Justin Snider, our Mac geek, writes this week about his experience with Apple Safari on both the Mac and the PC.
I had my first experience with Safari on a PC when Internet Explorer was struggling to surf the Web. A friend of mine said "Internet Explorer is so 90's!" He told me how Safari had been released for PC, I installed it, and I was blown away by the speed, clean looking design, and power to load the most flash heavy sites. Now that I have been using a Mac as my fulltime work computer, Safari 3.1 is the default web browser, but I spent months using Firefox as my default web browser, trying out different add-ons, loved the easily customizable interface, and the great toolbar search engines.
A couple of months ago Safari 4 Beta (http://www.apple.com/safari/) was released to the public, and seeing the new speed tests versus other browsers, I downloaded, and it is now my default web browser once again. Safari 4 Beta uses a screaming fast java script engine called, Nitro Engine, which places it 30 times faster than Internet Explorer 7, and 3 times faster than Firefox 3 (but a new, faster version of Firefox is under beta testing currently). Safari also handles new types of web design well, scoring 100% in the Acid 3 Web Browser Test (you can try your own web browser at http://acid3.acidtests.org /). Safari 4 Beta also has Top Sites, an optional homepage that visually displays thumbnails of your most visited sites, where you can also pin your favorite sites too. There is also a new history window where you can visually thumb through sites you have visited using Cover Flow, like you can in iTunes and newer iPods.
Though you can't install supported add-ons like Firefox can, I have installed a free ad-blocking program, AdBlock (http://burgersoftware.com/en/safariadblock ), that blocks most ads from loading on webpages, creating a clean, fast loading experience. Like I said, Safari is very clean looking, short, text based menu bar, with tabs, address bar, predictive Google search bar, and a customizable bookmark bar. Other options include instant "E-Mail Contents of This Page," private browsing (so if you are at someone else's computer, it won't remember your history or login items), built in RSS Reader, and a handy download menu to easily find and manage current and past downloads. All these features look and work identical on both the Mac or Windows version.
I recommend this browser, if you want a fast, clean looking, easy-to-use browser, that can handle any feature rich website.
Justin Snider is a full-time Director of Youth & Family Ministry at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Olympia, Washington. He loves technology and had to choose between working in the tech industry or youth ministry, and certainly chose the right profession! YouthDirector - at - GloriaDeiOlympia - dot - org
Justin Snider is a full-time Director of Youth & Family Ministry at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Olympia, Washington. He loves technology and had to choose between working in the tech industry or youth ministry, and certainly chose the right profession! YouthDirector - at - GloriaDeiOlympia - dot - org
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