PC Review: Max's HTML Beauty

Max's HTML Beauty is a dangerous HTML editor for married men — opening it in front of the wife could result in severe injury. While Max's is a very good editor, the beauty comes in the form of bikini-clad women pictured at startup and on the Web site.

The features in this free program created by Serbian Marko Njezic (a.k.a. Max) are many, and using the program is a snap for those who have a working knowledge of HTML. It has 28 Tag Designers that account for almost every HTML tag, a Power Toolbar that does likewise, built-in JavaScripts, and a nice internal preview that is accessible by clicking on a tab on the side of the HTML screen.

Users can start a file with a blank screen or an HTML, style sheet, CGI, or JavaScript file with the necessary basics included.

Among features included are customizable syntax highlighting, unlimited undo/redo, drag & drop editing, right-click tag editing, keyboard macros, auto updating code snippets, custom tag library, and tag case changing.

Users can have as many files open as their computer system can handle. Spell checking works through Microsoft Word, if it's available, and does so with good speed.

But let's get back to those afore-mentioned Tag Designers. These are accessible from either the menu, main toolbar, or the power bar which is located right below the others. The Windows-like menu expands to provide the options needed, or users can open a dialog box related to the item with which they are working.

The table dialog box (right) is typical of those in the program, offering choices for dimensions, attributes, backgrounds, colors, and objects. Users can also use the Quick Table option located under the Tables tab in the power menu. Unlike those that have a tiny grid, this simply has a place to insert the number of rows and columns and a check mark to click to insert it into the code.

Other dialog boxes are available for fonts, frames, lists, forms, and scripts. For quick use, there is also a font bar that enables users to choose the font and size of type they desire. Normally, that might not be a big deal, but Max's can also work quite well as a text editor for non-HTML use.

In addition to the spell checker, the program offers a grammar checker and built-in support for HTML Tidy, to help users make sure their code is correct. The program is also boosted by its find & replace features which can cover a file or a group of files.

The program's resource panel gives users access to a tree-style file menu, project management, snippets (users can add their own), a tag library, and special characters. All of those items are convenient to locate and use.

Inserting graphics into an HTML file is easy, too. The program opens an internal program — Max's Beauty/Browser Viewer++ — for going through your hard drive to locate and preview graphics, optimize .GIFS or convert .GIFS and .JPEGS to WBMP for use with WAP-compatible mobile phones, all without opening a graphics editor.

Built-in JavaScripts currently include a menu, scroller, navigation, and slideshow, with a promise of many more to come as the program's construction reaches completion.

While the version used in writing this review and experimenting on Web building is a pre-release, it did perform flawlessly. Clearly, the guy who made the program had something else on his mind besides bikinis.

Max's HTML Beauty is reminiscent of Allaire's HomeSite, but seems to be smaller and quicker. Whether that translates to better is up to the individual user, but Max's is well worth trying.

What is it called again? Max's HTML Beauty ++ ME Pre-Release

Where can I get it? http://www.max.co.yu/htmlbeauty/

How much does it cost? Nada

How much space does it require? 1.86 MB.

Is it worth it? Sure, provided your wife isn't looking over your shoulder when you start the program.