Well ladies and gentlemen the browser war is in full fledge arms race comparable to that of the Cold War. Alright maybe not that intense but for some of us web dorks it’s pretty intense. With another new contender, from another powerhouse in the industry the market is getting extremely tight. Our friends from Cupertino, Apple, have entered their challenger, Safari 4 beta. Safari is the standard browser on all Mac computers, which will help them claim their market share. While I am not a Mac user I have never really been a fan of the Safari browser when I do use it. It is very similar to IE. The problem with these is that they are from the makers of the OS and just lump them in with the software, therefore they don’t have to be outstanding to get users to switch. Until now. The new Safari looks amazing for both PC and Mac, with full native software to make it blend right in with the rest of your PC apps.

 

My likes:

 

Cover Flow:

Not only does it look like it belongs but the features that it comes with are out of this world. Just take a look at the cover flow design that is now added to the browser. We are all familiar with the cover flow in iTunes and other Apple products, now you have it in your browser when you search for your bookmarks and history. Yeah it’s just as cool as it sounds.

 

Top Sites:

This seems to be all the rage ever since Chrome came out with it. Firefox has a couple of add-on that does this, IE of course doesn’t because Microsoft is garbage. Safari’s top sites feature is by far the best looking of the options with a 4 x 3 grid layout. It is just gorgeous. It has a beautiful rounded feel to it with the mirrored floor that you see on many other Apple designs. You can plant certain sites to their own spot in the grid for easy access as well as a nice star that will show up that tells you if the site has been updated since your last visit.  Yep, this feature is a winner.

 

Dislikes:

 

Not Open Source:

This is an absolute killer for me. I love Firefox because almost every time that I feel Firefox doesn’t have a feature I want or I wish something did something it didn’t in Firefox there is an add-on for it. Without the ability to have open sourced plug in software it just won’t compete with the power that is Firefox.

 

So it is apparent that Safari is a great looking browser and will be a force in the browser wars. I don’t think it will top Firefox in market share simply due to the history and the add-on capabilities that Firefox has. My prediction is that IE will still be number one just because the majority of people don’t realize you should change you browser. Firefox will be number two because of its loyal following with people with knowledge of technology and the need to be safe on the net. Chrome has a niche that will keep it alive but this Safari will really help Apple in its attempt to gain on the computer landscape.

 

To each their own, so please go out and give it a try. I will continue to play with it over the next few days. Heck I might even switch.



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