This question was asked in another thread. I offered an answer there, but I think the question should be considered as a separate thread.
Here's what I wrote:
Browsers: all have had and will have bugs. Apart from that fact of life...
Safari - the good
- likely to run better in OS X for obvious reasons
- works with media without further configuring
- Apple has shown strong commitment to making Safari a good browser
- has a version for M-Windows, for users who want the same experience
Safari - the bad
- cannot set Private Browsing as a preference
- nothing to compare to the Firefox collection of extensions
- no Linux version
Firefox - the good
- available to all operating systems; same experience everywhere, bookmark export and import
- Firefox collection of Extensions
- Private Browsing mode is a preference, and many other configurable security settings
Firefox - the bad
- installing a large number of Extensions can make the browser slower
Microsoft Internet Explorer - the good
- Private Browsing mode is a preference
- likely to run better in M-Windows for obvious reasons
Microsoft Internet Explorer - the bad
- M-Windows only
- questionable commitment; Microsoft has only started paying attention to its browser users again to direct searches to Bing (not Crosby)
- often makes the entire operating system vulnerable
- updates require rebooting the operating system
Google Chrome is "immature" but promising. It's very fast.
Quote from: z-mac on December 14, 2009, 01:16:23 PM
Safari - the bad
- cannot set Private Browsing as a preference
- nothing to compare to the Firefox collection of extensions
- no Linux version
I have over 20 different browsers installed on my laptop, but always end up coming back to Safari. Firefox (http://firefox.com) is my 2nd most used browser. And if the site requires ActiveX, then I fire up MS Internet Explorer 7 using CrossOver (http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/).
With respect to opening Safari with 'Private Browsing' enabled, the AppleScript in this OS X 10.5 article, also works for me under OS X 10.6: Auto-enabling Safari's Private Browsing (http://www.macworld.com/article/139714/2009/03/enableprivatebrowsing.html) by Christopher Breen, Macworld.com, Mar 30, 2009
...b
*Amaya (http://www.w3.org/Amaya/), Camino (http://caminobrowser.org/), Cruz (http://cruzapp.com), Firefox (http://firefox.com), Flock (http://www.flock.com), Fluid (http://fluidapp.com), Google Chrome (http://www.google.com/chrome), iCab (http://www.icab.de/), Internet Explorer 5.2.3, Mozilla (http://www-archive.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla1.7.13/), Netscape Navigator 9 (http://browser.netscape.com/releases), Omniweb (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb/), Opera (http://www.opera.com), Radon (http://radon.tominatedsoftware.com/), Safari, Safari Nightly Builds (http://nightly.webkit.org/builds/trunk/mac/1), SeaMonkey (http://www.seamonkey-project.org/), Shiira (http://shiira.jp/), Stainless (http://www.stainlessapp.com/), SunFlower (http://sunflower.coleharbour.ca/index.php5), Sunrise (http://www.sunrisebrowser.com/), WebKit (http://nightly.webkit.org/start/trunk/51280), Wyzo (http://www.wyzo.com/)
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I have over 20 different browsers installed on my laptop,
Web developer, or... Masochist? (o;
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but always end up coming back to Safari.
Why is that? Is it because your notebook is a Mac?
Hi guys,
Safari is faster than any of the others - that's been my experience and the benchmarks seem to prove that this is still true. Firefox, sadly, feels slow on loading, and seems visually bloated, a result, no doubt, of getting used to Safari's minimalist approach. Even worse in this department (the visual that is) is Explorer, but unfortunately, some web developers are still designing non-neutral sites which require me to fire up Windows (using Virtual Box from Sun (which is working great)) just so I can navigate a site.
I do a lot of web development, so I have a few others, SeaMonkey is handy for coding, Opera because it has a sliver of net-share, and the nightly builds of Webkit - just to stay on top of things. I find Chrome's too little, too late, and I find Google's licensing and ubiquity getting a little on the scary side. My jury, however, is still out on Chrome - I applaud them for pushing HTML5, and Apple too, because Flash, in my humble opinion, has gotta go!
I was originally a Netscape nut (still have my version 1 floppy and license), then, along with most Mac users, I switched to Explorer until MS killed the Mac version, and finally, after trying iCab(super OS 9 browser!), Netscape(once again), FireFox, Mozilla, etc. (thanks for the exhaustive reference on Mac browsers Ben!) before settling with Safari. Safari is also my mobile browser of choice, and the net stats say over half of all mobile browsers are now using it - a surprising statistic if you consider how small the iPhone's marketshare is - but the number of iPod Touch users surfing has a significant impact on that number.
Private browsing is a non-issue for me most of the time - I prefer Safari's session-by-session option, bu that's just my personal opinion - I like to keep a long history running. I also need to manage a lot of bookmarks, so that's an important aspect to me - bookmark management. I rarely, if ever have problems rendering pages in Safari or FireFox, but in my experience as both a user and a developer, Explorer is my biggest headache. It's always had the nickname "Exploder" around here. I think web developer's in general agree on this, excluding the died-in-the-wool MS developers of course, but web development would be much simpler, and the user experience much improved if MS would just get hell off of the internet. I feel a rant coming on, so I'll sign off on that note....
Happy Net Neutral Mac'ing!
Dan
There was an article posted today on Macworld.com which discusses a few specialty browsers, including one I don't have: DevonAgent (http://www.macworld.com/article/132165/2008/02/devonagent23.html). (Well OK, I have a licensed 1.x version, but have not upgraded to 2.x, and hadn't thought of it as a browser.)
Five jobs other browsers do better (http://www.macworld.com/article/145108/2009/12/altbrowser.html?lsrc=rss_main)
Safari and Firefox make great everyday choices, but sometimes you [may need] a specialist
by Joe Kissell (http://www.macworld.com/contact.html?t=e&e=Joe+Kissell&ssid=1&sid=145108), Macworld.com (http://macworld.com)
Dec 30, 2009 9:36 am
Many OS X users find having 2 browsers -- OS X's built-in Safari, and the free Firefox browser (http://firefox.com) to try on those sites which have a problem with Safari -- is sufficient.
But if you find yourself using 2 or more browsers regularly here is a year-end article from Macworld.com:
Working with multiple browsers (http://www.macworld.com/article/145110/2009/12/multiplebrowsertips.html?lsrc=rss_main)
Use different browsers for different tasks? Here's how to keep them in sync
by Joe Kissell (http://www.macworld.com/contact.html?t=e&e=Joe+Kissell&ssid=1&sid=145110), Macworld.com (http://www.macworld.com/)
Dec 31, 2009 9:22 am