How to Install and Run Maxthon on Ubuntu
Nightfire: According to the schedule, the official version of Wine 1.0 was supposed to be released on June 1st, but there has been no news about the official release of Wine 1.0. Today, I saw a small tutorial on CB about how to use (wine - verb) Maxthon browser under Ubuntu Linux, and I am sharing it with everyone. I have been using Maxthon for a long time, but due to the lack of a handy browser like Maxthon in Linux, I have had to make do with Firefox 2...
Although some friends might think the whole process is meaningless, there are many valuable lessons to learn from the configuration process. I hope everyone can refer to it.
Since the settings are very complex, I will provide several key points for your reference...
Environment: Vista SP1 + Ubuntu 8.04 dual system. All updates installed.
Step one, install wine
On Ubuntu, install wine.
Note that you must install the latest version, 0.9.61 or above, older versions won't work.
This thing is a middle layer that allows Linux and MacOS to run Windows programs, not a virtual machine.
An awesome tool! Once installed, you can directly double-click .exe files to run them...
Wine 1.0 RC should also work, though I haven't tested it.
However, according to Wine's monthly update style, this thing will only get better every month and will definitely be more stable than the old version.
There are many ways to install wine. Just Google it, and you'll find plenty of information.
Note that after installing wine, you need to run its simple setup package, as the default installation will have many issues. The main problems to solve are Chinese character garbling and slow speed, as well as installing some necessary supports.
Finally, remember to run `sudo apt-get install cabextract rar unrar` to install decompression tools, otherwise, the next step won't proceed.
Step two, install IE6
Here, we use ies4linux to install IE6. Newer versions can already install the IE7 core.
As for the installation method, the same advice applies: just Google it, and you'll find plenty of information.
Note that during installation, use command-line installation instead of graphical interface, which has a 99.999% crash rate...
Make sure to set the language to CN. Use command-line installation.
For specific commands, run `ie4slinux --help` to view the help.
Be sure to install Flash 9 plugin support, which is installed by default.
Finally, copy the missing DLL files
Copy mfc42.dll and msvcp60.dll from Vista's system32 directory to
~/.ies4linux/ie6/drive_c/windows/system32
Note that after installing wine, another ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32 directory will be generated,
which is wine's intermediate environment. And the ~/.ies4linux/ie6/drive_c/windows/system32 directory is another intermediate environment created after installing ies4linux, used to support IE6. These two fake "Windows" environments are different,
and they are the key to running Maxthon.
Step three, install Maxthon.
Here, let me clarify a problem: the wine-generated environment does not include IE6 support, while the ies4linux-generated environment does!! Everyone knows that Maxthon is based on the IE core, so without IE, Maxthon cannot run. Therefore, we need to install Maxthon in the ies4linux-generated environment! Be sure!
Installation method: first run IE6, then use the "File"-"Open" menu command in IE6 to locate the Maxthon installation file for installation. This way, you can install Maxthon in the IE6-supported intermediate environment. You can also use commands to achieve the same purpose; the process is:
First run: `env WINEPREFIX="/home/your_main_folder/.ies4linux/ie6"` to tell the system that I want to use the intermediate environment generated by ies4linux to run.
Then run: `wine "c:\Maxthon Installation File.exe"` (here C: refers to the C drive in the .ies4linux environment)
During the installation process, the installer will automatically download a few files from the Maxthon website... This is very strange... Normally, under Windows, this action would not occur... Could it be???
Ignore it, just wait until it finishes.
Step four, configure the Maxthon program
At this point, it definitely won't run because it is missing a few DLLs. To find out which ones are missing, you can try running the installed Maxthon via the command line. Based on the error prompts, copy the missing DLLs from Vista to the ~/.ies4linux/ie6/drive_c/windows/system32 directory.
If the system doesn't have the missing DLLs, just Google them, and you'll find plenty of information!
To run Maxthon:
First, set the environment with `env WINEPREFIX="/home/your_main_folder/.ies4linux/ie6"`
Then run `wine "c:\Maxthon2\Maxthon.exe"`
Step five, configure the intermediate layer version
When following the method in Step four, once all the missing DLLs are found and copied to ~/.ies4linux/ie6/drive_c/windows/system32, Maxthon can be run, but an error dialog box (from Windows. Ha ha, we're getting close!) will pop up.
It still can't be used! Mainly because the intermediate layer environment simulated by ies4linux hasn't been configured and defaults to simulating Win98!
Oh no!! Maxthon 2 cannot run under Win98...
This is the most critical step! Pay attention.
Open the Wine configuration window (for the use and configuration of Wine, just Google it), add the executable file of the installed Maxthon, then set the compatibility to "WinXP" or higher versions.
Then, in the "Drives" tab, change the mapping path of the first C: drive to "/home/your_main_folder/.ies4linux/ie6/drive_c", and save. Originally, it mapped to the intermediate layer produced by Wine, but now we've changed it to the intermediate layer produced by ies4linux. Now we can use Wine's configuration tool to configure our ies4linux intermediate layer. Only this way can we forcibly change the ies4linux intermediate layer from Win98 to Vista!!
Configuration as shown in the figure:
Mission accomplished! Start Maxthon with the command in Step four... Success!
However, although this simulated Maxthon runs fast and can browse web pages normally, it occasionally has some minor issues...
Well, at least it works now, and eventually, Maxthon will run perfectly under Linux.
Hoho... Maxthon is the only reason I can't abandon Windows... There's another strange place: the title bar of Maxthon installed under Ubuntu actually shows extra words: "Maxthon(Maxthon)2.1 Special Edition"...
Very strange...
Based on netizens' information, more and more programs can be run with Wine under Ubuntu, including:
Office 2007
QQ 2008
RTX
Thunder
eMule
Photoshop CS3
Dreamweaver CS3
Flash 8
Isn't that tempting...
