Free Firefox browser is better than Safari [Archive]

Nermal

Mar 29, 2005, 02:19 AM

dornoforpyros

Mar 29, 2005, 02:30 AM

I agree this guys review is pretty much a fluff peice. Like ok, you like FF better than safari, good for you. I like noodles more than rice, should I become a journalist?

winmacguy

Mar 29, 2005, 02:40 AM

I use FF here at home on my PC with 56k dial up and find it a lot faster than IE. I also use FF at work on my G5 Mac running 10.3 with a T1 broadband connection and find FF to be faster than Safari. The only slower bit I have noticed when comparing it to Safari is when I launch FF, compared to Safari it takes longer to spring into action. I prefer the tabbed browseing in FF, something Safari doesnt have. I think a lot of this article comes down to each persons opinion of one browser over the other.

RacerX

Mar 29, 2005, 02:48 AM

I haven't used Safari in a little over a year, but from what I remember the few months that I was using it regularly, it was way better than Firefox. They really should have used Camino as the foundation of Firefox, we really don't need more Carbon apps that don't play well with the rest of the system.

At any rate, I'll stick with OmniWeb. I've been using it since 1998 and it has served me quite well in that time.

Nermal

Mar 29, 2005, 02:50 AM

I prefer the tabbed browseing in FF, something Safari doesnt have.

I haven't seen any real difference between the tabbed browsing in FF and Safari. What feature are you talking about? :confused:

jvaska

Mar 29, 2005, 03:05 AM

FF renders forms element ugly as heck...sure there is a hack to help it out there but it's still not the best. As far as I can tell FF is faster, but overall the feel of things is not as smooth as Safari.

nagromme

Mar 29, 2005, 06:55 AM

I haven't seen any real difference between the tabbed browsing in FF and Safari. What feature are you talking about? :confused:

The main difference for me is that Firefox's method for closing one tab is annoying to me.

I also prefer the gray look of Safari (stands apart from pages instead of blending in with white pages and adding to the Inredible Creeping Web Clutter) , the black icons (ditto on the clutter) and the compact toolbars... at first it makes you think, "where's the rest of the browser?" And then you're GLAD Safari fits the same stuff in less space. (But I do turn on the Status Bar.)

yellow

Mar 29, 2005, 07:00 AM

mad jew

Mar 29, 2005, 07:13 AM

Otherwise, FF is too Netscape like.. and interface I cannot stand.

Yep, I reckon that's one of the main reasons so many more people visiting this site (a Mac-advocate site) use Safari as shown in a recent poll. Sorry, I'm far too lazy to look it up. ;) I personally can't stand Firefox or any of the affiliate programs. They're too messy in both GUI and their placement of essential files.

Mitthrawnuruodo

Mar 29, 2005, 07:14 AM

Apart from the 'new window' bug, and another bug where all keyboard shortcuts randomly quits working (for a random time period), I still prefer Firefox over Safari because:

- Firefox can allow some sites to open pop-ups (e.g. the wireless network at school has a portal solution where I have to have a pop-up window open to have access), while in Safari pop-ups ar on/off making surfing at school a pop-up-H*ll...

- My internet bank works again - the b*stards "upgraded" their bank in November, and I can no longer use Safari, not Safari's fault, but still...

- I can add separators in the bookmarks, which is very handy when you have a lot of bookmarks, and try not to have too many folders in the bookmarks bar... bookmarks already are in html-format: No need for the debug-menu in Safari for import/export...

- Firefox displays the contents of the alt-tag when an image is missing, while Safari only has a stupid questionmark...

- the Searchbar at the bottom of the screen is fantastic, and makes Safari's (and all other browsers) Find-window seem like dark age technology.

- Firefox has RSS-support, which Safari still misses...

- The Send Link... command, very handy I use it several times daily, is missing in Safari...

- Firefox asks if you really want to quit if you hit cmd-Q with more than one tab open... hasn't got a count of how many times I accidently hit cmd-Q in Safari when I was aiming for cmd-W (right next to each other), and then 'lost' all my tabs and had to go through History to get them back...

That said: I'll give Safari 2.0 a try when Tiger arrives... I don't mind 'switching back'... ;)

swindmill

Mar 29, 2005, 08:01 AM

I'm suprised how little weight is given to the extensions offered by FF. I use several that are now essential to browsing.

As far as tabbed browsing goes, if you get used to the FF extension "tabbed browsing preferences" it is hard to go without it. This extension makes the tabbed browsing in FF far better than that of Safari

As far as aesthetics go, Safari is MUCH better, but I wouldn't switch for that reason alone.

Smooth Scrolling is also a huge plus in FF. I hate scrolling in Safari.

/If anyone knows of any Safari add-ons in these areas I've mentioned, please share.

Arpan

Mar 29, 2005, 08:41 AM

I'm suprised how little weight is given to the extensions offered by FF. I use several that are now essential to browsing.

/If anyone knows of any Safari add-ons in these areas I've mentioned, please share.

There are a number of plugins for safari. visit this site:

http://pimpmysafari.com/

I love the way Firefox saves complete Web pages.

I don't. Try saving any page that has a CSS and firefox messes it up completely. Neither the CSS file, nor the files linked through the CSS file are saved. which means that for a large number of sites that follow web-standards, Firefox is unable to save a page properly.

The only browsers that manage to save CSS properly are IE (windows) and Opera.

nagromme

Mar 29, 2005, 09:16 AM

IMO, FF has only 1 thing on Safari. Long select bars with scrolling. Having to actually wade through a jillion entries in a scroll bar on Safari sucks. Otherwise, FF is too Netscape like.. an interface I cannot stand.
Safari list shortcut: type part of the item (like a state name or whatever). Press Return to select it.

The only browsers that manage to save CSS properly are IE (windows) and Opera.
I believe that Tiger adds the ability to save an entire page with "the works" from Safari. Anyone know how well that feature works with CSS?

wrldwzrd89

Mar 29, 2005, 09:34 AM

Both browsers have their advantages. Firefox seems to be more compatible in general; that doesn't mean there aren't any sites that look fine in Safari but not in Firefox (ATI's page (http://www.ati.com/), of all things, was one of them - I don't know if it still is).

I like Safari's bookmarks system. Most browsers (including MSIE) have a two-tier bookmark system. Frequently used bookmarks go in the bookmarks bar; less often used bookmarks are in the bookmarks menu. Safari's is three-tier: bookmarks bar, bookmarks menu, bookmark collections screen (for stuff you don't use often enough to put in the bookmarks menu, but that you still want to have around). Another advantage to Safari (at least for .Mac members) is the bookmark synchronization with .Mac - no other browser on any platform that I know of does this.

Sharewaredemon

Mar 29, 2005, 09:38 AM

- Firefox can allow some sites to open pop-ups (e.g. the wireless netwoork at school has a portal solution where I have to have a pop-up window open to have access), while in Safari pop-ups ar on/off making surfing at school a pop-up-H*ll...

- the Searchbar at the bottom of the screen is fantastic, and makes Safari's (and all other browsers) Find-window seem like dark age technology.

- Firefox asks if you really want to quit if you hit cmd-Q with more than one tab open... hasn't got a count of how many times I accidently hit cmd-Q in Safari when I was aiming for cmd-W (right next to each other), and then 'lost' all my tabs and had to go through History to get them back...

That said: I'll give Safari 2.0 a try when Tiger arrives... I don't mind 'switching back'... ;)

These are all very valid points, I remember how impressed I was with the searchbar at the bottom of the page when it first came up.

Here's one thing Safari does that Firefox doesn't, it allows you to launch the first 9 bookmarks in your bookmarks bard using command then a number (determined by the order in which the bookmarks appear).

Ever since I've started using this, I use it extensively, I mean, who want to move the mouse ALL the way to the top of the screen after launching Safari? ;)
This is especially useful on my laptop, as I try to aviod the track-pad as much as possible.

1macker1

Mar 29, 2005, 09:42 AM

FireFox is too buggy for me, but Safari has it problems. My main grip with FF is that new windows are opened larger than the current window. This is a small thing, but It drives me insane, actually it drove me back to Safari.

With Safari, scrolling is a problem. But the main gripe i have with safari is that a right click doesn't give u the option to go "back", "forward", "reload". Having to move my curson all the way to the top of the browers to do these things drives me nuts. To have a browser without this function is a horrible design flaw. I wish they would fix this in the next release of Safari.

DavidLeblond

Mar 29, 2005, 09:49 AM

I'm not at my Mac, but is this (http://pimpmysafari.com/plugins/677/fiwt-04) anything like Firefox's find feature?

yellow

Mar 29, 2005, 10:13 AM

Safari list shortcut: type part of the item (like a state name or whatever). Press Return to select it.

Yes, but that only works if you know what you're looking for. Unfortunately most often I use Safari at my work with some home-grown crap written for the web by people who clearly don't understand the web. They'll create a select bar with 200 names! WTH?

Chappers

Mar 29, 2005, 10:21 AM

Sorry but Firefox on the Mac is buggy as has been mentioned and I still don't like the icon.

Neuro

Mar 29, 2005, 10:31 AM

Using the latest nightly build of Camino. They've ditched the ugly page tabs and it seems far less buggy to me than FF. I never need to kill the process.

jakeOSX

Mar 29, 2005, 10:54 AM

so i use chimera.

i don't like safari's bookmark system, and don't like that camino has adopted it. i like sidebars, so sidebars it is.

there are other things, like sometimes i think safari gives up good rendering for speed.

FF will be a great browser one day, i have no doubt. it just need time to mature. until then it is chimera or mozilla for me.

pgwalsh

Mar 29, 2005, 11:55 AM

I am getting random CPU spikes with FireFox (the new version), even when it's just idle.

mainstreetmark

Mar 29, 2005, 11:58 AM

I love FF's "Find", and as a previous poster said, it makes all other Find boxes rather archaic.

I miss how the middle mouse button (scroll wheel button) opened a new tab in Safari.

TheIguana

Mar 29, 2005, 01:14 PM

If FF supported Mac OS X's built in spell check then it would be superior, but because they haven't included this functionality its not.

Iggy :(

narco

Mar 29, 2005, 02:00 PM

I use both Safari and Firefox -- it really depends on what I'm doing. I've had Safari crash a LOT (probably the most crashed program next to Word and Mail.app), so whenever I think a website is too much for it or if Safari won't let me submit forms of some kind, I start up Firefox. I should really switch, but Safari is just soo pretty.

Fishes,
narco.

GodBless

Mar 29, 2005, 02:08 PM

I haven't seen any real difference between the tabbed browsing in FF and Safari. What feature are you talking about? :confused:

Safari has a better keyboard combination to switch through tabs that is easier to remember than the one in FF.

RacerX

Mar 29, 2005, 02:26 PM

I've had Safari crash a LOT (probably the most crashed program next to Word and Mail.app)
Wow, I have only had Mail crash on me once (2004-07-16) since I started using it as my primary e-mail client back in September 2002.

Have you ever thought about trying to find out why it is crashing so much? Because I don't think that that is normal for it.

swindmill

Mar 29, 2005, 04:59 PM

I'm guessing most Safari users have never become dependent on any of the extensions in FF. I say that because, as I mentioned in my first post, nobody seems to address that as an issue. That's really the only thing keeping me on FF. FF is a bit bit faster for me, but not significantly.

macman81

Mar 29, 2005, 08:57 PM

It all goes back to personal preference, plain and simple. Firefox 1.0.2, as I've noticed anyways, has significantly improved in startup time and reliability - coming very close to Safari. Firefox is extremely customizable, has countless extensions/themes, but is not as native. Safari is slightly smoother, and may look 'prettier' to some. If only they continued developing Camino!!! Or are they still doing it, just at a snail rate? I haven't heard anything about it for awhile now, but if they could incorporate all the Firefox features into Camino that'd make the *perfect* Mac browser. I think so anyways.

Fiveos22

Mar 30, 2005, 01:51 PM

Wow, I have only had Mail crash on me once (2004-07-16) since I started using it as my primary e-mail client back in September 2002.

Have you ever thought about trying to find out why it is crashing so much? Because I don't think that that is normal for it.

Since I've been using Panther (about a week after it was released) Mail has crashed regularly (usually 1 out of 4 times I've used it). It occurs when quit the app and it just hangs...forever, until I force quit the process.

Only until recently (10.3.8) has this problem subsided...until a few days ago when it magically happened again. They've had a few problems with Mail, but its probably specific to certain setups.

wrldwzrd89

Mar 30, 2005, 03:10 PM

Wow, I have only had Mail crash on me once (2004-07-16) since I started using it as my primary e-mail client back in September 2002.

Have you ever thought about trying to find out why it is crashing so much? Because I don't think that that is normal for it.
I haven't had very many Mail crashes either. I don't remember how many, of if there have been any at all. Safari unexpectedly quits on me occasionally. I haven't used Firefox enough to judge its tendencies regarding crashes.

Mitthrawnuruodo

Apr 3, 2005, 12:44 PM

I miss how the middle mouse button (scroll wheel button) opened a new tab in Safari.In FF you can do this with cmd-click...

rendezvouscp

Apr 3, 2005, 01:24 PM

Unless it's been updated recently, the Mac version of FF is really buggy. For example, start a download, then close the browser window. Now open a new browser window. See the problem? :eek:

I have a copy of Camino on my system which I use for the occasional page that won't open in Safari. It's easy to load it too - just highlight the page address and press Cmd-Shift-U.

Wow, never noticed that. Well, I don't really like FF on the Mac because of its bugginess. I've noticed it has some weird problems with JS, and various other things. The review wasn't that great.
-Chase

minton

Apr 4, 2005, 01:12 AM

Wow, there's like 4 different current threads on Firefox vs. Safari.
Another advantage to Safari (at least for .Mac members) is the bookmark synchronization with .Mac - no other browser on any platform that I know of does this.
As I posted in another thread, Firefox bookmarks synchronizer is much better than the $100 a year Safari solution, especially for people who have to work on a pc at work. And it's free. Using the Bookmarks Synchronizer extension, you point it at your ftp site (I got a free acount at gurble.com) and upload your bookmarks to it. Thereafter, you can have all your Firefox browsers synchronized on different machines, be they linux, windows, or mac.

RacerX

Apr 4, 2005, 01:26 AM

Since I've been using Panther (about a week after it was released) Mail has crashed regularly (usually 1 out of 4 times I've used it). It occurs when quit the app and it just hangs...forever, until I force quit the process.
On the pre-Mac OS X versions of Mail (and MailViewer) all optimization was done manually. But now it is done in the background while Mail is running. If it is hanging when you go to quit, there is a very good chance it is in the middle of doing house keeping and needs a little time to finish. If you force quit while it is doing this you run the risk of damaging the mailboxes that are being optimized which could lead to further crashes and instability of Mail.

I had one client who was, well, impatient with Mail. He wanted it done when he was done with it and force quit Mail when it wouldn't quit when he wanted it to. It was quite a mess recovering his mail when his mailboxes stopped being readable by Mail.

I'm not sure this is what is happening here, but it sorta sound similar.

wrldwzrd89

Apr 4, 2005, 05:41 AM

Wow, there's like 4 different current threads on Firefox vs. Safari.

As I posted in another thread, Firefox bookmarks synchronizer is much better than the $100 a year Safari solution, especially for people who have to work on a pc at work. And it's free. Using the Bookmarks Synchronizer extension, you point it at your ftp site (I got a free acount at gurble.com) and upload your bookmarks to it. Thereafter, you can have all your Firefox browsers synchronized on different machines, be they linux, windows, or mac.
It's nice to know that Firefox has this ability, too, by installing one of the numerous extensions available for it. However, I get too much value from my (upgraded) .Mac subscription to switch to Firefox from Safari.

bigandy

Apr 4, 2005, 08:13 AM

Wow, there's like 4 different current threads on Firefox vs. Safari.

As I posted in another thread, Firefox bookmarks synchronizer is much better than the $100 a year Safari solution, especially for people who have to work on a pc at work. And it's free. Using the Bookmarks Synchronizer extension, you point it at your ftp site (I got a free acount at gurble.com) and upload your bookmarks to it. Thereafter, you can have all your Firefox browsers synchronized on different machines, be they linux, windows, or mac.

i'm going to write a script/programme that can do this with safari's bookmarks.

i'm not sure if i need "synchronisation" or just the fact i need to share it between macs - i may just have it as a 2 button programme.. one button sends it to the server, the other retrieves it. :rolleyes:

can applescript handle sending stuff to FTP servers? actually scrub that i'd just get it to tell Transmit what to do ;)

minton

Apr 4, 2005, 01:38 PM

i'm going to write a script/programme that can do this with safari's bookmarks ...

can applescript handle sending stuff to FTP servers? actually scrub that i'd just get it to tell Transmit what to do ;)
You should just use the terminal. Creat a file called .netrc in your home directory containing:

machine your.ftpserver.com
login your_login
password your_password
Then create a file that contains what you actually want to do. You'll probably need 2 separate files, one for uploading the bookmarks and one for downloading them. The file format looks like:
#!/bin/sh
ftp your.ftpserver.com <<**
prompt off
cd /private # wherever you want the bookmarks to reside on the server
put /path/to/your/safari_bookmarks # for uploads - for downloads, use 'get'
bye
**
Make the file execuatable with 'chmod +x name_of_file'. This does a simple overwrite of bookmarks, so I still think the Bookmarks Synchronizer extension on FF is better because if you're not sure if the bookmarks you uploaded are the most current version, you can select "merge" and it will just add the bookmarks that are not already on your home machine without deleting anything.