Apple have released version 3.1 of their Safari browser (for Windows and Mac OS), and it's available for download now. If you haven't tried it yet it's worth a look just to check out the speed improvements - the v3 series for me was noticeably faster than using Firefox v2.x. Feature-wise it's still not really competitive, but it's good to see more improvements in the browser space (some of which no doubt have spurred the Mozilla team on to improving the hell out of Firefox v3).

might try it.

FF is s***ting me with it's insane memory useage!

We'll see if it's better than FF3 Beta 4 :). So far FF 3 beta 4 is awesome, the only problem is the pluggins are all broken :(

FF3 has the lowest memory usage of all broswers... when it comes out.

So far from my anecdotal testing they're (FF3 B4 & SF 3.1) neck and neck. Though FF 3 B4 seems to clean up after itself better. I've loaded the same sites etc and currently FF uses 22MB less than SF..

We'll see if it's better than FF3 Beta 4 :). So far FF 3 beta 4 is awesome, the only problem is the pluggins are all broken

what plugins are broken for you?

adblock plus, download statusbar, downthemall, aus dictionary, firegestures, noscript, pdf download and tabmixplus all work in b4 for me

Does Safari still look homo?

I found all the text was rendered strangely.

adblock plus, download statusbar, downthemall, aus dictionary, firegestures, noscript, pdf download and tabmixplus all work in b4 for me

Even IEtab works too.

what plugins are broken for you?

Forecast Fox, Live HTTP Headers, Block Sites, Fire bug, Web Developer.

Does Safari still look homo?

I found all the text was rendered strangely.

here's why Apple text rendering is different

the text rendering in safari makes my pants tight, pitty I can't really use safari all the time at work cause some s*** don't work and I miss my ff plugins too much

^that was interesting ta troggles

I'm going to have to agree about Firefox 3, it's such a vast improvement. Memory issues seem to be completely gone, and it's so much more responsive.

And Opec, most extensions do still work. Here's a link that should fix your problems (I know that at the very least Live HTTP Headers works).

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/tips/2008/02/14/make_your_extensions_work_with_the_firefox_3_beta-2.html

Yep FF3b4 is looking freaking awesome. Can't wait for the final release to upgrade.

And Opec, most extensions do still work. Here's a link that should fix your problems (I know that at the very least Live HTTP Headers works).

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/tips/2008/02/14/make_your_extensions_work_with_the_firefox_3_beta-2.html

s*** that's awesome, thanks mate! Now all of extensions work again! woo

what does 'support for offline storage' mean? IE has 'support for offline storage' in the form of .mht files. I am imagining something astonomically better than that, can anyone confirm.

temporary internet files

natslovR, maybe something to do with this? not sure

I just started using FF3 now and it is damn fast especially flicking between tabs. most extensions work except my favourite one, delicious bookmarking.

I use Opera.

It actually conforms highly to the STANDARDS. Yes microsoft, i'm looking at you..

Run this in your browser and see how much it looks like this.

Run this in your browser and see how much it looks like this.

They look the same under FF3B4

It actually conforms highly to the STANDARDS. Yes microsoft, i'm looking at you..

but its not open source so it is epic fail in comparison to FFb3! (and webkit...mm webkit)

Opera is only good on mobile devices, the end.

FF3b may be fixed but FF 2 apparently doesnt live up to the standards.

FF takes too long to load imo.

FF takes too long to load imo.

Have you tried FF Beta 4? I dare say it's load just a quick as Opera & Safari.

I was always frustrated by FF2 but persisted due to the plugins. FF3b4 blew me away with its speed.

I only use Opera on my mobile, because it's the only decent option. As soon as Mozilla release their mobile version of Firefox due out this year some time, I'll be jumping right into that.

I've found nothing in Opera to warrant leaving Firefox, especially now that I've used Firefox 3.

I've found nothing in Opera to warrant leaving Firefox, especially now that I've used Firefox 3.

So true esp now with FF3 improve performance. I guess if you want all in one thing i.e. email, news reader, browser then Opera is for you. But most people have their own email client these days it's really a moot point for me

Does Safari have support for add-ons or extensions? I hear good things about it, but I don't think I could go back to a browser that lacks the customisation that Firefox has.

Does Safari have support for add-ons or extensions? I hear good things about it, but I don't think I could go back to a browser that lacks the customisation that Firefox has.

customization is overrated, doing things right is underrated. Safari does what matters and gets it right, and just feels nice to use. That's the advantage of Safari in a Windows environment imo.

In OS X, it's no question -- using FF feels like surfing on a brick when surrounded by so many slick apps.

Can't go past FF+extensions for web development though. Firebug rocks.

There are plugins for Safari, but I believe they are OS X only. pimpmysafari.com

If you wanna try FF3b4 without pwning your existing FF install, just try the portableapps.com version - it'll run side by side without breaking your shizzle.

customization is overrated, doing things right is underrated. Safari does what matters and gets it right, and just feels nice to use. That's the advantage of Safari in a Windows environment imo.

That is true, but at the end of the day, everyone is different and being able to make minor customisations is a really big deal now there's so much competition in the browser market.

I always used to give people s*** for using mouse gestures in opera - I couldn't live without them now in FF, and I only use two of them (hold right mouse move up/down to scroll instantly to top/bottom of the page - they're not even defaults in the FF plugin I use!). I don't know how ANYONE lives without something like that, especially if they read forums.

customization is overrated

Well right there you're not stating fact, you're stating personal preference. I, for one, now add gestures support into Firefox as soon as I install it, because that's something that I love to use. I know that not many people would use that though, so it's not something I would expect to bloat up the program by default.

There's no reason why you can't "do things right," as you put it, and have customisation as well, and by the looks of it, Firefox 3 looks to be doing both rather well.

By the sounds of it, I wont be swapping to Safari any time soon.

EDIT: Haha, Trog beat me to the gestures comments.

customization is overrated

LOL yeah right, what are you a drone that's part of the collective consciousness hehe? It's quite ironic really because Apple used to have this slogan "Think Different", surely that's mean being an individual but hey I could be wrong.

haha, yup, it's definitely my opinion, and it covers a lot more than just browsers -- I see it as one of the main differences between OS X and Windows (...I'm not looking for a fight, just illustrating). When the development focus is on getting things right rather than leaving it up to the user, the result is a better experience with less dicking around.

using Safari is choosing to leave decisions like "Are gestures the best way of browsing the web?" up to Apple's expert opinion. Not bleeding edge, but best experience. Firefox pioneered tabbed browsing and find as you type, which Apple adopted in Safari within their slick UI.

Gestures are interesting - Apple are pioneering this at the hardware level, starting with two finger scrolling (something I can't imagine living without.. iPod Touch-like feel to everything in the OS), the new trackpads have swipe and other physical gestures.

Jump to top and bottom is invaluable, command+up and command+down. Nice and easy on a laptop keyboard. An advantage of getting used to this is that it works OS-wide.. and you don't have to leave the keyboard.

the problem isnt really with enhancements or customisation, its more with the web standard itself. Web development is a royal pain in the backside because Microsoft decided its going to make its own version of how webpages should be laid out and rendered. Instead of just saying well, hmm table here table there, column here, u have to put in a bunch of stupid little browser checks to make sure ur carefully designed layout is actually adhered to, or that a PNG will actually render properly and whatnot. its just silly how they dont just make it work to standard.

The fact that IE renders that Acid standards test as if ur looking inside someones intestine is just stupid.

last edited by ³dee at 16:09:33 20/Mar/08

Opec, you forgot the other half of my statement: Getting things right is underrated. I don't mean to say that customisation is a bad thing, it's just not as good as something just being great.

For me, I love aiming to develop things that just work great, and surround myself with apps that are great. I respect when developers make decisions that cut the crap and create excellent solutions. This is why I'm a designer, why I love OS X and everything 37signals do.

last edited by Farseeker at 16:20:46 20/Mar/08

The fact that IE renders that Acid standards test as if ur looking inside someones intestine is just stupid.

MS have figured this out now and IE8 sounds like its going to be the best browser they've ever made by a pretty long shot; I'm very interested to see how they go with it

FYI, FF3 b4 for 69/100 for Acid test 3. Opera 9.26 only get 46/100. IE 8 Beta 1 renders Acid test 2 perfectly.

FYI, FF3 b4 for 69/100 for Acid test 3. Opera 9.26 only get 46/100. IE 8 Beta 1 renders Acid test 2 perfectly.

Latest webkit is up to like 93

Opec, you forgot the other half of my statement: Getting things right is underrated. I don't mean to say that customisation is a bad thing, it's just not as good as something just being great.

That's because I agree with you :)

FYI, FF3 b4 for 69/100 for Acid test 3. Opera 9.26 only get 46/100. IE 8 Beta 1 renders Acid test 2 perfectly.

what's this number/100 you speak of? All I saw was a mangled up smiley face.

the smiley face is acid test 2. i havent seen 3 tho.

All I saw was a mangled up smiley face.

Thats what I saw after an hour with ya mum

Thats what I saw after an hour with ya mum

Hilarious

can safari have multiple tabs for a home page?

ive given up on firefox coz the latest update brings my machine to a screaming halt;

stop using a commodore64 then

ok, can only have a single homepage, but ive setup a tab with what i like my broswer to start wtih

thats close enough;

well done then;

you can have multiple tabs on opening FF. Just open all the pages you want as your "home page" and then go use current page.

last edited by infi at 11:22:34 30/Mar/08

You can have a bookmark open multiple tabs, you could have it on your bookmarks bar.. then just have a new windows open a blank page.

In the OS X safari, cmd+1 opens the first bookmark on the bookmarks bar, cmd+2 the second, etc. so try ctrl+1 when you open a new window.. probably the closest to what you're after.

yer, i did have that setup in ff, and found it to be very useful

what i didnt find useful about ff was the constantly being unable to post in gmail and the memory useage killing my machine;

and yer farkseeker, im cool now;

just open up safari and click on my startup toolbar and all my pages open;

i cant say im noticing its any faster than ff or even ie and the fonts take some getting used to;

ok, new safari issue

refuses to let me look through a set of photos on facebook

keeps reverting back to the previous one quickly

does it do this for anyone else?