CNET Says Safari 4.0 Really Is Mad Fast

[Vincent Ferrari]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49301219,00.htm' target='_blank'>http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,...49301219,00.htm</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"We determined on a PC that Safari was a whopping 42 times faster than Internet Explorer 7, just over six times faster than Internet Explorer 8, 3.5 times faster than Firefox 3, and 1.2 times faster than Google Chrome... On Mac OS X, Safari was four times faster than Firefox 3 and a depressing (for Opera) 7.5 times faster than Opera 9."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1235650527.usr18053.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Safari 4.0 is pretty darned fast.&nbsp; I've been very impressed with it since I started using it.&nbsp; In fact, it's my default browser both on Mac OS and in Windows.&nbsp; I know some people have reported stability issues, but I haven't had anything of the sort.&nbsp; What made me make it my default browser was the speed, and frankly once you get past the really long startup time (it does take longer than Firefox or IE to startup) it's just blazing fast.</p>

[Dyvim]

I'm testing it in Safari 4 for PC now, but no way is Safari becoming my default PC browser until there's an adblock plugin available for Safari for Windows. Truthfully I haven't noticed much of a speed difference- I think most of my delays come from the websites themselves and/or my cable connection rather than my browser's rendering speeds. Really I have no complaints on speed in any browser I use.

Other things that bug me about Safari as compared to Firefox:
1. Where's the Home button? I use it a lot.
2. Why can't they have little site-specific icons in the bookmarks toolbar or bookmarks menu. I didn't realize how much I rely on those images to navigate around until I try doing it in Safari which is text only. And yet Firefox fits more bookmarks horizontally with the icons than Safari does without. Edit: looks like Safari does show the icons in the bookmarks menu but still not on the toolbar, which is where I need it the most.

[Janak Parekh]

I would assume that Safari gets even faster as the debugging stuff is removed in the final release. I'm so looking forward to installing it then. :) (I use lots of webpages for work, so I want to make sure it's as stable as possible before I switch to it. Safari 3.2.1 will suffice for now, although I'm getting impatient. ;))

--janak

[Vincent Ferrari]

I'm testing it in Safari 4 for PC now, but no way is Safari becoming my default PC browser until there's an adblock plugin available for Safari for Windows. Truthfully I haven't noticed much of a speed difference- I think most of my delays come from the websites themselves and/or my cable connection rather than my browser's rendering speeds. Really I have no complaints on speed in any browser I use.

Other things that bug me about Safari as compared to Firefox:
1. Where's the Home button? I use it a lot.

Third icon from the left? I wonder where yours went...

2. Why can't they have little site-specific icons in the bookmarks toolbar or bookmarks menu. I didn't realize how much I rely on those images to navigate around until I try doing it in Safari which is text only. And yet Firefox fits more bookmarks horizontally with the icons than Safari does without. Edit: looks like Safari does show the icons in the bookmarks menu but still not on the toolbar, which is where I need it the most.

I totally agree and I use the favicons constantly. In fact, I'd rather have the option to just have favicons and no words at all. My sites are all recognizable by their favicons.

[Vincent Ferrari]

I would assume that Safari gets even faster as the debugging stuff is removed in the final release. I'm so looking forward to installing it then. :) (I use lots of webpages for work, so I want to make sure it's as stable as possible before I switch to it. Safari 3.2.1 will suffice for now, although I'm getting impatient. ;))

--janak

Stability for me on Mac and on Windows has not been a problem, honestly, which is already a step up from the last version of Safari which was fine on the Mac but as unstable as a drunken NASCAR driver on Windows.

[Dyvim]

Third icon from the left? I wonder where yours went....
Where? At the address bar level next to Previous\Next?
Or at the boomarks toolbar level next to show bookmarks and top sites?

Because I don't see it in either place. (BTW, this is PC I'm talking about).

Another gripe: No add bookmark context menu item (I know there's a + button way up in the top left but I have a 1920x1200 screen and it's a pain to mouse over there every time). Is there a keyboard shortcut for Add bookmark?

[Dyvim]

Third icon from the left? I wonder where yours went...
Ok I finally figured it out. Apparently you need to use the "Customize Toolbar" menu option and drag the Home button that is available there over to your toolbar. Score -1 on ease of use for Apple on this one (IMO).

[doogald]

I'm testing it in Safari 4 for PC now, but no way is Safari becoming my default PC browser until there's an adblock plugin available for Safari for Windows.

This (http://www.fritscher.ch/blog/2008/09/03/google-chrome-adblock-with-privoxy/) should work. I actually use something similar on the Mac, and it's great; it works with all browsers, not just a single one, and the one that I am using (GlimmerBlocker) has a very nice interface for creating your own rules. (I'm not sure about privoxy, but I'd bet that it does.)

At least on the Mac side, I like this solution more, because the problem with add-ins (for Safari, anyway) is that they can cause problems when the browser itself is updated.

Truthfully I haven't noticed much of a speed difference- I think most of my delays come from the websites themselves and/or my cable connection rather than my browser's rendering speeds. Really I have no complaints on speed in any browser I use.

I'd guess that the more javascript on a page, the more you would notice the speed. As I was really using Safari 3 before (which I found slightly faster than FF 3), it's hard to really compare, but it does really seem to render pages faster for me.

1. Where's the Home button? I use it a lot.

If you click on the "gear" drop down control on the right hand side of the toolbar, there is a menu option "customize toolbar". From there you can drag a home icon onto the toolbar.

And, having answered your questions, if I was on Windows, I'd probably use FF3 as my browser anyway.

[Vincent Ferrari]

Ok I finally figured it out. Apparently you need to use the "Customize Toolbar" menu option and drag the Home button that is available there over to your toolbar. Score -1 on ease of use for Apple on this one (IMO).

Just for the record, I didn't have to do this on either system (Mac or Windows).

Oh well. Glad you found it :-)

[doogald]

Is there a keyboard shortcut for Add bookmark?


The universal Ctrl-D/Cmd-D works. For what it's worth, if you are adding to the Bookmark Bar, you can just drag the Favicon to a spot.

I actually use the Bookmark Bar almost exclusively, and I have menus of Bookmarks there. You can set the menus to open all of the bookmarks with a single click if you wish, as well.

[Dyvim]

Thanks doogald for the keyboard shortcut, favicon drag tip, and the link to privoxy. Now I can test Safari 4 ad-free. And I have my Home button back to boot!

But yeah, I still don't foresee it replacing FF3 on my PC (and maybe not even on my Mac), although I like the eye candy of the history browser.

[jdmichal]

It's OK... Give the Firefox devs a couple weeks and I'm sure there will be a very similar extension available. :)

[Macguy59]

2. Why can't they have little site-specific icons in the bookmarks toolbar or bookmarks menu. I didn't realize how much I rely on those images to navigate around until I try doing it in Safari which is text only.

Really ? I don't see the difference in navigation ease between the text and fav icon *shrugs* Unless you're one to keep changing the order of the sites on the bar, don't you just get accustomed to where they are located ?

[Macguy59]

I'm not seeing much if any speed difference (at least in the sites I frequent) between S4 and FF3

[Vincent Ferrari]

Really ? I don't see the difference in navigation ease between the text and fav icon *shrugs* Unless you're one to keep changing the order of the sites on the bar, don't you just get accustomed to where they are located ?

I can't speak for others, but for me, I'm a more visual person. Text is fine, but I do prefer symbols and color (color, mostly) for identification. It's not a dealbreaker for me, but I would really like to see the option to have those favicons going. As it is now, it takes me longer to scan my bookmark links and find which one I'm looking for.

[Macguy59]

I can't speak for others, but for me, I'm a more visual person. Text is fine, but I do prefer symbols and color (color, mostly) for identification. It's not a dealbreaker for me, but I would really like to see the option to have those favicons going. As it is now, it takes me longer to scan my bookmark links and find which one I'm looking for.

But as I mentioned, unless you're constantly moving the links around I would think you have memorized where most if not all link positions are on the bar. Whatever works best for you though . . .

[doogald]

One more change that I just noticed - rather than show the text in the title bar, as Safari 3 did, when you visit an SSL site with an extended validation cert the green text showing the name of certificate holder shows up in the address bar, where it's much more obvious and easy to see. But, really - I'd prefer that it was as obvious as IE and FF 3 make it.

[Darius Wey]

I'm not seeing much if any speed difference (at least in the sites I frequent) between S4 and FF3

The difference is most noticeable in JavaScript-rich Web applications such as Gmail and Google Maps.