somewhat ugly. There are a few really nice tweaks you can do with it that make it even faster, and more sexy.

Jeff Chen is a good guy. Here he is releasing the new browser;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th81-3Bmlp4

In contrast, 4-5 years ago when it started as a hobby to make a 'better' browser, and expanded from there;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrppQ0HHpiU

 

AFAIK it always had cloud/sync.

 

Well, I upgraded, I couldn't re-skin it, & it kept asking me for my email address. Since I haven't really been using Maxthon for a bit I thought I would uninstall it & have a look another time. I probably used the portable more than the normal version. I don't use that now either.

 

Yeah, skins are a no-go for now. As for the email address, nope, not sending my email address to them. It really shouldn't be nagging you unless you were trying to set up an account for the cloud service. I'm not all that interested in the product as it sits now. Besides, between trying out IE 10, FF 18 and waiting on Chrome to push v25 through to the Beta channel, my hands are full, lol.

 

You don't need to send them your primary/most important personal email address, you can setup a secondary account just for using with the Maxthon Passport (and then disable the features you believe to be "insecure").

 

Either way, for me, it seemed like a bit of a rigmarole to set up an email account just for Maxthon 4. If I want to synch across my computers I just use Chrome. I've actually had a Gmail account far longer than I've actually used Chrome, so although Chrome isn't my usual browser, it simplifies things somewhat to just sign into it.

 

Well, as I already have several disposable email accounts on various providers ready to be used for testing things, I see the whole process as trivial.

As for syncing, I'm currently using the Opera Link service (except for passwords and secure notes, where I prefer LastPass, and RSS Feeds, where I prefer Google Reader) and it works very well - my primary browser is Opera on all my devices. But it's good to know that Maxthon has powerful syncing functionality (going from what one can read in the Maxthon Cloud Browser's preliminary descriptions, it is the most powerful syncing functionality of any browser, in terms of pure functionality).

 

Yeah, but I have better things to do with my time.

I don't know how Maxthon compares to any other browser for synching. AFAIK it always had this ability. I don't use Opera link, even though I use Opera a lot. I never used synchronisation on Maxthon either.

 

Great. For those who have not, the option of using disposable email accounts remains useful. My comment was "general".

Yeah, but this update/upgrade seems to have improved and expanded Maxthon's syncing/cloud features. I'll have to test it before commenting any further - something I don't have time and patience to do now.

 

I agree Mman79. I just asked the same thing about this "cloud" fad. I still have yet to find out what exactly gets transmitted, and even more, how quickly so many jumped into all the cloud based apps, especially AV. We always get assurances of safety, no personal data, etc., but I do not think we really know what truly gets transmitted. Every website we visit, what about personal data we transmit to purchase something online?

You have a valid question indeed, and one I have wondered about. Sorry, I just do not trust "today's" internet due to so many ways to breach ones privacy. I have nothing to hide, but I do not like the idea of never knowing where all this data is truly going...the "cloud" to me sounds too easy to abuse, but on the other hand, i do not think overall, no matter how one sets up their security, that we are truly "secure" period. More safe, maybe, but never fully secure. Not even sure that is possible without disconnecting ones internet and using computers only for local work.

Jim

 

Good grief.!..Are people really getting this paranoid.?.May as well unplug the computer and be done with it.

Most security products today use a cloud function of some sort.Are we not to trust them now.On that note it comes down to trust and if there is not any trust then we may as well sling in the towel and forget the internet altogether.

I have yet to hear people complain about using cloud scanners and online cloud storage.Those businesses are surviving just fine.Too much scaremongering going on and people are becoming afraid of their own shadows.

 

I haven't used the latest Maxthon, but in the past I have used Maxthon and really like the Maxthon Passport for syncing by bookmarks and settings.

It is nice how you can configure it on one computer, and then when you run it on another computer and login to your Maxthon account it will retreive your custom configuration and bookmarks as well. However, a while back a new version of Maxthon seemed not to be able to retrieve the configuration from previous versions, so I ditched it. For example I had configured several custom searches, and did not want to have to set that up again.

 

OK, I’ve been running the Maxthon 4.0.5.2000 (& then 4.0.5.3000) portable (PortableApps) for about three days now. Apart from its ‘Windows 8‘ ugliness due to a distinct lack of skins (different skins were normally included & could also be downloaded) Maxthon is as good as it always was. Not all of the extensions/add-ons seem to be working in this #4 series but ‘Maxthon Flag’ (similar to Flagfox) & ‘Flash Block’ seem to work well. Maxthon Flag particularly runs quickly & doesn’t ‘hang’ displaying a previous website like it would often do in the past.

I’m not using the cloud/sync feature yet, & I’m not sure if I will, but it should be fine from what I have heard. The inbuilt adblocker is definitely improved & has a content blocker for ads that slip by. It’s not quite up to ABP on Firefox but is more or less as good as ABP on Chrome. Maxthon is still blisteringly fast & has probably the best inbuilt reader mode (including a ‘Night Mode’) that I have used since Safari, which its reader is based on I believe. The RSS feed is very good & even has a deliberate provision to transfer your Google reader feeds in case you miss Google Reader when it disappears.

I don’t know if it has any major security concerns as a browser. All the other goodies are in the package, the Multi Search function is still very good plus the resource sniffer, translator etc are all still there. It can be run in WebKit or IE mode as always. If the Chromium based Opera is as good as this it will be successful. My only real gripe is that there is still no British English spellchecker as far as I know.

 

I'm sure there are holes in there, but that's every browser. Unlike FF, IE and Chrome though, there's not much out there in the way of targeted attacks that I've seen. So, "security through obscurity" seems to be beneficial here. You know, I've stopped worrying about ad blockers. They all miss stuff. Even if you load yourself down with lists in ABP with FF it will miss things, especially on foreign websites. You can't really rely on the crafted foreign lists for ABP either since, in my experience with them at least, they aren't very well maintained.

Try out MVPS HOST if you want out of the way, pretty effective ad blocking. I've found it has better overall coverage, without the little quirks brought on by users requesting this and that be blocked for one site in one instance, or other situations. ABP lists are great, but they too often overlap and include entries some guy in Brazil wanted for his certain case, that breaks things for your case. It's harder to manually block and edit lists with a HOST file, but, well, there are downsides to everything we do

Anyway, I haven't tried Maxthon since I last posted in here on it. I'm bummed about the skins loss and, well, extensions working or not completely depends on if I need those extensions. I'll still likely give it another go.

 

Surely that is a concern which involves all browsers and not just maxthon.
For that matter all cloud software could be put under question.

 

I said that back in January and this is twice you've basically said "If you don't like the cloud, you're paranoid". No, it isn't a concern with all browsers because all browsers don't have full on cloud abilities. All cloud software can be put under question. Just because you're not afraid of something going wrong doesn't mean that something can't go wrong. The "cloud" as a service and a way of doing things is still in its infancy, and there are still lots of uncertainties in using it. It has nothing to do with paranoia and a lot to do with securing the data, liability when things do go wrong such as the cloud provider suffering failures of a sort and more. Of course Maxthon cloud usage and corporation-wide cloud storage are entirely different, but the cloud is the cloud and these issues still need sorting out.


If you trust the cloud to never fail, never have a human problem behind it, and so on, go for it, enjoy it. The cloud has plenty of beneficial possibilities. But to say everyone should just blindly trust it and the people behind it no matter what, well, as David Hannum put it, "There's a sucker born every minute".

 

The 'cloud' aspect to Maxthon 4 is just a marketing gimmick IMO. It always had this ability, they are just emphasising it a bit more. You don't have to buy into it.