I launched iTunes this morning and got notification of an update. This time it was a little different. This time, I also got Safari. I'm using it right now. Like I do with most new things, I'll give it an honest go. If I like it more than I like FireFox I'll switch. But in my opinion, it's got a lot to live up to. So, Mac users, Safari users. Tell me about this browser. Why should I like it? Well, you know, other than the obvious "it's not IE."
Safari is improving, thats for sure... however i personally still like FireFox better, and use it most of the time, even on my Mac. Simply put, some of the default interface options they have in Safari, while i can see some people loving them, just aren't the way i'm used to doing things, and it trips me up a bit when i try to use it.
Safari has a lot of compatibility issues with some websites. From a technical standpoint, Firefox is a much better browser. Tom
I use Safari when Firefox is unable to render a web site. This happens sometimes. I don't know if the problem is Firefox, or my settings in Firefox. Typically, when this happens the problem is images on the web page overlapping text, making it unreadable, or clickable links overlapping each other, so that one or the other becomes difficult or impossible to click. I also use Safari for one of my two Yahoo email addresses, so that I don't have to log out and log in several times a day in order to check both: Firefox automatically logs into my main Yahoo address when I use my Yahoo Mail bookmark, and Safari logs onto my secondary Yahoo address. I would not set it up this way now. With address-guard (since my primary Yahoo email is a Mail Plus account) I can set up multiple addresses, send them to dedicated folders or to the main folder that gets picked up by POP3, and kill them if they become clogged with spam. But this is a new capability, and I'm not ready to dump that secondary Yahoo address. So I use Safari for that one. Firefox is my primary web browser. I see no reason to switch from Firefox to Safari. When you update iTunes on the Mac, the computer will check for updates of all your Apple programs. You don't have to update them all. You can un-check those you don't want to update.
I took a quick look at Safari, but had not heard any overwhelming rush from folks to switch and am just figuring out many of the cool stuff Firefox does. I think the real story here is that iTunes does, practically, force you to install Safari. You can uncheck it when it brings up the update window...but the next time iTunes opens there it is again screaming 'upload me'! So I did just to be rid of the annoying reminder....Guess I'm a sucker.
I'm no expert on these things, since I only use OSX about ~1/3 of the time (I'm an OS whore, routinely using OSX, Windows, and Linux), but here are two little bits of data: 1. When I personally have used Safari, I've found nothing particularly wrong with it, although certainly nothing to recommend it over Firefox. Admittedly, I have only used it VERY lightly (I prefer Firefox on all three platforms). 2. I'm teaching a class, and there have been at least three instances (with three separate students and three separate web pages), where I've gotten emails from students saying something doesn't work on a web page. I will often shortly get a second email saying, "Nevermind; I was using Safari and it worked fine when I tried Firefox."
Safari (on the Mac) is worse than Firefox but still much better than Explorer. Of course, calling anything better than Explorer is like being called for a reference and saying the applicant "is nicer than Hitler."
On macs, Safari is system specific. For instance. I was having a lot of problems with freezing and quiting in 10.3.9. And there are no more updates for the 10. 3 Safari. And you can't install the Safari for 10.4 or 10.5. So I stopped using Safari and have gone to Firefox. I also signed up for Foxmarks so I can sync my Foxfire bookmarks to all of the computers I use, and if I have a crash, I haven't lost them. I've also been trying some Firefox addons. I like several of them. I can't customize Safari like I can Firefox. While Safari is better than Internet Explorer (what isn't?) I still prefer Firefox. I especially like my ability to organize my bookmarks and save my bookmarks in Firefox much better than Safari.
iTunes is biggest bloathocrapware that installs another crapware Quicktime by default. I hate it as much as Apple's proprietary file naming format in my iCrap ... ops iPod. now, since Safari is made by same company i was reluctant to test drive it, but hey, i am equal opportunity discriminator. so, after the test drive my take on safari is that it is not much better than other Apple's iCrap products. Firefox is still # 1 and IE 6 is # 2 in my book. and, need i mention plethora of firefox extensions that you can install?
i noticed the install too. Safari seems to work fine on my pc so far. I'm only trying it on 1. the rest use firefox still.
Will Foxmark work if the only thing you want to do is have a backup of your bookmarks? I don't want sync it with another computer. I presume I install the add on, then send the bookmarks to their site. I can then retrieve it from another computer using Firefox with the Foxmark add on.
If all you want is to have a backup of your bookmarks, why not just backup your bookmarks? In fact, you need to be making regular backups of your entire HD. If your computer crashes, your bookmarks are likely to be the least of your concerns, because you can find web sites again. One of the main reasons I upgraded from OS X Tiger to OS X Leopard is that Leopard takes all the work out of backups. You plug in an external HD (or use whatever storage you like) and set it up once, and it makes backups on a regular basis. I think there are programs available for Windows that will do automatic backups as well. Back up your HD regularly! Firefox's ability to sync bookmarks between computers should not be seen as an alternative to backing up your entire HD.
I have a mac and use safari. I personally think that firefox and safari are about the same, both go to the internet. I use safari because I can sync my two computers and iphone. I have some problems with safari and it randomly quitting, but other than that, I think its pretty good, on the mac that is, I'm not for sure about on Windows.
I have an all Mac Internet service and can easily recommend Safari for your primary browser however, I also highly recommend FireFox as a back up browser when a problem arises in Safari. I have had to use FireFox twice this year because of a site not supporting Safari. I find this a fault of the narrow minded site owner, not Safari. John Ford One of the last Mom & Pop Internet Providers left on the planet! Welcome to 2 Fords Network Internet Service