Avant Browser

What works

The application installs and starts.  You're limited to navigating to webpages by means of the location/address bar and having keyboard focus on a link.  The cursor icon changes to a hand whenever it is over a link, but there's no functionality (and the message, "fixme:mshtml:HTMLDocument_elementFromPoint (0x1a4f20)->(578 474 0x33fb7c)", is displayed).  Setting up options works (and stick).  The problem with the location/address bar flickering has been handled.  Clicking on the Avant Browser tray icon works (left or right clicks).

What does not

Clicking on a link.  You can navigate around a page by searching, but clicking on links is out or almost anything else to do with cursor on the application is non-functional.  Occasionally, the browser will also hang, but there's no error messages from Wine about it.  While you can use the keyboard commands to go to the location/address bar, if you try to type something, the app thinks you're entering another keyboard shortcut.  You can get around this by clicking on the address/location bar and making sure the vertical bar (aka 'pipe') cursor is present.  Typing now will show what you type and not mimic a keyboard shortcut.

Workarounds

What was not tested

Ad-blockng, flash suppression, and I'm sure a lot of other stuff.

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU:
• Driver:

Additional Comments

On versions of Wine prior to 0.9.8 (you shouldn't really be doing this, use the latest version of Wine), the operation of the browser appears to work better if:

1) You start-up the browser with the following command:

WINEDLLOVERRIDES='ole32=n' wine c:\program files\avant browser\avant.exe

2) And turn-off the 'Address' bar (View->Address Bar).  Once you turn-off the 'Address' bar, the UI seems to start responding more correctly (not perfectly, but more correctly).

The AvantBrowser will install and run under a default wine config in 0.9.34, but doesn't render websites. Therefore, use following install/run procedure:

1. Install IE (ies4linux works for me).

2. Download and install the Avant Browser to the ies4linux WINEPREFIX location (default WINEPREFIX location for ies4linux is, ${HOME}/.ies4linux/ie6).

3. Change to the Avant Browser install directory (default location is 'C:\Program Files\Avant Browser).

4. Start the browser:

WINEPREFIX=${HOME}/.ies4linux/ie6 wine avant.exe

(See Note below if you're using a pre-0.9.8 Wine version)

5. The browser will start and a splash screen will be displayed. If the splash screen doesn't disappear of its own accord, continue on. Else, if everything appears to be working fine, stop here.

6. Click the 'View' toolbar menuitem and uncheck the 'Address Bar' option. If you can't see the toolbar, just click where the toolbar would be (the row just below the titlebar). Eventually, you'll hit a toolbar menuitem (the default menuitems position is about two-thirds the way along the top bar when maximized [initial size] and about halfway along the top bar when 'restored'), and the other menuitems should show. Click 'View' and uncheck the 'Address Bar' option.

7. Things should start going then.

On versions of Wine prior to 0.9.8, the operation of the browser appears to work better if:

1) You start-up the browser with the following command:

WINEDLLOVERRIDES='ole32=n' wine c:\program files\avant browser\avant.exe

2) And turn-off the 'Address' bar (View->Toolbars->Address Bar).  Once you turn-off the 'Address' bar, the UI seems to start responding more correctly (not perfectly, but more correctly).

Note: This has _not_ been tested.  It was true of AB10.1, build 41, and I'm assuming it's going to be true of AB11.0, build 25.  I'm just too lazy to try it myself. *grin*

The AvantBrowser will install and run under a default wine config in 0.9.34, but doesn't render websites. Therefore, use following install/run procedure:

1. Install IE (ies4linux works for me).

2. Download and install the Avant Browser to the ies4linux WINEPREFIX location (default WINEPREFIX location for ies4linux is, ${HOME}/.ies4linux/ie6).

3. Change to the Avant Browser install directory (default location is 'C:\Program Files\Avant Browser).

4. Start the browser:

WINEPREFIX=${HOME}/.ies4linux/ie6 wine avant.exe

(See Note below if you're using a pre-0.9.8 Wine version)

5. The browser will start and a splash screen will be displayed. If the splash screen doesn't disappear of its own accord, continue to the next step. Else, if everything appears to be working fine, stop here.

6. Click the 'View' toolbar menuitem and uncheck the 'Address Bar' option. If you can't see the toolbar, just click where the toolbar would be (the row just below the titlebar). Eventually, you'll hit a toolbar menuitem (the default menuitems position is about two-thirds the way along the top bar when maximized [initial size] and about halfway along the top bar when 'restored'), and the other menuitems should show. Click 'View' and uncheck the 'Address Bar' option.

7. Things should start going then.

On versions of Wine prior to 0.9.8, the operation of the browser appears to work better if:

1) You start-up the browser with the following command:

WINEDLLOVERRIDES='ole32=n' wine c:\program files\avant browser\avant.exe

2) And turn-off the 'Address' bar (View->Toolbars->Address Bar).  Once you turn-off the 'Address' bar, the UI seems to start responding more correctly (not perfectly, but more correctly).

Note: This has _not_ been tested.  It was true of AB10.1, build 41, and I'm assuming it's going to be true of AB11.0, build 25.  I'm just too lazy to try it myself. *grin*