71
Safari
Released January, 2003
The Pros:Text boxes can be resized. Very cool find interface. Open source rendering engine shared with Google Chrome.
The Cons:Firefox has better/more extensions. Can't press "/" to bring up find. No native Linux support.
Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included in Mac OS X. It was first released as a public beta on January 7, 2003, and was included as the default browser in Mac OS X v10.3. A beta version for Microsoft Windows was released for the first time on June 11, 2007 with support for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Safari has also been run unofficially on Linux under Wine, but the GUI and graphics do not render properly.
In February 2009 the beta for Safari 4 was released. This release includes a complete visual redesign and multiple new features such as full page zoom, speculative loading, ACID 3 compliance, a new and improved JavaScript engine and Cover Flow for websites.
Originally the browsers layout drew many comparisons to Firefox, though lacking Firefox's modularity. As of Safari 4 however, the developers have gone for a more Google Chrome like appearance. Safari includes a built-in RSS reader, native Quicktime support, an integrated pop-up ad blocker and a Web Inspector - a DOM Inspector-like utility that lets users and developers browse the Document Object Model of a web page.
As of January 2009 the market share held by Safari is a respectable 8.29%.
User Reviews (24)
Pros & Cons
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13
Text boxes can be resized
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10
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9
Open source rendering engine shared with Google Chrome
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7
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6
doesnt crash as easily as IE
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6
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5
Clean uncluttered user interface
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4
Much faster than IE or Firefox
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4
fastest JavaScript engine of any browser (version 4)
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3
compatible with SMBL/Input Manager plugins
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3
compatible with greasekit
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3
Passed Acid 3 Test 100% with Webkit
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3
Driving force behind HTML5
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2
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2
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1
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18
Firefox has better/more extensions
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4
Can't press "/" to bring up find
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2
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-2
Not fully functional with all sites
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-2
Installs with nasty updater
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-2
Windows version looks like MacOS version what causes rendering problems
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-3
windows version is extremely vulnerable
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Comments (3)
Omar:
#safari ya, i have to say that Safari4 is a major step above Safari3. The speed is definitely there, and right now is comparable to Chrome which is nice. Plus it has the better "Awesome Bar" from Firefox, so that's a big plus. Personally, I like the built-in dev tools of the new Safari better than Chrome, however the functionality is still a step below Firebug.
Overall I have to say that I'm really liking the new trend with browsers emphasizing speed and cleanliness over bloated features. Chrome really shook everyone up and for that I do thank Google. With all this competition it'll be really interesting to see how things shape up over the year.
Feb 27, 09
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shadowtech:
#safari With a few added plugins for the Mac version, it's everything I personally need in a browser.
Unfortunately the Windows version does not feature such plugin support, thus Firefox is still a better browser on that platform, in my opinion.
Feb 26, 09
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exumer:
#safari Its a better alternative to Internet Explorer, but cannot beat the new version of Firefox.
May 15, 08
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