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Does Anyone Use Leopard Webkit (Safari 7) on 10.5 or 10.6?

im_to_hyper

im_to_hyper

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 25, 2004
1,388
402
Pasadena, California, USA
While researching how to install Safari 7 on older Macs I came across this app download here.

Has anyone used this on Leopard (PPC/Intel) or Snow Leopard (10.6) -- have you noticed any performance improvements in browsing / plugins / other Apple Apps like iTunes when following all the instructions to force them to use the newer Webkit engine?
 
im_to_hyper said:
While researching how to install Safari 7 on older Macs I came across this app download here.

Has anyone used this on Leopard (PPC/Intel) or Snow Leopard (10.6) -- have you noticed any performance improvements in browsing / plugins / other Apple Apps like iTunes when following all the instructions to force them to use the newer Webkit engine?
Click to expand...

I use Webkit on 10.5 on my G4 and G5. It's a lot faster than TenFourFox but not as compatible. It also crashes occasionally with multiple tabs open. I haven't used it with iTunes or any other app.
 
im_to_hyper said:
While researching how to install Safari 7 on older Macs I came across this app download here.

Has anyone used this on Leopard (PPC/Intel) or Snow Leopard (10.6) -- have you noticed any performance improvements in browsing / plugins / other Apple Apps like iTunes when following all the instructions to force them to use the newer Webkit engine?
Click to expand...

I actually use it as my main browser on PowerPC Macs. It adds compatibility with a lot of websites (Facebook for example doesn't work anymore for me with Safari 5 on Leopard, but works with Leopard Webkit), but it's heavier than the stock Safari. Works like a charm for me.
I didn't however force any app to use it, so I can't respond on that. :)
 
Does Anyone Use Leopard Webkit (Safari 7) on 10.5 or 10.6?

I did use it, until it broke installers and software update. Thus I got rid of it. I liked it though, it was fast, had safari features (even though I can't stand safari), and felt comfortable. It's better than TFF and SF by far, but I need the installers to work and from time to time I get new apple software and I need software update for it, so that was a deal breaker for me.
 
im_to_hyper said:
While researching how to install Safari 7 on older Macs I came across this app download here.

Has anyone used this on Leopard (PPC/Intel) or Snow Leopard (10.6) -- have you noticed any performance improvements in browsing / plugins / other Apple Apps like iTunes when following all the instructions to force them to use the newer Webkit engine?
Click to expand...

I have been using this version for the past couple of months, It sucks on PPC, the damn thing just beachballs more than you can use it and forget about multiable tabs... Its bad enough on 1 u have more than one your sitting with a beachball for 5 minutes just for clicking a link or entering a URL.

It does allow Fullscreen YouTube however.
 
MatthewLTL said:
I have been using this version for the past couple of months, It sucks on PPC, the damn thing just beachballs more than you can use it and forget about multiable tabs... Its bad enough on 1 u have more than one your sitting with a beachball for 5 minutes just for clicking a link or entering a URL.

It does allow Fullscreen YouTube however.
Click to expand...

I find it way faster than TenFourFox (even with multiple tabs), especially in scrolling, and a bit slower than stock Safari.
 
Gamer9430 said:
I did use it, until it broke installers and software update. Thus I got rid of it. I liked it though, it was fast, had safari features (even though I can't stand safari), and felt comfortable. It's better than TFF and SF by far, but I need the installers to work and from time to time I get new apple software and I need software update for it, so that was a deal breaker for me.
Click to expand...

In the current version installing leopard webkit doesn't break installers or software update anymore - finally.
 
It's my main PPC browser. I find it very "snappy" even on lower spec hardware-much more so than TFF(even after optimizing TFF).
 
ptdebate said:
Webkit is very fast and usable. I default to it for most browsing but use TFF for more complex sites like Facebook.
Click to expand...

Agreed on TFF for complex sites. I also feel like it's more secure, so use it for accessing things like my bank, Paypal account, school stuff, and the like. I've also found pages that just won't work in Webkit, so use TFF for those.

A person can get by with nothing but TFF on a PPC computer, but I consider Webkit a great compliment to it.
 
ptdebate said:
Webkit is very fast and usable. I default to it for most browsing but use TFF for more complex sites like Facebook.
Click to expand...

I guess that's where TFF's JavaScript JIT-compiler pays off.
WebKit on the other hand has very fast rendering and even allows for some 720p video playback on a single core G5.
It's very important to not use complex AdBlockers on both browsers.
And you really don't have to use WebKit without some flash blocker - the possibility of using flash in WebKit should be considered a last resort only, and crashes are to expect.
 
The latest version of Webkit didn't work for me - too unstable, I rolled back to version r169580.
Also when I installed Webkit system wide, Garageband wouldn't even launch.
I use it over TFF simply because of Clicktoplugin integration and flash whenever I need it.
 
Dronecatcher said:
The latest version of Webkit didn't work for me - too unstable, I rolled back to version r169580.
Also when I installed Webkit system wide, Garageband wouldn't even launch.
I use it over TFF simply because of Clicktoplugin integration and flash whenever I need it.
Click to expand...

I find the latest version (600.7.4, 183522) quite stable - MUCH better than stock Safari 5.0.6 .
As MacUpdate is always somewhat outdated make sure you get the latest version from http://sourceforge.net/projects/leopard-webkit/ as updates are quite frequent.
And I've got to repeat that the best way to crash WebKit is using it for flash content.
 
internetzel said:
I find the latest version (600.7.4, 183522) quite stable - MUCH better than stock Safari 5.0.6 .
As MacUpdate is always somewhat outdated make sure you get the latest version from http://sourceforge.net/projects/leopard-webkit/ as updates are quite frequent.
And I've got to repeat that the best way to crash WebKit is using it for flash content.
Click to expand...

The version you linked was a more recent build, so I tried it out - using Soundcloud locks it up and crashes it everytime - so reverted to older version again, which works fine for my needs.
 
Dronecatcher said:
The version you linked was a more recent build, so I tried it out - using Soundcloud locks it up and crashes it everytime - so reverted to older version again, which works fine for my needs.
Click to expand...

Doesn't lock up nor crash for me - music playback and browsing that site seems to be fine (although for some tracks I can't actually hear anything).
Does this happen on your dual G5 only or do your single G4s hang up as and crash as well?
 
internetzel said:
Doesn't lock up nor crash for me - music playback and browsing that site seems to be fine (although for some tracks I can't actually hear anything).
Does this happen on your dual G5 only or do your single G4s hang up as and crash as well?
Click to expand...

This is on my Dual G5. As I said, this version (r169580) works fine - what are the advantages of the newer build?
 
Dronecatcher said:
This is on my Dual G5. As I said, this version (r169580) works fine - what are the advantages of the newer build?
Click to expand...

The newer build is up to date with WebKit from Safari 8.0/7.1/6.2 while the older one is up to date with the one from 7.0/6.1/5.2 .
It's generally noticeably faster and should consume less memory as it's more optimized for smartphones and tablets.

I suspect that the 600-series of Leopard WebKit might still have some issues with running on multiple CPUs/cores - and I don't have such a machine in order to be able to fix it without someone collaborating who does have.
So please test the newer build on a single core machine the same way you did it on the dual G5 and report your results on both machines - preferrably to a new ticket on the sourceforge project site. Crash reports or hang logs would be really great!
 
internetzel said:
I suspect that the 600-series of Leopard WebKit might still have some issues with running on multiple CPUs/cores - and I don't have such a machine in order to be able to fix it without someone collaborating who does have.
So please test the newer build on a single core machine the same way you did it on the dual G5 and report your results on both machines - preferrably to a new ticket on the sourceforge project site. Crash reports or hang logs would be really great!
Click to expand...

OK..I'll do that and report back over the weekend :)
 
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