Public Voice Network
- Light in the Box Coupons
- Vid of the Day 1096110961
- Shit QBNers Say 125125
- TYPO San Francisco 55
- Multicolored logos? 44
- Suggest a good movie... 936936
- Logo from Locked PDF? 33
- blog 5557955579
- American Musical Supply C… 11
- Pic of the Day 5937359373
- FMT 020312 4646
- intern -> job 2121
- Your Last Concert 375375
- the gif animation thread 1132211322
- Steve Jobs FBI file 66
- Shit QBNers think 6969
- What are you listening to… 41734173
- Park Slope 22
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyr… 7676
- ♥ Things girls like ♥ 9696
- AE shadows won't work 99
- Politics 1759717597
- Chick of the Day 1431414314
- Skateboarding. 598598
Browsers 2121 Responses
Last post: 1 year, 10 months ago | Thread started: Feb 27, 10, 8:10 a.m.
- stewdio
I'm operating on a Mac, so this is from a Mac perspective. (Specifically OS X 10.6.2 Snow Leopard.) I was just playing with the new Opera 10.5 beta and although this is not necessarily news I was inspired to wax browsers. What are you using? What do you like?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Safari 4.0.4 (6531.21.10)
http://apple.com/safari/download…
My favorite browser. Apple's Safari was the first big browser built on the open-source WebKit project (years before Chrome) and it's fast. It handles HTML5, and in fact is the only browser that handles running multiple HTML5 audio instances to my satisfaction. JavaScript executes speedily thanks to the SquirrelFish engine. The built-in WebKit inspector makes developing and troubleshooting a snap. It's frequently updated too, so when new features come to HTML5 you'll probably see them in the WebKit nightly builds instantly and Safari soon after.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chrome 5.0.307.11 beta
http://google.com/chrome
Google Chrome is also built on WebKit (because Google decided it had no qualms about bending over Apple and ruining their board relations over the phone, browser, and OS markets) so it comes with many of the benefits of Safari. I see a lot of interesting interface design elements in Chrome like the all-in-one address and search bar, the top-tabs (which actually debuted in Safari 4 beta, but were removed for Safari 4 final), the vanishing status bar and so on. I don't think it's surpassed Safari yet, but it is certainly nipping at Apple's heels. The JavaScript V8 engine is quick. Annoyingly, the HTML5 audio support is crap when it comes to multiple instances; sad for Browser Pong. When I see this browser on other people's machines it's usually skinned. I don't understand why. Browser skinning seems ridiculous to me. Like fancy graphics on a skateboard. Why? It's ugly. Real skateboard design is about the weight, width, tension, resistance, etc of the board, right? The paint is the stupid part. Similarly, why splash paint over a good UI design?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FireFox 3.6
http://mozilla.com/firefox/
What a slow beast. I used to be such a fan, built from the ashes of Netscape (Mozilla) via the open-source Gecko engine. Now in addition to looking ugly it just feels heavy and bloated, always nagging about updates at inappropriate times. But it does handle HTML5 audio much better than Chrome, so that's something. What's with the pastel design theme on their site that's in total contrast to the actual look of the browser? And again, why the ugly skins? I'm really happy this thing took a chunk out of Internet Explorer's market share back when it seemed all was lost in the browser wars, but seriously Mozilla, pick up the pace here. And make better interface choices. I want to like this browser again!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opera 10.50 Beta
http://opera.com/browser/next/
This new beta version of Opera is looking very promising. It's not totally refined yet, but it's the first time I've found myself seriously looking at Opera in a long time. The top-tabs with visual previews are nice. The WebKit "Top Sites" feature has made it in. (Opera runs on its own proprietary Presto rendering engine.) This new beta release makes me curious. I would love to see a final release worthy of some real attention. Browser competition is always a good thing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Internet Explorer
Ha. There's no Internet Explorer for Macintosh silly.- Feb 27, 10, 8:10 a.m. – Permalink
- acescence
I use Safari for the reasons you state, it's fast, developer tools are great. The only thing that really bugs me about it is that animated gifs slow it to a crawl, but obviously that's minor, who uses animated gifs anyway? Chrome is great as well, some UI bits bother me though. I could get used to it I suppose. Firefox gets used strictly for testing, it's just way too slow these days. I've never really given Opera much of a chance, maybe I'll check it out again.
- Dog-earFeb 27, 10, 8:43 a.m. – Permalink
- welded
I use Safari at home (plus a couple plugins) and WebKit nightlies at work because the web inspector is much improved. I'm with you in that Firefox was my go-to for years, especially on PC, but these days it's for testing only. What gets me is the fake native UI XUL apps have. It's only marginally better than Java apps. I've been keeping Opera up to date and it's a great browser but it always loses me at some point for one reason or another and I've never been a fan of the developer tools. Maybe Dragonfly will start catching up with Firebug and Webkit inspector now that it's an open source project.
- Dog-earFeb 27, 10, 9:01 a.m. – Permalink
- nuggler
icab is a german browser for mac that's worth checking out -- has some handy development tools
http://www.icab.de/- Dog-earFeb 27, 10, 5:58 p.m. – Permalink
- ukit
One aspect that is interesting to consider (which you touched on briefly) is the difference in terms of how these browsers handle input. Traditionally browsers have two input boxes, one for URL entry and one for search. I've found a lot of the time though that I will subconsciously type searches into the URL address box.
If I type two words into the Safari address box it will take me, annoyingly, to the search results page for my internet provider (Comcast). If I type a single word with no domain suffix, it will add .com on the end, if that doesn't work, it will take me again to the search. Opera handles it the same way.
Chrome on the other hand gets rid of the search box and condenses the URL entry and search into a single box. It takes me to search results for whatever search engine I have set as default when I enter two words or a word with no .com, .net etc.
Firefox has two search boxes but actually works sort of like Chrome - it takes me to the search results if I type in two words. If I type in a single word with no suffix, it does something kind of weird and take me to the most popular match for that term. So typing in "techno site" takes me automatically to http://www.ilovetechno.be/ even though there is actually a http://technosite.com/
Overall, I think Chrome's approach is the best in this area. I don't see any reason to have two different inputs for URL and search when you can easily get by with one. Also I find the Firefox method of routing you to the most popular domain kind of annoying and not all that useful.
- Dog-earFeb 27, 10, 6:18 p.m. – Permalink
- inteliboy
I thought I was the only one who uses Safari. Love it, simple, works, interface is A+, no fuss.
Firefox asks me for updates every time I open it (every other week). Annoying. Firebug plugin is incredible though.
Opera I do like, though barely use.
Chrome I haven't bothered... and why? I don't see why it's worth my time installing. Unless it renders pages at insane speeds and has some super slick interface, then maybe.
- Dog-earFeb 27, 10, 6:24 p.m. – Permalink
- akrokdesign
safari and the fox. both has issues. more or less.
- Dog-earFeb 28, 10, 8:34 a.m. – Permalink
- stewdio
I am so looking forward to test driving Opera 10.50 for OS X when it's released. In the meantime, someone tell me how it handles on PC?
http://www.opera.com/browser/
Click "watch video"- Dog-earMar 12, 10, 6:38 a.m. – Permalink
- acescence
comicsans-
safari adblock:
http://burgersoftware.com/en/saf…safari developer tools:
http://developer.apple.com/safar…- Dog-earMar 12, 10, 8:04 a.m. – Permalink
