Safari 3.1.2

Publisher's description of Safari

With a simple, elegant interface, the Safari browser gets out of your way and lets you enjoy the Web. Features include: fast performance; an elegant user interface, easy bookmarks, pop-up Blocking, inline find, tabbed browsing, SnapBack, automatic form filling, built-in RSS, resizable text fields, private browsing, and security.

Version 3.1.2 patches security flaws.

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Editor's review of Safari

Apple has published a Windows version of their native browser. No, the sky has not fallen and we have yet to see the spontaneous evolution of avian bacon.

What we do have is a major software publisher porting their once mono-platform browser with strong results. Much like iTunes, the Windows version of the Mac application works fine but lacks a certain tightness. It feels unfinished because it is.

Safari lacks most customization features. Skins and other aesthetic options exist in the Mac version, but not here. Hopefully that feature will come later. Just about the only thing you can alter is the font. Toolbar icons can be swapped, but the Customize option is only accessible from the Menu bar. If you like right-clicking your way to a shapelier browser, Safari's going to make you feel fat and ugly.

Safari does load pages quickly and didn't have any problems rendering Flash, although it crashed several times on Vista while processing Java. It's a memory sink, too, sometimes using three times as much RAM as Firefox when more than a couple tabs were opened. Tab sessions are savable--well, they would be savable, if the Reopen All Windows option under History worked. The built-in Roboform is buggy, and although there are plenty of extensions for the Mac Safari, that functionality hasn't been ported over.

Having a Safari engine to work with is a great boon for developers. For the average user, though, we'd recommend taking your browser hunt to more familiar grounds.

User reviews of Safari

• Average user rating: out of 412 votes
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  Safari

  good browser, but that's *all* it is.

  by: link48010 on 23-Jun-2008 09:51:45 PM

  Pros: It is fast, it is slim and nice. Does what it does okay.

  Cons: it has NOTHING else other than a simple browser. Few addons, it takes quite a bit of ram over opera and FireFox 3. Browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer are far more widely supported as browsers and work on far more sites and internet based apps. Safari has a lot of potential but till it reaches it, it's pointless to use it.

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  Safari

  It is fine. But not as good as Avant, not as fast as others.

  by: TigrrrTamer on 09-Aug-2008 02:34:00 PM

  Pros: I have found this browser to work quite well... nothing special about it... the websites' fonts and boxes look nicer than in other browsers.

  Cons: Customization could be made more flexible and easier... after all, you DO come to expect easy from Apple!

  Are you on facebook? brace yourself for the slowest browser on the planet!

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  Safari

  The best browser next to firefox

  by: rzpogi on 27-Jul-2008 12:06:17 AM

  Pros: Ultrafast lightning page loading. simple interface. great RSS handling. low cpu. loads flash and shockwave quickly. fast program loading. great for facebook users.

  Cons: memory increase is high. no 3rd party toolbars available. no add tab option on the toolbar-have to press ctrl+t or right on the tabs open and select new tab to add a new tab.

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  Safari

  Not bad at all..

  by: avion6900 on 28-Jun-2008 07:05:47 AM

  Pros: good speed, elegant, with less security issues, manages sites which otherwise wont open in opera/firefox due to security reasons..

  Cons: nothing yet... interface buttons could be bigger though..

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  Safari

  Why do people hate this program?!

  by: rammstein101 on 21-Jun-2008 08:28:45 PM

  Pros: It's fast, secure,simple and bug free.It is much much faster the IE7 and a touch faster than firefox.

  Cons: Nothing.

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