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Browsers are back? Maxthon gets funded

Paul Kedrosky wonders whether the independent browser market is set for a boost, now that both Flock and Beijing-based Maxthon have received VC funding. The press release stated: "Charles River Ventures (CRV) today announced that it has led an investment in Beijing-based Maxthon, the originators of the Maxthon Browser, which has been downloaded more than 55 million times since 2003.
Written by Richard MacManus, Contributor

Paul Kedrosky wonders whether the independent browser market is set for a boost, now that both Flock and Beijing-based Maxthon have received VC funding. The press release stated:

"Charles River Ventures (CRV) today announced that it has led an investment in Beijing-based Maxthon, the originators of the Maxthon Browser, which has been downloaded more than 55 million times since 2003. CRV joins early investors Morten Lund, a seed investor in Skype, and WI Harper in providing Maxthon with funds to further fuel the company's already rapid growth."

Maxthon is available for download on ZDNet, where it's described:

"Maxthon (formerly MyIE2) is a multipage browser based on the Internet Explorer core (IE 5 or 6 required). It can open multiple Web pages in just one window, and it takes only a few system resources when you're surfing with the integrated user interface."

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TechCrunch also did a review, noting that it's "a beautiful product" with a growing community (55 million downloads ain't bad).

Maxthon appears to have more features than IE7, but even so it's a tough road to hoe against Microsoft and open source Firefox. I'd be interested in ZDNet readers opinions on Maxthon - do you use it and if so, what are the differentiating factors for you?

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