Here’s a copy of an important press release that was sent to editors, writers, and bloggers around the world.

Beijing –Maxthon International this week posted a new beta version of its namesake browser, Maxthon 2.5.1, that includes a feature called The Isolator that separates the functions of each Web tab from all other tabs and other parts of the browser. The Isolator protects other tabs from also becoming frozen because a single unresponsive tab is monopolizing a computer’s resources.

Maxthon’s engineers redesigned the browser’s framework so that each tab associated with a Web site works independent of each other. With that new architecture, if a tab becomes unresponsive for any reason, the other tabs and the browser are unaffected. The computer user can continue to browse normally and can refresh, reopen, or close the tab that is creating problems.

“Basically, our technology separates the tab and the browser,” said Jeff Chen, CEO of Maxthon. “That why the tab’s problem will not affect the browser’s performance, and so the browser can be a better environment to run Web application in tabs.

“As far as I know, no other major browser has such a feature,” Chen said.

Google’s Chrome has a Crash Control feature that has a purpose similar to The Isolator, but uses a different technology. It cannot stop freezes cause by Flash programs, which Maxthon’s Isolator can prevent.

Test pages at http://maxthon.com/test/ provide different examples of tabs that can halt the activity of all the tabs in a browser. One shows a page where a script cannot load a Flash animation. Another emulates the effect of a tab hung on a script that has entered an endless loop. See the accompanying document, “Guidelines for Testing Maxthon Isolator Technology” (IsolatorGuidelines.doc) for a complete description of all the tests.

The effects of the test pages do stop automatically after several seconds so that they can be controlled by browsers that do not have Isolator technology.

Chen explained that tab freezes most often occur in specific situations:

When the tab is busy loading a lot of content, it will sometimes freeze. Chen said Microsoft Internet Explorer often suffers from this.

When a message box, such as an alert or warning, pops up on the page a user cannot switch to other tabs without dismissing the box, something the box does not always cooperate with. All major browsers have this problem, Chen said

When the tab has some other control, such as a Flash game, that is using a lot of processing time, the tab it is in may freeze, bring down the browser’s other tabs with it, a common occurrence in other major browsers, Chen said.

The new version, designated 2.5.1.4571, includes other fixes, changes, and improvements. Among them are improved plug-in security, and a “save as” function in the Collector, Maxthon’s build in, tabbed notepad.

Maxthon with Isolator technology is available for download at http://dl.maxthon.cn/mx2/mx_2.5.1.4751.exe. The Isolator is still being tweaked, and COM plug-ins originally designed for Internet Explorer have temporarily been disabled. Older versions of Maxthon without Isolator may be downloaded from the Maxthon archives at www.maxthon.com/download.htm. All versions of Maxthon are free.

Maxthon has some 10 million users in China, and more than 2 million in the rest of the world.

 Don ‘t just surf the Web. Seize it!

 

These directions let you run various tests that target Maxthon’s new Isolator Technology, showing how it keeps one frozen tab spreading frostbite to the rest of the tabs.

 

By Jin Jiang, Maxthon Web-Front Team

 

(Warning!: The following tests, which can be found at http://maxthon.com/test/,  will slow down or even freeze your browser if it doesn’t support Isolator Technology.)

 

With Maxthon’s new Isolator protection, if a page tab becomes unresponsive, the other tabs and the browser are unaffected. The user  continues to browse normally, and takes care of the problematic tab  by refreshing, reopening, or closing it. (Note: Temporarily, The Isolator may not function perfectly while COM plug-ins or IE extensions are enabled.)

 

Script Test (http://maxthon.com/test/freeze_by_js.htm)

The Web page opened by this link will execute an overwhelming amount of Javascript that will slow down or even freeze a browser if it doesn’t support Isolator Technology. 

 

DOM Operation Test (http://maxthon.com/test/freeze_by_dom.htm)  

The Web page opened by this link performs a large number of DOM operations.

 

HTTP Request Test (http://maxthon.com/test/freeze_by_ajax.htm) 

The Web page opened by this link sends HTTP requests continuously. A browser without Isolator Technology has no breathing room to carry out the page’s requests, much less requests from other tabbed pages.

 

Flash Test (http://maxthon.com/test/freeze_by_as.htm)

This Web page displays an Adobe Flash animation that must load large graphics and demands a high degree of processing time to manipulate those graphics. The test lasts for 15 seconds. During that time, without Isolator protection, the CPU may be overloaded, bogging down not only the browser but other programs.

 

Solution

For all these situations, substitute Maxthon 2.5 for whatever browser you have been using. The Isolator Technology in Maxthon 2.5 will pass all these tests. When any of these tests overloads one page displayed in Maxthon, the Isolator restricts that page tab from raiding nearby tabs for resources. You can still browse other tabs freely, refresh the offending tab, or close it. 

 

 

[Isolator Guidelines 2.55.62.doc]

Copyright © 1999-2009 Maxthon International Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t just surf the Web. Seize it!