Managing Two Maxthon Installations (Release and Beta) Under the Same User Account


Secret-HQ

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I used to keep two Maxthon installs on my main PC — one for the current release and one for the latest beta.  This allowed me to dive into using beta versions right away and easily step back to the last major release if I encountered a problem.  In more recent years, I've been installing beta versions on another PC entirely.  Also, I've begun syncing data to the Maxthon Cloud, which is something I hadn't done in the past.  (I still like to keep a local backup of my Maxthon appdata, just in case something gets corrupted and that corruption spreads to the Maxthon Cloud and other PCs.)

With the next-generation versions of Maxthon 4.9.x and (eventually) 5.x, I'm thinking it's time to go back to keeping two installs on hand on this PC.  But now that I'm using Maxthon Cloud Sync, I'm curious:  Would both installations use the same /appdata folder?  I imagine so, but if that's the case, how much extra risk of corrupting my appdata files am I opening myself up to?

I realize I could run the beta version under another user account or on a virtual machine, but I'm curious what more involved beta testers have to say about keeping parallel installation tracks under the same Windows user account.

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Yes, they both use the same appdata folder and it did cause problems. I use a portable version of 4.4.8 and have been for sometime so I'm not sure the issues persist. 

 There were problems with Magic Fill and favorites, at least with earlier versions of 4.9., when accessing the same appdata folder.

I haven't had any problems by simply installing 4.9 clean and syncing.

So yeah, use a portable version of one or the other, there are no issues with either when syncing. I have 4.9 pinnned to the task bar and a shortcut to 4.4 on my desktop for easy access to both.

Caveat: Some issues to note, Last pages respective of instance(stored locally) as are skins and some other settings. I use different skins to easily recognize which I'm using. Also, they can't be run simultaneously.

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Thanks, @PHYR!  Different skins is a good idea.  I do the same thing with my personal and work Maxthon profiles, which have diverged quite a bit over time.

In theory, I wouldn't mind having a beta and a release version using the same appdata.  I'm just worried that the beta (or differences in how it and the release version write to those files) would create a problem, which Cloud Sync would then spread to other installs on other computers.  :wacko:

Anyone else have good/bad experiences with this sort of setup?

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not tested for a while but the early builds of 4.9 crashed with the maxthon3 folder in appdata if that folder was from a Maxthon4 install - i did some investigation at the time and it was the sidebar addon as far as i remember - they call the data in a different way [i think] causing a crash or white screen - that may all be fixed - just back up the original and try it

i run with 2 dirs in appdata and run a batch file to rename the one i want to the correct name and then run the correct version - either 4 or 4.9 - all that said i use 4.9 less and less as my everyday browser - whilst interesting it just seems too raw - its slow to load  pages and far too much does not work with it at the moment - so its still very much a test version for me

Tony     -  Vivaldi 4 on Windows 10 64Bit
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1 hour ago, Tony said:

not tested for a while but the early builds of 4.9 crashed with the maxthon3 folder in appdata if that folder was from a Maxthon4 install - i did some investigation at the time and it was the sidebar addon as far as i remember - they call the data in a different way [i think] causing a crash or white screen - that may all be fixed - just back up the original and try it

i run with 2 dirs in appdata and run a batch file to rename the one i want to the correct name and then run the correct version - either 4 or 4.9 - all that said i use 4.9 less and less as my everyday browser - whilst interesting it just seems too raw - its slow to load  pages and far too much does not work with it at the moment - so its still very much a test version for me

You've never used it as your everyday driver. I, on the other hand, have been using it for months.

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Just now, PHYR said:

You've never used it as your everyday driver. I, on the other hand, have been using it for months.

if it works for you thats good - i go back to it on each update and try it for a while but i just get too many problems on some sites i visit on a regular basis - MX4 can also give problems as sites seem determined to push people to the more popular browsers but less problems than 4.9 at this moment in time 

Tony     -  Vivaldi 4 on Windows 10 64Bit
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11 minutes ago, PHYR said:

You've never used it as your everyday driver. I, on the other hand, have been using it for months.

Likewise, I use 4.9 mostly.  But I have to fall back to 4.4.8.1000 on abc.com because I cannot successfully log into my ABC Watch account with 4.9.  No such problem with 4.4.8.1000 and earlier builds back to when ABC brought ABC Watch online.

Other than that, I haven't encountered many problems with 4.9.  Currently I'm trying to define a problem with this forum that I encounter with 4.9.0.2400 ... I can't post and editing brings up a strange dialog which doesn't let me edit.  Once I get a good enough characterization, I'll post a bug report.

PS: I have fallen back to 2300 to write this post. :(

                          <<SL>>

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20 hours ago, Tony said:

not tested for a while but the early builds of 4.9 crashed with the maxthon3 folder in appdata if that folder was from a Maxthon4 install - i did some investigation at the time and it was the sidebar addon as far as i remember - they call the data in a different way [i think] causing a crash or white screen - that may all be fixed - just back up the original and try it

Urgh.  That's just the sort of issue I'm wary of.  :(

20 hours ago, Tony said:

i run with 2 dirs in appdata and run a batch file to rename the one i want to the correct name and then run the correct version - either 4 or 4.9 - all that said i use 4.9 less and less as my everyday browser - whilst interesting it just seems too raw - its slow to load  pages and far too much does not work with it at the moment - so its still very much a test version for me

Interesting approach, @Tony!  I might not write a batch file for it, but this could be a good way to keep a Beta on hand without having to "commit" all the changes to my appdata until I'm ready to make it my default Maxthon — giving me just the buffer I need to test-drive new versions without becoming so heavily vested that reverting is a nuisance.

Regarding 4.9.x:  I'm managing to run it as my default browser, though the slowdown in page-loading is noticable to me in .2400 (whereas it wasn't in .2200).  My ongoing side project of tidying my Favorites folder while I'm on low-attention phone calls has fallen by the wayside, however, as both the Favorites Sidebar and Favorites Manager are entirely too slow to update in the latest version.  Without some improvement on that front, I may be forced to keep an install of 4.4.8 around just for managing Favorites.  :mad:

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