Pro's/Con's Safari Vs Chrome Vs Firefox

PrashP said:

I currently use firefox but I heard even though it has the best extensions it isn't the fastest.

Which browser do you guys think will work best with Lion

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Best with Lion? Safari. Until Chrome and Firefox release updates maybe

Chrome gives you Angry Birds for freeeeeee...eeee..eeeee

Firefox
+ Biggest number of extensions
+ Quite customizable
+ Best web development tools (but only by a tiny bit)
+ Seems to handle Gawker network sites (Gizmodo, Lifehacker etc) better than other browsers for some reason
- Extensions tend to get disabled between versions until developers update the version tag
- Font rendering is not as good as Webkit based browsers (Chrome, Safari)
- Slower startup than Safari or Chrome
- The UI is not all that great

Chrome
+ Generally on top when it comes to web technology support
+ Clean sleek UI
+ Nice features even without extensions
+ Rapid development
+ Comes with web development tools
- No application shortcuts in OSX
- No smooth scroll support without extensions
- Backing up preferences etc made unnecessarily hard

Safari
+ Native
+ Great download implementation (OSX Lion only)
- Slow development, barely any new features between versions
- No address bar search by default
- Lacks lots of basic features (requires Glims to add these in)
- Not quite as fast as Chrome
- Extensions page seems to be rarely updated, plenty of extensions available from other sources than Apple's Extension Gallery

Honestly, unless you're a power user, you can pick any of these and be fine. For most it comes down to personal preferences like having a certain feature or something working a certain way. I use Chrome in Windows, Firefox for work (I'm a web developer) and Safari for other stuff on OSX.

Safari - Gesture integration makes this my browser of choice on my iMac. However, due to memory issues, I avoid it on my older machines.

Chrome (Canary nightly build) - Lightweight and integrated Flash. I use this on my iMac when Flash content is required. It is also my primary browser on older Macs.

Firefox - It's a competent browser, but I don't find Firefox to excel in any important area.

Ever since I installed Lion and Safari 5.1 on my Late 2010 MacBook Pro 13 with 4 GB of RAM, it has been completely horrible. The beach ball was my best friend for a while, as while running Safari, I swear that's all I would ever get.

I'm currently using the dev build 15.0.874.3, which has had the full screen thingy for a while. I think it rocks

kasakka said:

Firefox

- Extensions tend to get disabled between versions until developers update the version tag

Click to expand...

This is easily bypassed using the "Nighty Tester Tools" extension. I've found most still work. Very few don't.

Initially, the gesture capability in Safari kept me using it, but I eventually downloaded the Chrome beta which has gestures as well. I prefer Chrome for its UI, sync, and default search bar.

On the longer startup time for Firefox. What's the deal? Been like that since day one. You'd think after some 7 major versions, and quad cores almost becoming standard, they'd be able to solve that. That it might be a priority... always struck me as strange.

LIVEFRMNYC said:

This is easily bypassed using the "Nighty Tester Tools" extension. I've found most still work. Very few don't.

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Look at Add-on compatibility reporter.

In any case, I used all three today:

Firefox for configurability, security, extensions, security extensions, the fact that it still works with many tabs open

Chrome (still 32-bit!) when I needed Flash

Safari when I needed to use Webex

kasakka said:

Firefox
+ Biggest number of addons.
+ Quite customizable


Chrome
+ Generally on top when it comes to web technology support
+ Clean and lean UI
+ Simple features, powerful interface
+ First mainstream browser to implement sandboxing
+ Rapid development
+ Comes with web development tools
+ Best mainstream browser to support HTML5 at present
- No application shortcuts in OSX
- No smooth scroll support without extensions
- Backing up preferences etc made unnecessarily hard
- No ability to clear browser cache upon exit

Safari
+ Native
+ Great download implementation (OSX Lion only)
+ Sandboxing feature with 5.1 Lion only
- Slow development, barely any new features between versions
- Slowest of the 3 main browsers
- No address bar search by default
- No ability to clear browser cache upon exit
- Lacks lots of basic features (requires Glims to add these in)
- Memory leaks, worst of all browsers
- Extensions page seems to be rarely updated, plenty of extensions available from other sources than Apple's Extension Gallery

Click to expand...

Fixed.

On Lion Safari hands down is the best browser.

BlackMangoTree said:

On Lion Safari hands down is the best browser.

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No way, at the moment both Chrome and Firefox offer lower CPU and Memory usage and do not crash nearly as often as Safari (at least for me) not to mention Safari`s issue with the occasional scroll issues and extension bugs. Safari will get there and I prefer it over Firefox, but for now, Safari is my number two browser.

I was forced to use Chrome because a plug in for a video streaming site would not work in the 64 bit versions of Firefox or Safari, and I have to say, Chrome, while not perfect is pretty slick. Friefox may soon get deleted as I am sick and tired of losing extension compatability everytime Mozilla farts out a new version (which seems to be every few weeks now)

I use Chrome on Lion and on the SL machines. It is fast, it is easy, the sync and automatic updates work flawlessly in the background.

Chrome runs in a sandbox and it brings its own flash support. Meaning other than with chrome, I have no flash installed on my macs.

Safari is nice, but no omnibox, no sync, and these obnoxious and difficult to customize top pages are a no go for me.

FireFox used to be the best until I upgraded to lion now its the worst
Chrome has issues on Lion too, I always found that browser made my fans go crazy on Leopard and lion, especially with H264 video amazingly!!

Safari seems the best currently, and one huge +
Flash video doesn't seem to make my laptop run hot!
I dunno how that happens, but its happening!

btw, when they talk about browser rendering speed,
don't give a damn, the difference is like 1 sec or 2 sec max for each page

Chrome. No contest. It's superfast especially on an SSD equipped Mac.

They've got plenty of extensions now. More importantly they've got some that do things so advanced, no other browser comes close.

Backing up your user data, profile etc is very easy if you take the responsibility to learn it.

I've tried all 3. About 5 years ago I made the switch to Firefox (though not on Lion). One frustration for me with Firefox is the slow startup, it's always been like that. Damn frustrating for the odd time you just wanna open your MacBook, quickly google something, and then put it back to sleep. Functionality wise, once running, it's hard to fault.

I used Safari when I first got my MacBook 2 years ago, and again when I got my MBA a few weeks back. Don't like it. The interface is less intuitive, it seems least reliable of all web browsers I've tried (in terms of crashes and some site compatibility issues) and I don't like the lack of integrated search functionality to the http bar. I also find tabbed browsing less intuitive.

And then comes Chrome. I never thought I'd enjoy a web browser more than Firefox but Chrome is easily the fastest web browser I've used, the most intiutive and functional browser for quick or prolonged use. It also handles flash better than both Safari and Firefox, which is exceptionally important on OSX.

So yeah, Chrome IMO is easily the best web browser, at least for typical everyday usage.

I've always been a safari person as I love the top sites feature. And lion's new gestures are quite nice.

However chrome is very very fast but the lack of gestures now keep me going back to safari.

I suggest you should use safari with Clicktoflash and YouTube5. Safari without the flash plugins works really well.

Forgot to mention Safari's Reader function! Absolutely love that because I read a lot of articles and you have to constantly adjust to the different sized text. Cant wait for this function to reach iOS! Fall can't come any sooner!

I generally use Chrome for everything, sans one specific website which only lets me see new posts if I use Firefox. For now, Chrome is far faster and uses less RAM/CPU than Firefox - though FF9 does help quite a bit.

ahbdesign said:

I've always been a safari person as I love the top sites feature. And lion's new gestures are quite nice.

However chrome is very very fast but the lack of gestures now keep me going back to safari.

I suggest you should use safari with Clicktoflash and YouTube5. Safari without the flash plugins works really well.

Click to expand...

Yeah while blocking flash safari is by far the most stable for me in Lion.

I I need stable flash access or extensions, I'll open up Firefox.

If unjust want something quick that might be in a weird/old/unusual format, I'll open up chrome, but it hasn't been quitting for me, has this happened to anyone else?

kingmohd84 said:

FireFox used to be the best until I upgraded to lion now its the worst
Chrome has issues on Lion too, I always found that browser made my fans go crazy on Leopard and lion, especially with H264 video amazingly!!

Safari seems the best currently, and one huge +
Flash video doesn't seem to make my laptop run hot!
I dunno how that happens, but its happening!

page

Click to expand...

Switching back to Safari from Chrome. Fans go nuts too, on chrome I hit 6000rpm but on Safari it hovers a little above 2100rpm.

CPU usage is dramatically lower too.

Until they fix this, I'll stick to Safari.