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June 12, 2007 9:34 AM PDT

Will you use Safari?

Safari(Credit: CNET Networks)

For those of us interested in software, the lack of an iPhone developer's kit announcement at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday was a bit of a disappointment.

What we got instead was Safari for Windows, which is exactly what I don't need: another Web browser. When considered with the relaunch of Netscape Navigator last week, it's clear, however, that the battle for control of your browser is still a major front in the software wars.

Internet Explorer has reigned supreme since the dawn of the new century, while Mozilla Firefox continues to chip away at Microsoft's market share. Opera blazes trails on mobile devices and the Nintendo Wii, while products like Adobe AIR have the potential to replace your browser completely.

So what's it all mean? Well, it sounds like good news to me. The software that most of us spend the most time with is the browser, and we've got some of the most talented software developers on the planet trying to prove that their browsers are the best.

In essence, we have a multibillion-dollar development team working on making our free software even better. Who can argue with that?

What do you think about Safari? Would you consider switching from IE7, Firefox 2, or Opera? Is anyone out there still using Netscape 7.2? How about Lynx? Tell me about it in the comments.

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 10 comments
Internet Browsers
by Sheepish12 June 12, 2007 10:29 AM PDT
Safari is a mediocre browser that offers nothing to a Windows user who already has IE7 or Firefox. 80% of the public doesn't even know what a browser is they are probably still using IE6 and don't know what "Safari" is. For the rest of us, safari has no compelling features not found in Firefox or in a Firefox add-on. And you mentioned how great it is that billions of dollars and thousands of developers are working on our browsers, but the differences between any competing browsers or updates of them are very small, which leads me to believe there is little room for improvement. The internet browser is a mature peice of software and I would rather see developers working on other things.
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Safari might not be good now for Windows
by metmichallica June 12, 2007 11:10 AM PDT
and might not have all the features other browsers have, but just give it time. It's not like Internet Explorer and Firefox had all these features available in it either back when it first came about either.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/historyofie.mspx

Give it time and eventually it will have as much features as the other browsers. That's how it usually works. Will I drop IE and Firefox for Safari? Unless they are giving away free music on itunes no.
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No Safari in my Future
by whumphrey June 12, 2007 11:39 AM PDT
I currently use IE v6. I would switch to Firefox if I could completely remove IE from my system. I refuse having softwares with redundant functionality occupying my system.
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favourite browsers
by mitchboy25 June 12, 2007 11:57 AM PDT
When the subject of browsers comes up, flash peak slim browser is never mentioned, I have used this for years with great success their AUTO LOGIN is great
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Safari....Not ready
by nyjad June 12, 2007 12:02 PM PDT
Tried it today. Several crashes and a reinstall, and I finally deleted it. FireFox seems to be a better option at this point and I will stick with it until something better comes along. Safari isn't the "something better" at this point.
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What about Maxthon?
by ARTWebGuru June 12, 2007 12:06 PM PDT
I use Maxthon 2.0 almost exclusively except for the select few web sites that work better in IE 7 or FireFox. I don't see anyone ever talk about Maxthon and I like it's tab functionality and overall usability so much more than any other browsers out there, and I have been using browsers for over 13 years starting with Netscape 1.0
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No Safari for me
by mbrock5532 June 12, 2007 12:07 PM PDT
I saw the announcement about this a couple of days ago and downloaded and installed Safari on my system. My first impression was how ugly it was - especially from a company who prides itself in their design. It may have been faster rendering pages, but not enough faster than Firefox to make me feel I had to switch. The tab browsing was awkward, my Roboform didn't interface and after a couple of days I went back to Firefox. When I tried Firefox, I immediately stopped using IE except for sites that absolutely required it, so I am not afraid of switching browsers.

I don't know what it will take for me to try Safari again, but for now, it's off my radar.
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Good news for web developers
by Yami Pegasus June 12, 2007 12:08 PM PDT
This will not have much impact on the average user, but it's really good news for web developers. For quite some time, it was next to impossible to test HTML and CSS in both IE and Safari without buying a second OS as well as either very pricey virtualization software, Boot Camp, or a second machine.

I have been using Firefox as my main browser for quite some time and I don't plan on changing that, but now it's easier to ensure that anything I make will work correctly for more users.

This beta release seems a bit buggy, but I don't doubt that the problems will be worked out before a final release. Despite occasional crashes, it's a useful tool and I recommend it to anybody who is interested in web design.
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