I am not a big fan of Internet Explorer but whenever I have to use it for compatibility reasons I always use Avant Browser. It uses the Internet Explorer rendering engine so anything that works in IE should work great in Avant Browser. You will also find that it is jammed pack with features which will delight many of the geeks out there.
When I was browsing through the forums today I noticed that they have been working on version 11 and have just released Beta 6. I hadn’t even heard a single whisper about this but it was a very nice surprise! After downloading the 1.5MB file and installing I was prompted with a screen that I could login to. If I chose to create an account with Avant Browser it would save my information like bookmarks and passwords in my online account much like the Google Browser Sync does for Firefox. That way you can keep your work and home computer in sync. Here is what the login looks like:
One of my main concerns was how well does this version handle IE plug-ins? I put it to the test my enabling the Google Toolbar plug-in that I already had installed for IE. You have to enable the plug-in in the Avant Browser Options and once you have done that you will see an option for Google located under the View->Toolbars menu. After I did that it was working flawlessly! I haven’t noticed a single feature that doesn’t work on the toolbar correctly:
The only issue that I have is with the built-in RSS reader. It lets you view your feeds Outlook-style but when you click on an article to view it you will only see a summary. I haven’t found an option anywhere that will let me view the full feed which is a little disappointing. If someone sees that option please let me know.
I have only been running this build for a few hours now but it is extremely stable and I haven’t noticed any severe memory leaks. If you are looking for an alternative to Internet Explorer then it looks like the new Avant Browser will be the place to go.
Enjoyed the post? Subscribe to our feed to get a daily dose of CyberNet!
Tags: Pre-Release, Software
Related Posts:
- Avant Browser Update 10.1.038 Now Released
- Another Web Browser Update This Week…Avant Browser
- CyberNotes: Introducing Avant Browser 11
- CyberNotes: An Early Look At Maxthon 2
- CyberNotes: Your Week In Review With Sunday’s Summary
Um, it appears they are actually up to Beta 8.
Yeah, they are definitely post those updates pretty quick. By tomorrow we should see Beta 14
.
-Ryan
I’ve was pointed to Avant Browser over a year ago and loved it. If you’re a IE user I would highly recommend it.
I agree…I would use it over IE 7 any day. However, it is so extremely powerful out-of-the-box that I think it might turn some people off to using it. Kinda like Opera in my opinion.