safari 3 test version for XP

[mkjuk]

Is it worth getting?

better than firefox?

compare and contrast

Thanks

[Ethel]

It's free - so no reason not to download it and get it a fair run.

[mkjuk]

Ive been using it tonight and it seems a lot slower than firefox

[Ethel]

Oh! Been a very avid firefox fan, I shall download Safari this afternoon and give it a go.

Just to satisfy my curiosity.

I am dependent on my Firefox add-ons, especially Scrapbook, Adblock and the bookmarks synchroniser, so I won't be swapping.

Don't mind an occasional paddle though.

[souldriver]

I'm using it as i type, seems ok to me... firfox for me always seems slow, safari is ok at the moment.

[Ethel]

Hmmm - am using it at the moment. So far not keen at all.

It seems to be about the same speed as Firefox for me, but it is boring. Now addons that I can see, a flat grey toolbar, no colour or ability to customise.

I shall stick with it for a while - give it a fair go.

[Ethel]

Hating it. No Adblock, so have to suffer the blerdy adverts on these pages.

[fo3nix]

It's not going to succeed; stick with Firefox.

It may very well be faster. Remember that this is a beta version. If it deletes everything on your hard drive, don't go complaining!

1) it's closed-source (yes, I know it uses WebKit). Firefox is free software, which should always be your preferred choice, where possible.

2) It hasn't got the great extensions that firefox has.

On the Mac the reason it's popular is because it gives a consistent Mac feel to the web, where Firefox doesn't (because it's not a Cocoa app on the Mac platform).

Why Windows users will use it, I don't know. The only real use for it, in my opinion, is as a testing suite for the iPhone.

If you're a developer interested in the iPhone platform, you'll be interested in knowing that Apple is opening the platform up by allowing any website to hook into some of the phone's core services, so that you can make an app with it just by making a regular dynamic website (think Google Docs...) (with emphasis on an iPhone look and feel).

iPhone uses exactly the same rendering engine as is present in Safari for Mac and (now) Windows. A good way to build and test an app for the iPhone before it's out, even if you don't own a Mac to use Safari with.

Apple also have some idea that when they port over an app, like Safari or Quicktime or iTunes, that it should keep the Mac look and feel. They do this because it introduces potential Mac buyers to the Mac interface feel, but it's quite wrong to do so because it stands out against the familiar Windows interface that the users will be accustomed to.

Honestly, apart from the iPhone usefulness, I don't know why else they're doing this.

[Gromit]

Don't install Safari if you use the Sports Answerbank. Since the recent revamp, SAB is pretty messed up (On a Mac). I have reported it to SAB but so far they haven't fixed it.

[Llamatron]

I tried it yesterday and thought it rather ugly.

[Ethel]

Well, I was determined to give it a good try, but I hate it.

Uninstalled it already. It has no advantages for me - the speed may be ok, - equal to firefox. But if I removed all my add ons from firefox and ran it 'out of the box' I'm sure firefox would be quicker.