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cocky jeremy

macrumors 603
Jul 12, 2008
6,126
6,387
Anymore I use Chrome. I like the extensions for it more than Safari. As far as speed, Safari was always quite a bit quicker than Chrome until the last few versions of Chrome. I'd say they're about even as far as speed now.
 

auhagen

macrumors regular
May 30, 2010
131
1
Denmark
I see that in settings on my Mac Mini but what about on my iPhone and iPad? I searched online but couldn't find any way to do that. Actually, everything said that it can't be made as the default browser.

Argh I should stop writing answers when I'm tired. I didnt get the iPhone / iPad part. The only way I think you can make it default on those devices is if you jailbreak. On my iPad and iPhone I'm using Safari, only on my mac I uses Chrome.
 

maxosx

macrumors 68020
Dec 13, 2012
2,385
1
Southern California
Chrome It Is !

For many years I greatly preferred and used Safari.

Then Google released the Chrome Browser. At first it had the usual bugs and growing pains of any other endeavor. Today it's my favorite by a very wide margin.

I spend a tremendous amount of time working in a browser for both work and personal. Therefore I must have a fast, reliable and efficient browser, it's mission critical.

No other browser even comes close to the speed, stability, wonderful array of extensions, and stability that is my daily experience with Chrome.

Thanks Google!
 

AllergyDoc

macrumors 68000
Mar 17, 2013
1,985
8,961
Utah, USA
I use Chromeom my iMac, mostly Safari on my iPad and iPhone. Chrome is faster on the imac and has the advantage of letting specify standard text size and zoom, important because I have a 27" screen. But Safari has that awesome Reader button that makes reading online articles so much easier.
 

MLinneer

macrumors regular
Mar 18, 2013
154
23
Sherman, TX
By my count, Chrome 13 - Safari 12. Like most threads and polls here and elsewhere, the Safari vs Chrome battle is 50-50.
 

iMas70

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 4, 2012
1,436
205
MA
By my count, Chrome 13 - Safari 12. Like most threads and polls here and elsewhere, the Safari vs Chrome battle is 50-50.

Yeah, I was seeing that. I've been using Chrome exclusively on my Mac Mini since I posted this thread. I find it to be noticeably faster on some sites. On my iPad and phone, I try to use Chrome but they open Safari by default when I click on saved links so I use both.
 

turtlez

macrumors 6502a
Jun 17, 2012
977
0
Chrome
  • no reloading prevoius page
  • ad block doesn't have a memory leak
  • less prone to crashing
  • better version of flash
  • better looking dock icon

Safari
  • Looks slightly better

I want to use Safari for os integration reasons but until it can do the Chrome list, I can't
 

SnowLeopard2008

macrumors 604
Jul 4, 2008
6,772
17
Silicon Valley
Safari. In terms of performance, neither is statistically or significantly faster than the other. Anyone claiming otherwise is just ignorant and stupid. I use iOS devices (iPad mini and iPhone 5) and the iCloud tab syncing is wonderful.

On iOS however, Chrome is significantly slower than Safari but that is due to Apple's policies and not of Google's engineering ability. But the real deal breaker is the poor implementation and usability of the UI. It's really hard to pull off those gestures. The "flow" of the UI is very confusing (much like Android OS) and doesn't seem consistent or congruent. The layout of settings and options and UI menus is scattered and messy.

It all comes down to preference. Performance is moot. Crashes are more due to user and server error than one browser being better than the other. Safari has iCloud syncing stuff and OS integration going for it. For users who prefer Google, Chrome is better.

----------

Chrome
  • no reloading prevoius page
  • ad block doesn't have a memory leak
  • less prone to crashing
  • better version of flash
  • better looking dock icon

Safari
  • Looks slightly better

I want to use Safari for os integration reasons but until it can do the Chrome list, I can't

Dock icon can be changed. Quite easily and no "hacking" involved.

Ad block is a 3rd party extension and Safari version DOES NOT have a memory leak. The reason why Chrome has more memory leaks in general is because of the excessive ways it handles using memory. Such as storing the previous page and thus no reloading. Since the introduction of tabbed browsing, reloading the previous page has been redundant in many but not all scenarios.

Safari is actually less crash prone statistically. I work for a web company and we test many types of web sites on almost every browser on every platform. Isolating just Safari and Chrome on Mac OS X, Chrome is statistically more prone to crashes.

Flash version is the same. I would say the Safari (and other browsers using an external non-bundled version of Flash) are better because Adobe has more direct control over it versus Chrome which bundles it in the browser itself. Adobe is better suited to improve Flash than Google. This is very similar to Java on Mac OS X. Apple's own Java tended to move slower in version and features than Oracle/Sun Java.
 

turtlez

macrumors 6502a
Jun 17, 2012
977
0
Safari. In terms of performance, neither is statistically or significantly faster than the other. Anyone claiming otherwise is just ignorant and stupid. I use iOS devices (iPad mini and iPhone 5) and the iCloud tab syncing is wonderful.

On iOS however, Chrome is significantly slower than Safari but that is due to Apple's policies and not of Google's engineering ability. But the real deal breaker is the poor implementation and usability of the UI. It's really hard to pull off those gestures. The "flow" of the UI is very confusing (much like Android OS) and doesn't seem consistent or congruent. The layout of settings and options and UI menus is scattered and messy.

----------



Dock icon can be changed. Quite easily and no "hacking" involved.

Ad block is a 3rd party extension and Safari version DOES NOT have a memory leak. The reason why Chrome has more memory leaks in general is because of the excessive ways it handles using memory. Such as storing the previous page and thus no reloading. Since the introduction of tabbed browsing, reloading the previous page has been redundant in many but not all scenarios.

Safari is actually less crash prone statistically. I work for a web company and we test many types of web sites on almost every browser on every platform. Isolating just Safari and Chrome on Mac OS X, Chrome is statistically more prone to crashes.

Flash version is the same. I would say the Safari (and other browsers using an external non-bundled version of Flash) are better because Adobe has more direct control over it versus Chrome which bundles it in the browser itself. Adobe is better suited to improve Flash than Google. This is very similar to Java on Mac OS X. Apple's own Java tended to move slower in version and features than Oracle/Sun Java.

About adblock, yes I know it is 3rd party but there is a memory leak for the safari version. I know it is up to the 3rd party to fix this but until they do I won't use Safari. I usually do use tabs but every so often I do actually want to navigate backwards.

The icon, yep I know I can change it. I don't want to sound lazy but I would have to constantly change it because each time safari updates, it will kill the change. I know it is no big task but it just feels better to use a default icon rather than a mask.

Then there is another thing, whenever you view professional screen casts from say, tuts+ or a variety of other professional learning websites that use os x. They are always using Chrome, never safari. That says stuff on it's own.

Anyway, no matter what is said in this thread, it won't change my mind until the software is changed because I have used both extensively and I know which one I feel better about using :)
 
Last edited:

SnowLeopard2008

macrumors 604
Jul 4, 2008
6,772
17
Silicon Valley
When i view a flash video on youtube with Safari, it takes forever to even start to load. When I view videos on youtube with Chrome, it instantly starts playing. I find this with a variety of other websites using flash for video also. Can't comment on Java since I never use it.

About adblock, yes I know it is 3rd party but there is a memory leak for the safari version. I know it is up to the 3rd party to fix this but until they do I won't use Safari. I usually do use tabs but every so often I do actually want to navigate backwards.

The icon, yep I know I can change it. I don't want to sound lazy but I would have to constantly change it because each time safari updates, it will kill the change. I know it is no big task but it just feels better to use a default icon rather than a mask.

Then there is another thing, whenever you view professional screen casts from say, tuts+ or a variety of other professional learning websites that use os x. They are always using Chrome, never safari. That says stuff on it's own.

Anyway, no matter what is said in this thread, it won't change my mind until the software is changed because I have used both extensively and I know which one I feel better about using :)

I played the same 1080P video on both Safari and Chrome using the latest version of each and associated Flash player. Assuming my Internet is stable (university ISP), I am getting the same load time after repeating with different videos, resolutions and multiple trials. If Safari was truly this slow on universal level, I'm pretty sure people would notice it. As a web developer, I work with Flash content sometimes and I have to test with different browsers. I'm not using an impressive system either, just a base model 13" MBA. There are plenty of computers with much better performance than mine.

There is no memory leak. I use that plugin. I'm pretty sure it's something with your system rather than an inherent fault in Safari and/or Flash. But Chrome? There is an inherent memory leak due to the way it handles allocating and deallocating memory. That is pure fact.

Changing the icon is not a mask. You clearly have no idea what you are saying. You changing the icon is just the same as the developer changing the icon. By changing the icon, you aren't masking it. You are actually changing the original system icon.

I beg to differ, people prefer different programs. I see plenty of professional screencasts who use Safari and Chrome. There is no statistical data showing that one entity's preference for either is indicative of one being better than the other. I see professional screencasts with Firefox, Chromium (which is not the same thing as Chrome btw), Opera, etc. People prefer different programs.

No one is trying to change your mind. I don't care if someone has poor reasoning, logic and debate skills. Ignorance is bliss. Good day.
 

turtlez

macrumors 6502a
Jun 17, 2012
977
0
No one is trying to change your mind. I don't care if someone has poor reasoning, logic and debate skills. Ignorance is bliss. Good day.

Wow calm down, who said I am even debating? I am just giving reasons of my observations over the years.
 

Michaelgtrusa

macrumors 604
Oct 13, 2008
7,900
1,821
No memory leak in safari? You have to be kidding. So many people complaining about safari memory issues o Apple's support form and as for me I have had to stop using it for now because of bad memory management.
 

Padaung

macrumors 6502
Jan 22, 2007
470
104
UK
Chrome, simply because I like the clean look of it. I do find some websites aren't fully compatible (very rare), and then I switch to Firefox or Safari - depends on my mood, I'm a fickle individual ;)
 

Xe89

macrumors regular
Oct 23, 2009
119
0
I use Safari because Chrome's interface doesn't feel very Mac like. Also I prefer the Safari version of the 1Password extension. But Chrome has some other good extensions. I use Vimari with Safari and its Chrome counterpart, Vimium is superior in everyway.

And of course, Chrome's icon is ugly as sin.
 

ratboy90

macrumors 6502
Apr 15, 2009
321
7
I used to use chrome but have now switched to safari. Had no idea that adblock had a memory leak. Is there any better alternative to adblock?
 
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