Firefox vs. Safari

[mason.kramer]

Ehh no. FF has way too many awkward keyboard shortcuts that are not integrated to the rest of the OS, whereas Safari is simple. cmd+t for tab, cmd+q for quit and so on. Safari executes JS much faster, you've seriously got to be kidding me.

Ehh... Firefox has the same hotkeys that you mention here (cmd-t, cmd-q). Basically, firefox has the same hotkeys as Safari, with the notable exceptions of Back and Forward and cmd-?. It then has cmd-k to go to the search bar, and the smart search bar that blows Safari away for keyboard accessibility. Now, Safari is slightly...slightly...faster than FF 3.0 when it comes ot JS rendering. But FF 3.1 implements a new JS JIT compiler that is much faster even than Chrome. These benchies don't have Safari on them, mainly because Safari is in a different universe of speed than either of them. SunSpider, btw, is a benchmark developed by Apple.

And you know what, even if FF actually was slower (it is not), I would still use it for a thousand different reasons, that are collectively called plugins. Safari can never match FF for that simple reason.

By the way, FF scrolls great for me, not sure what's up with your system.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Ehh no. FF has way too many awkward keyboard shortcuts that are not integrated to the rest of the OS, whereas Safari is simple. cmd+t for tab, cmd+q for quit and so on. Safari executes JS much faster, you've seriously got to be kidding me.

SnowLeopard, do you even know what javascript is used for? And firefox uses the exact same shortcuts as Safari. Obviously you have no idea what you're talking about.

Theres no way that FF can "run laps" around Safari with more than a few add ons working at once. Even with no add ons, I'd rather spend another few milliseconds for smoother scrolling and better web standard support.

I use Safari as my main browser but this is just a blatant lie. Add ons hardly ever make firefox run slower, unless it's a poorly coded one and if that were true why would you even use that add on.
Better web standards? Safari and Firefox are pretty close in web standards, yet neither one is as good as Opera. And there are great smooth scrolling plugins for FireFox.

I did not even mention CSS. You're just being a sore loser. Safari is faster than FF. It passes the Acid3 test. And besides, FF 3 just came out a few months ago. Acid3 has been with us for longer than that. Quit using opinions as facts.

What does the Acid3 test have to do with anything? There are no actual set list of web standards, anyone who gets the market can decide the web standards. The Acid3 test doesn't mean much. And Safari does NOT pass the Acid3 test. Unless you're running Safari 4, which is still in beta, or you're running Webkit (what I use) which is unofficial and not the Safari that comes with Macs.

 

[lamadude]

I use FF3 mainly because:

-it allows me to easily switch between spell-check languages, this is the most important reason as I switch between 4 languages all day long

-other extensions like adblock plus and scrapbook

-For consistency since I also use it in win xp and ubuntu

 

[lamadude]

I did not even mention CSS. You're just being a sore loser. Safari is faster than FF. It passes the Acid3 test. And besides, FF 3 just came out a few months ago. Acid3 has been with us for longer than that. Quit using opinions as facts.

Browser fanboys... what's the use?

 

[elmancho]

I get 74 with safari and 71 with firefox, however I feel FF is a lot more snapier.
And with safari I get a "linktest failed" does anyone know what this means?
For the info I aways use FF.

 

[Saganomics]

Reasons I like Firefox:
- selection of extensions
- ability to natively add more engines to search bar
- ability to have downloads window close automatically when downloads finish
- ability to reopen accidentally closed tabs with shortcut
- always opens new pages in tabs (safari usually opens new windows)
- resize button works better (safari resizes to random dimensions/max page size instead of just filling screen?)

Reasons I like Safari:
- much smoother multi-touch trackpad scrolling
- better-looking interface
- seems snappier overall

I mostly stick with Firefox for everyday use though.

 

[Aronnax]

... I did not even mention CSS. You're just being a sore loser. Safari is faster than FF. It passes the Acid3 test. And besides, FF 3 just came out a few months ago. Acid3 has been with us for longer than that. Quit using opinions as facts.

Hi SnowLeopard2008,
most of your arguments are simply wrong or with intent unfair (or maybe have you absolutely no idea?).
Read this from a Mozilla developer for example:
http://shaver.off.net/diary/2008/03/27/the-missed-opportunity-of-acid-3/

For example don`t pass Safari the Acid3 test. Only development versions do it, not the current Safari 3.2 version.

For example is the current Firefox 3.0 version faster on the Sunspider JavaScript test than Safari.
Safari development versions are currently faster than Firefox, but until Safari 4 and Firefox 3.1 is still a lot of time. Nobody knows, which version will win the speed crown in the next game ;-)

And please compare only the current Safari with the current Firefox versions. Or from both the up-to-date development versions.

and so on and so on ... and please attend your own words:
Quit using opinions as facts ;-)

 

[Digital Skunk]

Both are the same....

I agree with the Opera comment. It's just my opinion though.

And I have found that Safari on XP works a little faster than the Safari on Leopard....

I reiterate, what I have found on my machine....

 

[G-Com]

As soon as I discovered how to decrease Safari's default one-second page delay, I ditched Firefox.

I wish Apple would at least put in an option to disable it. Anyway, close Safari, open Terminal, and type (or copy and paste) the following:

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitInitialTimedLayoutDelay -float 0.25​

Relaunch Safari.

 

[Aronnax]

As soon as I discovered how to decrease Safari's default one-second page delay, I ditched Firefox.

I wish Apple would at least put in an option to disable it. Anyway, close Safari, open Terminal, and type (or copy and paste) the following:

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitInitialTimedLayoutDelay -float 0.25​

Relaunch Safari.

http://webkit.org/blog/94/amusing/
Amusing
Posted by Dave Hyatt on Monday, February 12th, 2007 at 1:27 am

I just saw this article on Digg about how to “speed up Safari” by reducing the “page load delay” in preferences. In the comments are many testimonials like “Oh my gosh! Safari is so much faster now!” This just goes to prove how inaccurate people’s powers of perception are when it comes to measuring the performance of browsers. I say this because the preference in question is dead and does absolutely nothing in Safari 1.3 and Safari 2.0.

----
... is dead and does absolutely nothing ... and you I ditched although therefore Firefox ... strange ;-)

 

[gadgeteeer]

http://webkit.org/blog/94/amusing/
Amusing
Posted by Dave Hyatt on Monday, February 12th, 2007 at 1:27 am

I just saw this article on Digg about how to “speed up Safari” by reducing the “page load delay” in preferences. In the comments are many testimonials like “Oh my gosh! Safari is so much faster now!” This just goes to prove how inaccurate people’s powers of perception are when it comes to measuring the performance of browsers. I say this because the preference in question is dead and does absolutely nothing in Safari 1.3 and Safari 2.0.

----
... is dead and does absolutely nothing ... and you I ditched although therefore Firefox ... strange ;-)

FIREFOX really RULES!!!!
May the force be with your Firefox!

 

[Ironic]

I have not used Safari in years, but today I am back, and it seems much faster then firefox!

 

[G-Com]

http://webkit.org/blog/94/amusing/
Amusing
Posted by Dave Hyatt on Monday, February 12th, 2007 at 1:27 am

I just saw this article on Digg about how to “speed up Safari” by reducing the “page load delay” in preferences. In the comments are many testimonials like “Oh my gosh! Safari is so much faster now!” This just goes to prove how inaccurate people’s powers of perception are when it comes to measuring the performance of browsers. I say this because the preference in question is dead and does absolutely nothing in Safari 1.3 and Safari 2.0.

----
... is dead and does absolutely nothing ... and you I ditched although therefore Firefox ... strange ;-)

Odd that I tested it and detect a noticeable difference.

 

[okrelayer]

I really enjoy webkit, aswell as Safari. The Inquisitor plugin is/was the main reason i really never thought of firefox as a "default browser" to me. Now that its available for Firefox as a beta download, i might conciter giving firefox a shot again.

 

[john.adam]

I am using Firefox since its birth. Really fast, easy and have many options. I used almost all browsers, but let me say "East or West, Firefox is the best". The things of Firefox that attracted me more is its "restore previous session". A great option, if you have opened many tabs in one window and suddenly there is a shut down due to any reason, it will automatically restore the previous session when you restart your system.


John

 

[mynameisraj]

Used to use Safari 4 but got tired of all the crashes.

So now I use Safari 3

 

[themoonisdown09]

I always use Safari when I'm on my Mac and Google Chrome when I'm on my work PC.

Reasons I like Firefox:
- selection of extensions
- ability to natively add more engines to search bar
- ability to have downloads window close automatically when downloads finish
- ability to reopen accidentally closed tabs with shortcut
- always opens new pages in tabs (safari usually opens new windows)
- resize button works better (safari resizes to random dimensions/max page size instead of just filling screen?)

I don't really care about any of these except for the ability to reopen a closed tab.

I've never used add-ons or extensions. I don't use the resize button because I always have the window big enough to begin with (even on my 15" Macbook Pro).

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

I use firefox. I like being able to customize everything on it, which is something most mac users arent used to doing i suppose.
Any time i try to use safari (must for DeviantArt, firefox doesnt seem to like that site) my eyes bleed from all the ads and junk. With firefox i dont have to worry about that. Firefox may be a little slower, but its worth it, imo.
The Download Statusbar is neato as well. I can see all of my downloads at the bottom of the screen, in safari i have to switch over to the downloads window which is a pain just to check how my downloads are coming along.

 

[Bman3221]

try Opera! Thats the best internet browser. 5 times faster than Firefox and 10 times faster than safari! I find it more convinient too!

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

try Opera! Thats the best internet browser. 5 times faster than Firefox and 10 times faster than safari! I find it more convinient too!

Don't you be suggesting that Firefox is faster than Safari. You and I both know that that (at least currently) isn't true.

And as much as I love Opera I had to drop it, I couldn't find a good skin for it.

 

[Techguy172]

try Opera! Thats the best internet browser. 5 times faster than Firefox and 10 times faster than safari! I find it more convinient too!

I never heard Opera is faster? Care to pull up an example. I tried it once and really hated it. The interface is clunky and I just didn't like the way it handles things.

 

[bengal85]

Umm quicker yes. but better web standard compliance, no. the acid3 test I ran 3 times on each browser to check for consistency told me that firefox was faster and choppier with sub par graphics vs. safari acing the entire test with flying colors.

Yeah I think I am about to switch over to safair becasue I am begining to not like firefox they upgrade to much

 

[nanvinnie]

i use ff because i go to a lot of korean websites. for whatever reason, safari has a hard time dealing with korean sites and a lot of flash content doesn't seem to load properly.

 

[bengal85]

i use ff because i go to a lot of korean websites. for whatever reason, safari has a hard time dealing with korean sites and a lot of flash content doesn't seem to load properly.

It could be that safari is not slow but that the problem could be that there are to many videos and things to load.

 

[ruinfx]

i use firefox because safari has 3 really annoying things that will probably never be changed.

1. safari cant open links in a new tab without cmd+click
2. you have to load a window to view bookmarks vs a drop down in the menubar
3. you have to wait for the entire page to refresh for it to return you to your previous spot on the page

if they fixed those 3 things i would consider using safari but i doubt they will.

for those of you that are feeling adventurous, check out firefoxs nightly called minefield (http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/). its stupid fast (tracemonkey) but i noticed it has some issues with youtube and other sites so its not really plausible for daily use.