DailyTech - Apple Announces Safari 4 Browser

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Internet Apple Announces Safari 4 Browser
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - February 24, 2009 12:16 PM

53 comment(s) - last by mofo3k.. on Feb 25 at 12:47 PM

Safari 4 Top Sites (Source: Apple)

Safari 4 browser Nitro Engine runs Java four times faster

When it comes to Apple's Mac computers and its iPhone, the Safari browser is the internet browser of choice for most users. Apple today announced the latest beta version of Safari for its Mac systems and the computer maker claims that the browser is much faster than Safari 3.

According to Apple, Safari 4's Nitro Engine is able to run JavaScript four times faster than Safari 3. The browser also includes a host of new features including Top Sites that offers a visual presentation of recently visited web pages. Other features include Full Search History searchable by web address, titles, and text of recently viewed pages. Cover flow allows users to flip through the web history and bookmarks. Tabs on Top makes tabbed browsing easier according to Apple.

Apple's Philip Schiller said in a statement, "Apple created Safari to bring innovation, speed, and open standards back into web browsers, and today it takes another big step forward. Safari 4 is the fastest and most efficient browser for Mac and Windows, with great integration of HTML 5 and CSS 3 web standards that enables the next generation of interactive web applications."

Safari 4 features HTML 5 with support for offline technologies allowing web-based applications to store information locally. Apple says that the new browser is the first to pass the Web Standards Project's Acid3 test and to support advanced CSS Effects. Safari 4 claims to be able to execute JavaScript up to 30 times faster than IE 7 and three times faster than Firefox 3. HTML is claimed to load in Safari 4 three times faster than IE 7.

Apple says that Safari 4 is available immediately as a public beta for both Mac and Windows computers. Safari 4 for Windows uses a new native Windows look according to Apple with standard font rendering and a native title bar that fits the browser with the look and feel of XP or Vista.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 is currently available in RC1 form and hopes to continue the market domination that Internet Explorer holds.

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Worth a look...maybe

By JasonMick

(blog) on 2/24/2009 12:44:56 PM , Rating: 2

Safari really is a pretty impressive browser wise. It certainly is fast and full featured. However, what bothers me is Apple's slow rate of patching known vulnerabilities and flaws. I know in Firefox that if something is a widely known security hole, it will likely be fixed in a few weeks. With Safari it could be a few months, if I'm lucky. Granted there's less attacks on it, but that seems to just be asking for trouble.

Still, if Apple were to renounce its malware bundling practices a la sneaking this into iTunes update, as they will likely do, I would probably give the browser a spin. That doesn't seem likely, though...

RE: Worth a look...maybe

By JasonMick

(blog) on 2/24/2009 12:46:15 PM , Rating: 2

sorry, typo -- "browser architecture- wise"

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By Pirks on 2/24/2009 1:21:05 PM , Rating: 2

Architecture wise we've seen it all in Chrome already. Apple has clearly *cough* "borrowed" *cough* a few (rather major) ideas from them.

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By JasonMick

(blog) on 2/24/2009 1:33:56 PM , Rating: 2

Chrome has a lot of innovative design features, but surely Safari borrowed more from Firefox, Opera, etc as Chrome just came out.

Safari was around long before Chrome -- which doesn't necessarily mean anything good or bad about it, just that its basic form could not possibly have been *stolen* from Chrome.

And not to knock Chrome but when I tried it, it seemed pretty glitchy. I'm still using Firefox/Opera primarily, with Internet Explorer 8 beta starting to see more use as well.

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By Pirks on 2/24/2009 1:38:31 PM , Rating: 2

Well, I haven't said Safari 4 is a Chrome clone, but a few major things like new bytecode JavaScript compiler are clearly Chrome "inspired". Don't be surprised to see per-tab process isolation in next revision of Safari. They will "borrow" this one from IE8 and Chrome too.

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By psychobriggsy on 2/24/2009 2:24:32 PM , Rating: 2

But it's just an improvement on Safari's earlier JavaScript bytecode interpreter, SquirrelFish... I believe that Nitro is a marketing name for SquirrelFish Extreme.

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By kelmon on 2/24/2009 6:06:18 PM , Rating: 3

Seriously, who cares? Discussions about who did what first are about as interesting as watching paint dry and equally as productive. Further, since you aren't privy to the development process of any of these browsers, or other products, who is to say who came up with an idea first? All that can be said is that someone brought the concept to market first.

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By afkrotch on 2/24/2009 1:39:35 PM , Rating: 2

I try them all, but IE8 has been my primary. Problem though, I have a buggy install, so IE8 has a like 5 second pause whenever I open up a new tab.

Too lazy to reinstall Windows to fix it. IE reinstall doesn't work.

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By plowak on 2/24/2009 4:57:46 PM , Rating: 2

"IE reinstall doesn't work"

Of course it doesn't work...ha ha ha ha!

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By omnicronx on 2/24/2009 2:27:58 PM , Rating: 2

Top sites in particular is the main screen of Chrome by default. The only difference is the 3d look to it, which I actually find annoying compared to the way chrome does it.

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By juserbogus on 2/24/2009 1:49:46 PM , Rating: 2

that's just dumb... are you telling me google thought up everything in Chrome and didn't "borrow" from it's predecessors?

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By omnicronx on 2/24/2009 2:29:10 PM , Rating: 2

No hes not, but hes right in saying most of the features in the new version of Safari have existed in other browsers for quite some time.

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By omnicronx on 2/24/2009 2:37:41 PM , Rating: 2

Is the beta slow compared to chrome/firefox for anyone else?

I also noticed the auto updates checkbox upon install, was that in the old version of safari?

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RE: Worth a look...maybe

By kelmon on 2/24/2009 6:07:48 PM , Rating: 2

I can't speak for the Windows version but the Mac version seems to fly. Your own mileage may vary...

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Top Sites

By afkrotch on 2/24/2009 1:30:49 PM , Rating: 3

What exactly are the top sites based on? Kind of feel that to be a useless feature. Now is the top sites based on the user's top sites they visited? Might see that as being useful for some.

I just use favorites though.

RE: Top Sites

By Pirks on 2/24/2009 1:53:23 PM , Rating: 2

That's a Chrome ripoff, they put most recently and/or often visited sites in there. Kind of "automatic" favorites list. Works nice if you have about a dozen of most often visited sites, you may even stop using "manual" bookmarks then.

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RE: Top Sites

By afkrotch on 2/24/2009 2:10:43 PM , Rating: 2

I have about 100 sites in my favorite lists. They have been segregated according to what they pertain too. Pretty much torrent folder, comp folder, forum folder, wallpaper folder, etc. Then I backup all those links onto my file server. The automatic favorites list wouldn't work for me.

Yes, there are a few sites that I visit all the time, but I made a batch file to open them all at once. I prefer doing it this way, as I have 4 comps at home that I move around on.

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RE: Top Sites

By chmilz on 2/24/09, Rating: -1

RE: Top Sites

By afkrotch on 2/24/2009 2:20:57 PM , Rating: 2

Seems like a great way to monitor what your kids surf though. You can login as them and check out their top sites. Course I can probably already guess what they'd surf anyways. Myspace, facebook, twitter, hotmail/gmail, and that's about it.

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RE: Top Sites

By psychobriggsy on 2/24/2009 2:27:36 PM , Rating: 2

Indeed it's about as much use as Chrome and Opera's equivalent feature.

Except you can drag and drop them to stay in consistent places, view 6,12 or 24 (I don't know about Opera's implementation), and they tell you if there is new content available.

Nice to see the GPU get a minor workout on the desktop as well :)

Then again I'm back in Chrome, and I think it's the least important feature there.

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RE: Top Sites

By kelmon on 2/24/2009 6:10:10 PM , Rating: 2

Really? You don't see the value in this? Really? Good grief...

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RE: Top Sites

By psonice on 2/24/2009 3:14:26 PM , Rating: 2

I just installed safari 4 to try it out.. actually the top sites thing is pretty useful.

Basically, it seems to pick your "most visited" sites, but you can reorganise it and remove stuff you don't want people to see *cough*. It seems to cache an image of the page when you visit it so you get a preview. Then when you open a new tab, it shows the top sites screen by default (dunno if you can change it, not looked, doubt I will as it's a good idea).

I think that's pretty good - you open a new tab, and get a selection of sites your most likely to visit, very quickly accessible. There's not really much downside, as it's instant, and if you don't want one of those sites you just proceed as normal.

Other impressions: damn, it's FAST. I've tried safari nightly builds before and not noticed much difference, but loading this page was definitely MUCH faster than before. I've not tried chrome to compare, but it seems a lot faster than firefox 3. Not sure if I like the new tabs or not, but I guess I'll get used to it. Safariblock still works, which is good as i hate adverts. The history screen now has coverflow, which is good so long as it can be turned off. Looking - yes, it can be, but it's not obvious - double click on the pane separator.

I had some trouble clicking on links before, don't know if that's "beta" related or because I'm using a tablet (it's hard not to click + drag instead of clicking, and I've had a beer or two). Hmm.. same problem clicking on tabs, it's tablet related for sure :)

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RE: Top Sites

By afkrotch on 2/24/2009 3:39:50 PM , Rating: 3

quote:
I think that's pretty good - you open a new tab, and get a selection of sites your most likely to visit, very quickly accessible. There's not really much downside, as it's instant, and if you don't want one of those sites you just proceed as normal.

I prefer my tabs to open up as a blank page. Just like how I usually open up an IE window. As I said, it's great for some, but not for others.

Browser choice is really all about preferences now, as they all support the same crap.

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RE: Top Sites

By psonice on 2/24/2009 6:03:28 PM , Rating: 2

Yeah, I generally prefer a blank tab. But I tend to open a tab, then open a bookmark, so this is more benefit than loss as it's not waiting to load anything. It's a preference setting anyway.

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Mistake

By bxero on 2/24/2009 1:14:41 PM , Rating: 5

Java and Javascript are not the same thing.

RE: Mistake

By psychobriggsy on 2/24/2009 1:20:49 PM , Rating: 2

Was just about to write that!

The 24-page Top Sites view is neat, but takes a while to reload. The large one you can practically read the pages without visiting them, it would look awesome full screen on a 24" 1920 wide monitor. Shame you can't spin the view around to see more sites...

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RE: Mistake

By Dreifort on 2/24/2009 1:23:41 PM , Rating: 4

...neither are 'Apple' and 'Virus-Proof' one in the same. I know ppl tend to think they are.

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RE: Mistake

By omnicronx on 2/24/2009 2:35:46 PM , Rating: 2

Not to mention a browser cannot make Java run faster ;)

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RE: Mistake

By afkrotch on 2/24/2009 3:08:39 PM , Rating: 2

It can if you get down on your hands and knees, then pray real hard. Or go onto tech sites and spam on about how much better your browser is.

They're all pretty equivalent with each other now. Just get the one you like the best.

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RE: Mistake

By omnicronx on 2/24/2009 4:21:05 PM , Rating: 2

I meant that each browser has its own javascript implementation. Java is totally seperate from the browser, even if you have 5 browsers on your computer, you are still using the same JVM and is not part of the browser code.

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Speed and Rendering?

By JarredWalton on 2/24/2009 3:25:55 PM , Rating: 3

Okay, I just did an informal test, with the following system:

Q6600 @ 3.30GHz (9x367MHz)
2x2GB OCZ DDR2-800 @ 734 4-4-4-12
Samsung HD753LJ 750GB
Radeon HD 4870X2
HP LP3065 30" LCD @ 2560x1600
Comcast 12Mb with PowerBoost connection

These are pretty informal tests, but still I'm curious to see how it goes.

Results for AnandTech home page rendering (http://www.anandtech.com/):
Chrome: 1.8-2.3
IE: 2.1-2.7
Firefox: 1.8-2.4
Firefox with AdBlock Plus EasyList USA: 0.8-1.0
Safari: 1.8-2.5

Results for AnandTech Multi-GPU article (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3517...
Chrome: 4.5-5.5
IE: 5.2-6.5
Firefox: 5.0-6.3
Firefox with AdBlock Plus EasyList USA: 1.3-1.8
Safari: 4.2-5.7

Results for DailyTech (http://www.dailytech.com/):
Chrome: 2.8-4.1
IE: 2.5-3.5
Firefox: 2.3-3.4
Firefox with AdBlock Plus EasyList USA: 0.9-1.1
Safari: 2.3-3.3

Results for HardOCP(http://www.hardocp.com/) NOTE: response from this server seemed very erratic, with initial handshaking sometimes taking several seconds; I discarded the outlying results as best as I could:
Chrome: 1.6-3.5
IE: 3.0-4.5
Firefox: 2.9-4.2
Firefox with AdBlock Plus EasyList USA: 1.5-2.5
Safari: 2.8-4.3

This was practically a foregone conclusion, but let's just say there's no way I'm switching from Firefox+AdBlock until something better comes along. I could use any of the four browsers for my typical internet surfing, but I don't know how they'd hold up to Flash, Java, etc. sites (not that I visit such sites all that often).

Safari also a few annoyances for me, specifically it doesn't respond to some of the keyboard shortcuts I know. (Alt+Home takes you to your home page in every browser I've used.) Same goes for Chrome, though: I hate the lack of a visible menu bar. I use the menu for bookmarks, and I like it that way! Finally, and this is one that's practically a MUST in my book, Firefox and Chrome allow you to start with your last pages already open; IE and Safari do not. Add everything together, and Firefox with all its extensions/add-ons is the clear winner for me. (Sorry - didn't ever try Opera.)

RE: Speed and Rendering?

By JarredWalton on 2/24/2009 3:27:30 PM , Rating: 2

Oh, didn't mention that the test system was Vista 64-bit, although 32-bit Vista on a similar system seemed about the same. Since I usually end up reading pages for a couple minutes, the potentially increased rendering times are less of an annoyance than other factors.

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RE: Speed and Rendering?

By omnicronx on 2/24/2009 4:27:53 PM , Rating: 2

What about IE plugins like IEpro, I hear it works quite well. Doesn't really seem like a fair test until you try available plugins for other browsers.

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RE: Speed and Rendering?

By Dreifort on 2/24/2009 4:41:29 PM , Rating: 2

like that Vumundo plug in...

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RE: Speed and Rendering?

By kelmon on 2/24/2009 6:13:23 PM , Rating: 2

Just to note that Safari has AdBlock as well, although I doubt that makes much of a difference.

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RE: Speed and Rendering?

By JarredWalton on 2/24/2009 7:25:05 PM , Rating: 2

I can't honestly say I've researched all of the plugin options for the various browsers. As noted, FF + ABP does all I need. It's extremely easy to set up as well, what with the "Tools->Add-Ons" function. There are a variety of ad-blocking solutions I've never heard of I'm sure, so I suppose I could look into adding them. I do have to use IE on occasion and it would be nice to get that feature.

As for the rest, I like restoring my previous tabs, which as mentioned isn't available except on FF and Chrome as far as I know. Intersect that with the ad-blocking and I think FF is the only browser left standing. :)

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RE: Speed and Rendering?

By JarredWalton on 2/24/2009 7:43:19 PM , Rating: 2

Update: IEPro seems to do most of what I'd like, but it's not 100% reliable. For one, I can't seem to find any way to tweak the ad-blocker settings. It catches some things but not all, and I'd like some UI that allows me to add or exclude certain things. The other issue is that the "session recovery" seems to only work partially, at least in my limited experience. I can restore my last pages, but only after seeing an "Internet Explorer crashed" dialog with an option to restore the last pages. Mind you, IE did *not* crash; I closed it manually.

Load times for most web sites do appear to be down slightly, though again that isn't my major concern. Two seconds vs. four seconds just doesn't matter unless you're clicking through tons of pages without reading.

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RE: Speed and Rendering?

By kelmon on 2/25/2009 3:08:34 AM , Rating: 2

Safari offers the option to "Reopen All Windows From Last Session", which I think is what you are asking for. I honestly can't remember if that was available in Safari 3 but it's there in Safari 4.

However, I entirely agree that if you find a browser that works for you then you shouldn't feel pressured to change when something new arrives, although I'd generally urge people to "kick the tires" if reports are good and it offers functions that you like the sound of. On the Mac platform Firefox really isn't a very good option for the simple reason that it's a Windows application pretending to be a Mac application and therefore doesn't offer the support for the platform that native browsers and other applications do. But, if you are running Windows, then Firefox was designed for you and is probably a great option. At least with this version of Safari for Windows Apple has made it look more like a normal Windows application, which I expect is quite welcome rather than trying to foist the Apple look on people who don't necessarily like/want it.

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Forced

By Brainonska511 on 2/24/2009 3:04:30 PM , Rating: 2

So will this, along with ITunes, continue to be forced on PC users when they download Quicktime?

(Yes, I know about Quicktime Alternative).

RE: Forced

By theslug on 2/24/2009 3:17:15 PM , Rating: 3

Downloading quicktime doesn't force you to download itunes. The page gives you the choice.

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RE: Forced

By sprockkets on 2/24/2009 5:23:43 PM , Rating: 2

I tried to update the airport utility on my winxp laptop, and even though I specifically unchecked quicktime, safari and itunes to be installed, it did it anyway.

If anyone should be sued next, its apple.

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RE: Forced

By QueBert on 2/24/2009 6:03:03 PM , Rating: 2

Strange, I've installed iTunes on about 20 desktops in the past 30 days and probably 100 since this time last year. And not ONE of them installed Quicktime, Sarafi or anything I unchecked. Yeah, Apple should be sued because people don't know how to install software. *rolls eyes* Sorry, but you didn't uncheck them or they wouldn't have installed, it's that easy. And if they did still somehow install for you, impossible enough to believe. Why should Apple sue for a bug that effects only you and a rare few people.

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Meh

By XBoxLPU on 2/24/2009 1:21:18 PM , Rating: 2

The only browser I use these days is Chrome. If they can work on rendering pages here and there I will never need another browser

RE: Meh

By omnicronx on 2/24/2009 4:30:51 PM , Rating: 2

I like chrome except for the lack of plugins. I can't live with addblockplus or a similar implementation. It cuts load times down at least half on most sites.

I can't figure out why Chrome was ever released without plugins either, seems like a giant oversight. If they took the time to add them, then perhaps their 'marketshare'(if you can call it that) wouldn't still floating around the 1% mark, if that.

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RE: Meh

By Bubbacub on 2/24/2009 5:23:28 PM , Rating: 2

chrome is awesome. i have even managed to get by without adblock and filterset.g - things i thought i could never do with out because the overall browsing engine is so good.

tried safari once a year ago - i'll never get the time i spent installing and uninstalling it back.

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RE: Meh

By mofo3k on 2/25/2009 12:42:52 PM , Rating: 2

I'm the same way, all I use now is Chrome. I feel bad that I don't use Firefox anymore except for the few pages that Chrome doesn't load properly.

My only complaint right now is the lack of a Linux version. I know they're working on it but I find myself using Ubuntu less for general web browsing as a result of liking Chrome so much.

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Safari and Firefox are still sub par

By efluxdesign on 2/25/2009 10:38:40 AM , Rating: 2

Not sure why people have to try and convince themselves these browsers are better than plain old IE, but they're not.

Safari renders milliseconds faster - woooo, like I'd notice the difference. The browser looks like sh*t on Mac and especially on Windows. The same goes for Firefox. What more do you need to customize in a browser than what comes with IE7 or IE8 RC1? I guess people get off on meerly having the ability to futz around "however they want".

Seriously, all of the competing browsers have interfaces that look like they were designed by a college student with a photoshop UI project. Google Chrome is the worst offender. Lets go back to AOL everyone!

Too funny...

RE: Safari and Firefox are still sub par

By mofo3k on 2/25/2009 12:47:57 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Not sure why people have to try and convince themselves these browsers are better than plain old IE, but they're not.

Umm, it didn't take much convincing for me. However I still do use IE for my job, mostly when I'm trying to wipe the AntiSpyware 2009 infection they got while using IE. As for the interfaces, I like how you bash them but ignore the fact that IE has copied the search bar from Firefox and Opera.

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Download page broken

By joey2264 on 2/24/2009 1:06:00 PM , Rating: 1

Download page doesn't even work. Typical Apple lack of followthrough.

RE: Download page broken

By psychobriggsy on 2/24/2009 1:16:44 PM , Rating: 2

Worked for me hours ago.

The browser is definitely worth a try. I found it initially slow as it generated a default set of Top Sites, but since then it's been fine. The Cover Flow history is actually very nice although I'd like to see it handle a typical several week long browsing history.

The tabs aren't ideal, but they're a darn site better than the previous Safari on Windows which just looked out of place.

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Speed Nice But A Few Odd Decisions

By kelmon on 2/24/2009 6:27:54 PM , Rating: 2

Well, Safari 4 on a MacBook Pro definitely feels a lot faster than the previous version so things are all good in that respect. Apple seems to have caught people by surprise with this version so plug-ins are generally broken (my beloved Inquisitor, for example, is a no-show so it's back to Google for the time being). The Cover Flow feature only seems to work on non-secure web pages and you need to visit them in order for a preview to be generated; Safari doesn't generate them in the background when you first start it, which is a bit of a shame. However, my main peeve with this version is the new Tab bar. I'm not against its position at the top of the screen or appearance but rather you now have to click in the far-right of a tab in order to grip it such that you can re-order them, merge or separate.

Aside from this it also seems to be missing the usual view of each open tab that the likes of IE7+ provides, which seems odd given the rather nice Top Sites view. Having Exposé show the contents of each tab for selection, for example, would be a natural fit. Perhaps this is coming later...

Assuming that I don't encounter any site incompatibilities or odd rendering bugs then Safari 4 looks set to keep Safari as my primary browser.

KDE Javascript

By SimpleLance on 2/24/2009 8:32:46 PM , Rating: 2

How much of these improvements make it back to KDE Javascript? Apple did not write Safari from scratch. They took an open source (and the free labor from it), and put their own spin on it, and released it as Safari.

I'm just wondering if they ever contribute back to the open source community.