I prefer Quake 2 Evolved over Quake2Max because it has better graphics and more options. Both are able to run the mission packs. In Q2E you can select the packs from the menu and in Q2M you need to start them with the "+set game" parameter.
First I had some trouble installing it with the texture pack, because it took me a while to find some step by step instructions somewhere online. That was annoying. Then I've been having performance issues, but that could just be my lame machine. Tweaking the settings just right hasn't been a breeze, I still haven't got it 'dialed in'. Also the Mission packs won't run, they crash on start-up, I haven't even begun to try to figure out why that is. I'm still playing 'Duke32', it's a blast from the past.