Safari 4 (Mac & Windows)

[Arwin]

Well, I just installed the new public testversion of Safari 4, and the looks seem to have improved somewhat. Apparently the Javascript engine is three times faster now, but graphically building the pages seems a lot slower, so that I don't really notice. Though then again maybe that's partly because it's a clean install and everything needs to be cached again.

I do like the RSS handling of Safari - it's very efficient and quick to use. Spellchecking the username box though?

EDIT: after some use, it's definitely a large improvement. It's basically a lot more like the other browsers now.

And wow, yes, JavaScript *is* really fast. The office web interface for the document management system is lightning fast.

 

[Dooby]

Trying it on a variety of systems, it feels slooooooow. The graphical load of every page is infuriating. Even when Ive been on sites many times and it should have cached, there's a definite and very noticeable flicker while it lags.

Also, tabs along the very top bar? Didn't like it in Chrome, don't like it in Safari.

 

[Dargakis]

I use it in osx on the oldest intel macbook ever created. Which is about 3 years old now.
It's fast as lightning, (i have 2 GB ram).
Maybe you are running it on microsoft windows?

 

[Tchock]

For Macs it should be a nice release.

For Windows, err, it's horrible? Just because it's now "native" doesn't mean it makes ANY sense UI-wise.

Why are the tabs unmovable unless you use the gripper? Why are top sites and bookmarks leading to a permanent page change to something else, where you can't press back? (Earlier Safaris did that too, but again, that's not a really valid excuse for non-refinement)



This time it's really bears resemblance to the normal "MS Teh Clonz Apple, makes it worse" move, but roles are reversed, Google Chrome instead of a Microsoft app, and "worse" is pretty much "horrendous, never again"!


I'd stick to Chrome. I only needed the stop button, and the rest of it is really barebones but functional enough to not get in my way.

 

[idsn6]

For Macs it should be a nice release.

It's not. I uninstalled it twice.
The tabs are the worst interface decision I've seen in a very long time, and I hope they don't make it out of the beta. It was faster, but that was literally the only positive for me; everything else was either a non-feature or a degradation.

 

[Dave Glue]

It has some nice features, but yeah - the tab design is frustrating, and while it loads pages quickly for me the UI isn't that responsive, keeping the trend with Apple apps on Windows. Somewhat jerky scrolling, the coverflow view is largely pointless for history as it takes too long to generate the thumbnails IMO. Pretty, but it needs work in the responsiveness category.

Some innovative design in places, and I like that you can switch between OSX-style and Windows font rendering. But Chrome still rules in terms of really trying something new with the minimalistic UI and by far the best looking interface, especially on Vista.

I'm sure on the Mac Safari is a far better experience.

As soon as Google Chrome gets smooth scrolling (come on guys!) it will be my main browser for 95% of sites.

 

[SaulTigh]

I use opera as the main browser on my XP pro systems , but I do like Safari for certain applications since it has color profile recognition built-in. It displays sRGB embedded images more accurately especially if the monitor is calibrated correctly.

I think I shall update to version 4 now just to check it out.

I never did like Chrome.

 

[Nano]

Very nice visually, tiny bit of getting used to, but I can't even use hotmail properly (issues with links not doing anything when clicked). The browser surprised me overall though, I wasn't impressed when Safari released on Windows.