Safari vs Firefox?

[RiCEADDiCTBOY]

which performs better? i wish i could use google chrome...but, its only in beta.

[MacDawg]

Seriously... you don't really want to start yet another Safari/Firefox thread do you?

MRoogle (http://mroogle.edesignuk.com/) should help you find all the threads about this you want

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif

[Skeletal-dæmon]

Safari vs Firefox?

I'll say what I did last time.

NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR!!! w00t! :D

[sesnir]

I recently saw an article proclaiming the Safari beta to be the fastest... and it seems to be... but I just can't use it without my FireFox addons :(

[Unprocessed1]

I prefer Safari, but it tends to crash alot on the MBA. Firefox is more stable imo, but I like the interface of safari better.

Chrome is also really nice, but only available on windows for now.

[NewMacbookPlz]

No love for Camino or Opera? :p

[tayloralmond]

You want speed? Go for Mozilla Minefield...zoom lol (although it's kinda buggy from time to time)

[PolySciSurfer]

I like them both. But I think firefox offers more features. Plus, I really wish you could change the Safari icon...

[gaming4fun]

Firefox all the way. I am a big fan of the Add-ons and look.

[mosx]

Firefox and AdBlockPlus can't be beat.

[ViciousShadow21]

Firefox and AdBlockPlus can't be beat.

Safari + AdBlockPlus cant beat it:D

[MacManiac76]

Safari vs Firefox?

I'll say what I did last time.

NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR!!! w00t! :D

Or better yet...NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR FTW!!! :D

[testcard]

This might be of interest: http://blogs.computerworld.com/an_early_look_at_firefox_3_5

[andalusia]

Firefox and AdBlockPlus can't be beat.

Something I agree with you on! :O :O :O :D:D:D :cool:

[Skika]

I use both, but i use Safari a lot more.

+ it syncs with the iPhone (bookmarks...)

[uberamd]

I prefer Safari, hands down. It looks better than firefox, doesn't give me the easy option of getting bloated down with plugins, has nice tabs (Safari 4), Top Sites is great, its fast, and coupled with Glimmer Blocker to block ad's it does everything I need it to.

I compile Chrome on my Mac a lot, and its pretty good but obviously missing a bunch of functional features at its current state.

Opera is pretty good, just not a fan of the UI. Safari has the best UI in my eyes, and thus I use it every day on all of my Mac systems.

[coronel mustard]

I prefer Safari, hands down. It looks better than firefox, doesn't give me the easy option of getting bloated down with plugins, has nice tabs (Safari 4), Top Sites is great, its fast, and coupled with Glimmer Blocker to block ad's it does everything I need it to.


Fair point about the plugins for Firefox, but you don't have to install any- they are there for the user to decide. I find a few of them to be of use, such as download helper and the previously mentioned adblock plus. Furthermore, you can change the look of Firefox with different themes, if the default ui isn't to your liking.

Don't worry, I am not trying to convert you to Firefox- I am merely pointing out that some of the "flaws" of Firefox can be worked around.

[uberamd]

Fair point about the plugins for Firefox, but you don't have to install any- they are there for the user to decide. I find a few of them to be of use, such as download helper and the previously mentioned adblock plus. Furthermore, you can change the look of Firefox with different themes, if the default ui isn't to your liking.

Don't worry, I am not trying to convert you to Firefox- I am merely pointing out that some of the "flaws" of Firefox can be worked around.

Yeah plugins are readily available and optional, but I then over do it and install a bunch. Plus the UI options are lackluster for my taste. I used to think having those cheesy looking Firefox themes was cool, but now my main goal is getting things done so I want a clean, professional look that Safari offers. Plus its well known Firefox emulates the Mac look but falls short.

Thats just me though. Glimmer blocker (ad-block for safari) and Safari 4 are on my PowerMac G5, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, and Mac Mini. And only Safari :)

[hellfire88]

I use Firefox due to extensions etc. but wish it supported the 3finger back/forward gestures natively on the uMB's life Safari does. I heard you can use some "multiclutch" addon but would rather have native support. I heard Firefox 3.5 or a later version was going to support the multi-touch gestures.

[testcard]

Firefox 3.5 RC should be out any day now.

[windywoo]

I use Firefox due to extensions etc. but wish it supported the 3finger back/forward gestures natively on the uMB's life Safari does. I heard you can use some "multiclutch" addon but would rather have native support. I heard Firefox 3.5 or a later version was going to support the multi-touch gestures.

What would be the point of native support? Why would they add that to every version of Firefox when perhaps 1% use it? The strength of Firefox is its expandibility so its great there is an addon that you can use to make it work the way you want it.

Personally I think Safari 3 is bollocks but Safari 4 is great. Camino however is my favourite because on my 1Ghz processor it runs all the flash video sites flawlessly, whereas Firefox and Safari lag some.

[Skeletal-dæmon]

Or better yet...NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR FTW!!! :D

Oh my gods I had forgotten NSCMM! Its been so long... I need to get a new monitor for my PM6200 so I can use NS again :D

[superxero3]

afaik, Safari stores your saved passwords in keychain access, which nobody can access without your login password (so i make mine excessively long.)

whereas, FireFox stores its saved passwords inside the program, which can be accessed through preferences without knowing the owner of the computers login password.

IMO, Safari is better in that respect, and that is why i use it

I know some will argue that FireFox has the ability to use a 'Master Password' for the very reason i stated above, but from what i have seen, you have to type that password in every time FireFox needs to access your stored information.

[bubbagumpshrimp]

I use Firefox due to extensions etc. but wish it supported the 3finger back/forward gestures natively on the uMB's life Safari does. I heard you can use some "multiclutch" addon but would rather have native support. I heard Firefox 3.5 or a later version was going to support the multi-touch gestures.
Wow.. sadly i didnt know about the 3finger back/forward gestures. would like to see that in firefox as it is my preferred browser.

[Richard1028]

Firefox will remember individual view settings for each page you visit. Safari doesn't. Like other browsers Safari only has global zoom options.

This is the #1 feature for me. Too many sites I frequent have tiny text I can't read. With firefox I just set the text size as big as I want and it remembers this setting the next time I go there.

[superxero3]

Firefox will remember individual view settings for each page you visit. Safari doesn't. Like other browsers Safari only has global zoom options.

This is the #1 feature for me. Too many sites I frequent have tiny text I can't read. With firefox I just set the text size as big as I want and it remembers this setting the next time I go there.

I didn't know that, that is really cool!

[Potomac]

I've used both and I had poor performance with Firefox. I stopped using Firefox and went back to Safari and have been pretty happy with the performance after I switched back

[musio]

if http://www.downthemall.net/ was available to safari, i would switch in an instant!

[cm1]

The new Safari beta is fast, but I thought I heard about some issue with it cacheing every page you visit, wasting hard drive space...

I'll give it a chance when its released, though.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=705925&highlight=safari+beta

[archi17]

Wow.. sadly i didnt know about the 3finger back/forward gestures. would like to see that in firefox as it is my preferred browser.

Yeah I was the exact way about the 3 fingers.. If you download Firefox 3.5 beta (google it) It supports 3 finger back and forward. I havent had any issues with the beta. 3 Fingers is a very very good Gesture.

[ptsube]

I use Firefox due to extensions etc. but wish it supported the 3finger back/forward gestures natively on the uMB's life Safari does. I heard you can use some "multiclutch" addon but would rather have native support. I heard Firefox 3.5 or a later version was going to support the multi-touch gestures.

I use Shiretoko (http://www.latko.org/downloads/), Intel Optimized Shiretoko 3.5b5pre dmg. It is very fast, and it supports the three finger gestures. Takes longer to open than Safari, however.

Add Downthemall, and speed dial, and it is perfect.

[Doju]

Safari 4 Beta is faster than Firefox 3 Beta, but Firefox is a bit more stable. I think Safari integrates with everything better, I prefer the space-efficient tabs, and just the UI.

Can't go wrong with either, but my vote goes to Safari.

[Insulin Junkie]

Hmm... the newest chapter in an ongoing debate.

Over here, bigtime Mozilla fanboy, so Firefox, and related browsers. Its customization options and add-ons are worth the minor difference in speed. It's also the most stable browser I've used to date. Recently started using Flock and I'm addicted. :D

[KandyKane]

How do you guys get around sites that only seem to load with internet explorer? I tried to download ie for mac but that was from 06 and still didn't work :(

[Steeph28]

I wanted to find out which of the browsers is truly the "fastest" (based on SunSpider) so I ran the benchmark on several I have installed on my mac. The results were pretty interesting...


Mozilla Minefield (3.6a1 pre): 1160.4ms +/- 2.9%
Google Chromium (Version 3.0.183 (183.0)): 868.8ms +/- 15.1%
Webkit (5528.17, r44282): 718.8ms +/- 20.7%
Stainless (0.6w7): 633.2ms +/- 1.1%

I know huuuge nerd alert. Keep in mind these marks have nothing to do with the browser's other features--I personally use Firefox/Minefield most of the time.

[gregorsamsa]

I run 4 browsers: Firefox 3, Safari 3, Camino & Opera. All are good in different ways but, IMHO, Opera is the fastest of the lot! Firefox a close 2nd.

[NewGenAdam]

It's a close, close call.

But Safari wins on the basis of its scrolling. It's unified with the OS, and it works far more nicely than Firefox's =)

[u49aa2]

in the battle of multitouch gestures, i think the current beta Firefox is far more superior. flipping between taps (not available in safari), the zoom in and out is more precise than safari, and so on.