Safari 4: Real-world test

Final thoughts

The majority of Mac users don't use Safari, and instead opt for Firefox for its more advanced feature set and huge array of plug-ins and extensions. We don't predict this is about to change. Safari has remained a solid, fast browser, but one built around the ethos that it's better to have simple functions work quickly and efficiently, than to have clunky advanced features that make you want to kill yourself out of frustration.

It's retained all the original simplicity and stability of the previous version, while evolving to become a much more capable browser. But without plug-ins, its extended feature set won't pull Firefox devotees away from their blazing-orange love child, despite the considerable leaps it has made by its own standards.

In essence, Safari 4 actually feels like an amalgam of Google's Chrome browser and Opera 9.6. Nippy page-load times, incredible handling of Ajax-based Web apps and tabs that sit above the address bar as opposed to below it, all suggest an enormous Chome influence (although Chrome treats individual tabs essentially as separate browsers, and is not yet available on the Mac). 

In closing, this reporter admits to not using a single Firefox extension, hence his switch from Firefox to Chrome on the PC. And now, on the MacBook, Safari has finally pushed out Firefox as the default browser. Take from that what you will.

You can download it for Mac and PC here. 

• Previous
• Continue

• Share:
• 
• 
• 

• Tags:
• Apple,
• Firefox,
• Opera,
• iTunes,
• Internet Explorer