Safari 4.0

[Stuart Sweet]

My computer just got Safari 4.0 downloaded to it. It doesn't really seem a whole lot faster, but I'll tell you that there are two reasons I won't be deploying it by default:

-The top sites view is great, and it's a great idea to have all the thumbnails dynamically update, but scale this up to any number of users and it's going to unnecessarily clog the network.

-You still can't turn on private browsing by default and you still can't enable it with a simple key sequence. Sure, it's not a huge deal to enable it through the menus but why bother... Firefox does it better.

It looks clean, loads fast enough, but I'll keep it alongside Chrome as a curiosity, not an everyday tool.

[Chris Blount]

I haven't decided if I like top sites yet but will keep it active for now.

So far I like the speed of the browser. It does run faster.

[Jimmy 440]

I'm giving it a test drive.I just got the updated version 4 last night.I like the speed.But I 'm still not 100% ready to make it my default browser neither.I'll keep it running for a few weeks.

[lparsons21]

I got it a day or so ago and so far, I like it. Fast and stable.

On my sole Vista box, I wish I could say that about IE8. :(

[jsmuga]

I really like the speed and top sites. I have used the beta for a while and I have been very pleased with performance.

[bobnielsen]

It does seem faster on my somewhat-slow Mac Mini. Java didn't work for me with the beta (required for dbstalk chatroom) but is fine on the released version. I had problems with the old version on some sites, like forums.directv.com and 4.0 is better there.

I haven't tried it with Vista yet. The older version seems to take forever to load (IE is instantaneous). I'll see how 4.0 does.

[brant]

i've been using the beta for quite some time; i like more than the previous version. it is slightly faster.


it does shut down at least once a day from some unknown problem; that's the only downside.

[machavez00]

Tabs are moved back to pre beta location

[Stewart Vernon]

Unless/until they start allowing add-ons for Safari (like Firefox) I'm not going to be able to use it.

I did take the update to 4.0 on my iMac... and I wanted to use Safari when I got my Mac... but too many sites needed the ability to block ads, and more importantly block scripts... and I haven't yet found a reliable way to do that with Safari to the same degree as I can with Firefox.

So I'm forced to live with some of the slow-rendering quirks in Firefox.

[brant]

Tabs are moved back to pre beta location

below the address bar???


I love them at the top.

[spartanstew]

.. Firefox does it better.

It looks clean, loads fast enough, but I'll keep it alongside Chrome as a curiosity, not an everyday tool.

Why have more than one browser?

[Ned C]

Why have more than one browser?

Mainly because certain sites only work with different browsers.

Like the new Safari doesn't work with Garmin plug-ins.. but FireFox does.

Some secure sites with Banks etc... only work with some browsers not others.

At least they do for me.

NC

[spartanstew]

Hmmm, I've been using firefox exclusively for a couple of years at least and haven't had any problems with sites working (I do have the IE extension).

[Stuart Sweet]

Why have more than one browser?

I have one computer that I use for test purposes and it actually runs IE8, Safari, Chrome and Firefox via multiple OS's. Sometimes it's necessary to see how a graphic will perform in various situations.

[Mertzen]

I like the speed of it, still like some of the option in FF better.

I am sure the 'clunker' status of my mac [ 6 years old by now ] has some impact though.