ive never had either firefox or safari crash and like them both
but thats just my opinion
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Do all OS X browsers suck?
- Thread starter RichardJohn
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ive never had either firefox or safari crash and like them both
but thats just my opinion
I'll admit the same. Web browsing seems different on Windows and Mac. Not sure what it is, but things seem a bit faster in Windows. Haven't done any "scientific" tests to back this up.
In terms of the GUI, Safari rocks. I think it looks the best out of any other browser out there. Camino is nice and clean too. Firefox for Mac (2.x) is pretty plain, and the newer version 3's beta theme for OS-level integration looks a bit like Safari -- so, I think we're getting there.
One thing about Firefox I love, and he main reason I use it full-time is the Google Bookmark Sync plugin. This allows me to sync my bookmarks from my MacBook Pro to my Dell at work. It can even save open tabs, history, etc across these machines. It's awesome, and right now -- the main reason I use Firefox.
I'm also a web designer/developer, and FF is a good cross-platform browser that has considerable market-share now. So, testing in FF is essential.
In terms of the GUI, Safari rocks. I think it looks the best out of any other browser out there. Camino is nice and clean too. Firefox for Mac (2.x) is pretty plain, and the newer version 3's beta theme for OS-level integration looks a bit like Safari -- so, I think we're getting there.
One thing about Firefox I love, and he main reason I use it full-time is the Google Bookmark Sync plugin. This allows me to sync my bookmarks from my MacBook Pro to my Dell at work. It can even save open tabs, history, etc across these machines. It's awesome, and right now -- the main reason I use Firefox.
I'm also a web designer/developer, and FF is a good cross-platform browser that has considerable market-share now. So, testing in FF is essential.
GUI hands down is Safari but for me I use FF2 because of the plugins when things get ported to FF3 i will upgrade. I am a web designer(beginner) and agree FF is a major contender I just wish there was no browser spoofing but early web designers made it necessary. Without spoofing I could get real numbers but for now 10-15% on my site are FF. Admittedly quite high for a non tech site.
Safari 3 for Leopard is great- I will say that it does crash occasionally, but only when viewing flash videos (youtube).
Camino is great but has its limitations.
Who has tried Omniweb? It's a pretty fast browser and has a ton of great features. Too bad they charge.
Camino is great but has its limitations.
Who has tried Omniweb? It's a pretty fast browser and has a ton of great features. Too bad they charge.
Why OS X browsers DOESN'T SUCK
Browsers on OS X:
Does not self-install "toolbars" that may be trojans
Does not allow self-installation of spyware
Cannot be infected with viruses
Firefox almost never crash for me. Safari crashes sometimes, but I know which site that does it.
Browsers on OS X:
Does not self-install "toolbars" that may be trojans
Does not allow self-installation of spyware
Cannot be infected with viruses
Firefox almost never crash for me. Safari crashes sometimes, but I know which site that does it.
I will have to concur that all OS X browsers suck. (As a member of hates-software, I must endorse their policy that all software sucks.) We must simply find the one that sucks the least.
I've used OmniWeb for a long time (having paid for it long ago -- oh well, OmniGroup deserves the money anyway), and it's currently my favourite, though it certainly has its share of hate too. Namely: 1) It crashes. A lot. Plus it gets really slow when I have hundreds of tabs open. (Don't support hundreds of tabs? Too bad, you lost my business!) 2) It stores its history, cookies, etc. in some sort of antiquated database format that makes the browser hopelessly slow and unstable once it gets to be larger than 30 MB or so. 3) It doesn't have a typical tab-bar... I love its thumbnail tabs, though I'd rather have it as a sidebar than as a drawer, and some people would just prefer traditional tabs. 4) The shadow at the bottom of its application icon gets cut off at the bottom!
Still, it's the best I've found thus far. Firefox is fast and generally stable, but its interface is clunky and non-Mac-like. I know it's skinnable, but that can only change the look, not the feel. (And I'm a visually-oriented person and an insatiable perfectionist, so these things matter to me.) Camino looks and feels nicer, but it's severely underpowered, as is Safari. And the monkey-patch "plugins" for Safari seem to make it less stable. Plus it seems to have many of the same performance issues as OmniWeb (so I'm guessing they're WebKit issues).
Shiira looked promising, but its interface feels incomplete, and I don't see any signs of continuing development on it. And Opera is Opera. By which I mean -- speed, compatibility, etc. notwithstanding -- it looks like it was designed by a Netscape programmer from 1995 who was just beginning to learn about OS X's user interface capabilities. On OS X Public Beta. It's hard to imagine that an actively-developed browser could come out looking worse than Windows IE, but the Opera guys have pulled it off.
Suffice it to say, if the formula is (features * good interface design)/(bugs * general hate), OmniWeb (though far from perfect) comes out on top.
I'm oft tempted to write my own browser, but I probably don't have the time.
I've used OmniWeb for a long time (having paid for it long ago -- oh well, OmniGroup deserves the money anyway), and it's currently my favourite, though it certainly has its share of hate too. Namely: 1) It crashes. A lot. Plus it gets really slow when I have hundreds of tabs open. (Don't support hundreds of tabs? Too bad, you lost my business!) 2) It stores its history, cookies, etc. in some sort of antiquated database format that makes the browser hopelessly slow and unstable once it gets to be larger than 30 MB or so. 3) It doesn't have a typical tab-bar... I love its thumbnail tabs, though I'd rather have it as a sidebar than as a drawer, and some people would just prefer traditional tabs. 4) The shadow at the bottom of its application icon gets cut off at the bottom!
Still, it's the best I've found thus far. Firefox is fast and generally stable, but its interface is clunky and non-Mac-like. I know it's skinnable, but that can only change the look, not the feel. (And I'm a visually-oriented person and an insatiable perfectionist, so these things matter to me.) Camino looks and feels nicer, but it's severely underpowered, as is Safari. And the monkey-patch "plugins" for Safari seem to make it less stable. Plus it seems to have many of the same performance issues as OmniWeb (so I'm guessing they're WebKit issues).
Shiira looked promising, but its interface feels incomplete, and I don't see any signs of continuing development on it. And Opera is Opera. By which I mean -- speed, compatibility, etc. notwithstanding -- it looks like it was designed by a Netscape programmer from 1995 who was just beginning to learn about OS X's user interface capabilities. On OS X Public Beta. It's hard to imagine that an actively-developed browser could come out looking worse than Windows IE, but the Opera guys have pulled it off.
Suffice it to say, if the formula is (features * good interface design)/(bugs * general hate), OmniWeb (though far from perfect) comes out on top.
I'm oft tempted to write my own browser, but I probably don't have the time.
Not that I'm against pointless complaining, but I really wonder: Why does Safari crash so much for some people, but not at all for others? Same with Leopard.
I haven't had any stability problems with either, but others are.
What is it?
* Bad RAM? Too little RAM?
* The sites visited?
* Plugins installed?
* Device driver bugs (so certain models would have problems that others would not.)
* ???
I haven't had any stability problems with either, but others are.
What is it?
* Bad RAM? Too little RAM?
* The sites visited?
* Plugins installed?
* Device driver bugs (so certain models would have problems that others would not.)
* ???
2 gig of ram from Crucial. Can't imagine why there would be anything wrong with it. I can't think of any other App that crashes on the machine (apart from Keynote before it got it's update not long after release)
Can't think of a pattern of sites that causes it - I do a lot of tabbed browsing, so I usually have multiple sites open at once.
None.
Well - that would be an Apple problem. 1.83G C2D MB for me.
Doug
We generally get about 2-3 of these kind of topics a month. And in every single one, the same people say the same thing. Can't we use the search function?
"Do all OS X browsers suck?"
no, maybe you just suck at using them?
I love safari. The only thing I wish was that it was more fully compatible with all website. There are very few sites that dont work with it, mostly java ones and what not.
Other than that, its the best browser ever...hell, even safari for PC is better than Internet explorer for PC.
no, maybe you just suck at using them?
I love safari. The only thing I wish was that it was more fully compatible with all website. There are very few sites that dont work with it, mostly java ones and what not.
Other than that, its the best browser ever...hell, even safari for PC is better than Internet explorer for PC.
