Apple's Safari Browser: A Solid but Bland Option

Apple's Safari browser was my favorite as soon as version 3 was released, thanks to its unique features and impressive speed for the time. Version 4.0 has been out for a while now, and although it improves on its predecessor in many ways, it has lost a lot of its best features, such as the progress bar and Mac-style brush metal look.

Despite this, Safari is still a solid browser in nearly every area you can think of. In the last browser speed test, Safari 4 was in a dead heat with Chrome, but since then, the competition has stepped up their game. In the Sunspider JavaScript test, Safari outruns both Chrome and Opera by a fairly small margin, although using Mozilla's Dromeo test suite gives Safari a very slight edge over Chrome, though it still finishes behind Opera 10.5.

If you look at Celtic Kane's JavaScript test, the Opera and Chrome swap places with Safari remaining in a solid second place. When you use Google's V8 benchmark, however, both Chrome and Opera get a good lead on Safari, which does maintain a nice margin over Firefox 3.6. The Acid 3 test, which is less of a test of outright speed, ends in a tie between Opera, Chrome, and Safari all with the perfect score of 100.

Using the wide-ranging Peacekeeper benchmark, which focuses on many aspects of a browser's performance and is a good general test, Opera and Chrome beat out Safari purely from a speed standpoint. Safari is no longer the fastest browser, but there's no denying that it's still very, very good.

Of course, this isn't just about speed; factors such as startup also matter, and Safari is no slouch here. Cold starts, which simulate how fast the browser will open as soon as you boot your computer, are a bit slower than most at around four seconds, but warm starts, which represent opening the browser again after it's been opened recently, are quite good at just a bit over one second.

Memory usage is mixed, however; with only one tab open, Safari uses the least memory of all the browsers. However, once you load eight tabs up, it uses more RAM than all the other browsers except Chrome.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enapple's safari browser was a favorite of mine as soon as version 3 was released for its unique features and really good speed for the time version 4.0 has been out for a while now and even though it improves on its predecessor in many ways it's lost a lot of its best features such as the progress bar and mac style brush metal look that said it's still a solid browser in nearly every area you can think of in the last browser speed test safari 4 was in a dead heat with chrome but since then the competition has stepped up their game in the sunspider javascript test it is outruned by both chrome and opera although by a fairly small margin using mozilla's dromeo test suite gives safari a very slight edge over chrome though it still finishes behind opera 10.5 if you look at celtic kane's javascript test then the opera and chrome swap places with safari remaining in a solid second place when you use google's v8 benchmark however both chrome and opera get a good lead on safari which does maintain a nice margin over firefox 3.6 the acid 3 test which is less of a test of outright speed ends in a tie between opera chrome and safari all with the perfect score of 100 using the wide-ranging peacekeeper benchmark which focuses on many aspects of a browser's performance and is a good general test opera and chrome beat out safari purely from a speed standpoint safari is no longer the fastest but there's no denying that it's still very very good of course this isn't just a speed test factors such as startup also matter and safari is no slouch here cold starts which simulate how fast the browser will open as soon as you boot your computer are a bit slower than most at about four seconds but warm starts which represent opening the browser again after it's been opened recently quite good at just a bit over one second memory usage is mixed however with only a single tab open it uses the least memory of all the browsers but once you load eight tabs up it uses more ram than all the browsers except chrome safari is primarily a browser for os 10 and it shows while it looks quite good in the standard brushed metal look of snow leopard it adopts the general grays of windows you can easily trim it down to a very small form factor but that makes it look even blander where it doesn't look bland however is in the gorgeous cover flow that is sprinkled around in the top sites menu which is automatically what you will see when you open a new tab you get a very cool 3d looking page filled with your most visited sites it auto updates as well so you can actually look at the updated front page of the websites in the list cover flow extends to the history as well where safari saves a full page screenshot of every page you go to and allows you to easily search all the pages in your history it's an excellent way to look through your history and i certainly wish other browsers would have borrowed this feature safari is a solid browser it's very fast elegant and sports the excellent cover flow interface unfortunately it's bland both in looks and in features add-ons really just aren't supported nor are themes it may seem like a small deal but in today's browser world that just doesn't cut it unless you just love cover flow there are better choices three in fact which is why safari 4 gets a 4th place finish now feel free to go back to the main video via the annotation on your screen to see how the rest of the browsers did youapple's safari browser was a favorite of mine as soon as version 3 was released for its unique features and really good speed for the time version 4.0 has been out for a while now and even though it improves on its predecessor in many ways it's lost a lot of its best features such as the progress bar and mac style brush metal look that said it's still a solid browser in nearly every area you can think of in the last browser speed test safari 4 was in a dead heat with chrome but since then the competition has stepped up their game in the sunspider javascript test it is outruned by both chrome and opera although by a fairly small margin using mozilla's dromeo test suite gives safari a very slight edge over chrome though it still finishes behind opera 10.5 if you look at celtic kane's javascript test then the opera and chrome swap places with safari remaining in a solid second place when you use google's v8 benchmark however both chrome and opera get a good lead on safari which does maintain a nice margin over firefox 3.6 the acid 3 test which is less of a test of outright speed ends in a tie between opera chrome and safari all with the perfect score of 100 using the wide-ranging peacekeeper benchmark which focuses on many aspects of a browser's performance and is a good general test opera and chrome beat out safari purely from a speed standpoint safari is no longer the fastest but there's no denying that it's still very very good of course this isn't just a speed test factors such as startup also matter and safari is no slouch here cold starts which simulate how fast the browser will open as soon as you boot your computer are a bit slower than most at about four seconds but warm starts which represent opening the browser again after it's been opened recently quite good at just a bit over one second memory usage is mixed however with only a single tab open it uses the least memory of all the browsers but once you load eight tabs up it uses more ram than all the browsers except chrome safari is primarily a browser for os 10 and it shows while it looks quite good in the standard brushed metal look of snow leopard it adopts the general grays of windows you can easily trim it down to a very small form factor but that makes it look even blander where it doesn't look bland however is in the gorgeous cover flow that is sprinkled around in the top sites menu which is automatically what you will see when you open a new tab you get a very cool 3d looking page filled with your most visited sites it auto updates as well so you can actually look at the updated front page of the websites in the list cover flow extends to the history as well where safari saves a full page screenshot of every page you go to and allows you to easily search all the pages in your history it's an excellent way to look through your history and i certainly wish other browsers would have borrowed this feature safari is a solid browser it's very fast elegant and sports the excellent cover flow interface unfortunately it's bland both in looks and in features add-ons really just aren't supported nor are themes it may seem like a small deal but in today's browser world that just doesn't cut it unless you just love cover flow there are better choices three in fact which is why safari 4 gets a 4th place finish now feel free to go back to the main video via the annotation on your screen to see how the rest of the browsers did you