Safari users, what prevents you from using firefox?

[clevin]

Im opening two posts, related to opera and firefox, Im proposing these two posts for safari users, no matter they tried opera/firefox or not. I want to know what are the problem they have with these two browsers that prevent the from using these two browsers.

I welcome firefox/opera users to solve the problems safari users have (if its solve-able), and I will be happy to deliver problems that can't be solved to mozillazine/bugzilla and opera forums.

If you just hate the idea of NOT using an Apple product, then plz just pass this post.

If you just want to debate firefox/opera/safari is better, then please pass this post.

If you feel like you will not be able to admit the basic fact when they are stated, then please pass this post.

Thanks

My hope is to convince safari users to try firefox and opera for a bit longer than they usually do.

Mod, I can't fit two browsers in a single poll (no multiple-choice I think), so I opened two, don't ban me

I will first state the advantages of firefox here:
1. it has vast amount of extensions that can help you surf internet more fun/easy/etc
2. it has theme function
3. its cross-platform, and allows personal information sync across computers and 3major OSes.
4. It has less compatibility issue with most websites.
5. better password manager
6. Its separated from OS, so less risky (relative, not saying safari is to deeply connected to the core)
7. allow you to select file downloading destination at a per download basis.

 

[mkrishnan]

Well, you know my answer already..... I do like Firefox, and I'm using it now (on Win 2003).

My preference for Safari on OS X is about 50% appearance and 50% that I get swayed by interesting plugins. Adblock was so much better than what was available (and not free) for Safari that it had me using Firefox. Now SafariBlock gets me what I need, and Inquisitor is the thing that has me on Firefox.

I'm sure that when the Aqua / Cocoa Firefox release version hits, I will try it out.

 

[clevin]

Well, you know my answer already..... I do like Firefox, and I'm using it now (on Win 2003).

My preference for Safari on OS X is about 50% appearance and 50% that I get swayed by interesting plugins. Adblock was so much better than what was available (and not free) for Safari that it had me using Firefox. Now SafariBlock gets me what I need, and Inquisitor is the thing that has me on Firefox.

I'm sure that when the Aqua / Cocoa Firefox release version hits, I will try it out.

lol, I wasn't expect you to answer this anyway. you have obviously tried each browser long enough,

hey, but welcome to answer other safari users questions if they were to be kind enough to offer any.

 

[dsnort]

I like Firefox fine for the most part. It was a lifesaver when I was on PC.

But my Mac came with Safari bundled, and I got used to it. I have Firefox installed, in case I need to visit some backwards non-progressive website that won't support Safari .

Safari just seems simple and streamlined to me. I don't have a use for all the plug-ins that everyone touts for FF, so thats a non-issue for me.

My only complaint against FF is that the appearance is just so.....Windows like!

 

[epicwelshman]

Safari support colour profiles for photos, so you see accurate colours. Firefox does not, which is why a lot of photos look washed out with Firefox.

 

[miniConvert]

I do actually use Firefox, but one thing that made me think twice was bookmark syncing via .Mac for Safari. Oh how I wish this worked for Firefox, too.

 

[clevin]

My only complaint against FF is that the appearance is just so.....Windows like!

oh, ok, I would invite you, and all users who feel firefox is too windows-ish, to try out firefox 3.0 later this year maybe (LOL), its is written in cocoa, and has aqua widgets like camino.
(you can try out alpha build for now, but its alpha. http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/ )

http://www.beatnikpad.com/archives/2007/03/29/firefox-2002 offers aqua widgets build of firefox 2.0.0.3, which has exactly same widgets as camino, but I don't see 2.0.0.4 as if now, yet (I think the author just got a baby, so he is busy )

Safari support colour profiles for photos, so you see accurate colours. Firefox does not, which is why a lot of photos look washed out with Firefox.

I will sure to inform you if this issue were to be solved. as of now, AFAIK, this has not been changed and I do know this is pretty important for some users, especially photographers.

update: from HERE I think the firefox 3.0 will support this, and it will be in nightly trunk in couple of weeks from now, I will post back when the patch checks in.

I do actually use Firefox, but one thing that made me think twice was bookmark syncing via .Mac for Safari. Oh how I wish this worked for Firefox, too.

Im not sure if sync bookmarks through .mac is possible (somebody fill the info plz), but there are yahoo toolbar and google toolbar that can sync bookmarks through these two services.

 

[512ke]

On my machine Firefox takes ten times longer to start up. It sits there spinning much longer than does Safari. Safari launches more quickly, and that's a plus. It takes less time to get started.

 

[swingerofbirch]

I think Safari is a bit faster and I also like when I start typing in an address and it auto-fills with the right one I can hit return instead of hitting down arrow to select it and then return.

The one feature I really liked about Firefox was that it would restore my session after a crash. But now Safari does that too (some people don't realize this is a new feature in the beta) it's under History (Reopen All Windows From Last Session).

 

[clevin]

I also like when I start typing in an address and it auto-fills with the right one I can hit return instead of hitting down arrow to select it and then return.

please try
1. type about:config in firefox's address bar and press enter
2. type any part of this string "browser.urlbar.autoFill" in the filter input area, and find this entry,
3. double click to change the value of that entry to "true"

 

[PlaceofDis]

firefox is a bit slower for me. and rather 'clunky' compared to Camino. and so is Safari.

firefox also reminds me too much of windows in the way that it works. so its not for me. but it has some cool features like extensions.

 

[clevin]

firefox also reminds me too much of windows in the way that it works.

care to share some details?

 

[Yvan256]

I used to be an Opera user (and I still am, with my Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii, along with Opera on my old IBM ThinkPad 760XL/64MB/10GB/Win98SE).

Safari is simply more integrated with OS X (the way it handles things, hard to describe), and Safari 3 is finally giving me Opera-speed rendering and scrolling (though Opera 9.5 may reverse things once again).

Opera does play nice with OS X and displays OS X widgets on pages, the overall look and feel is what I expect from an OS X application, but Safari is just a bit better.

Firefox, on the other hand, takes forever to load and then render pages like I'm on Windows or something, the widgets on pages are really ugly and certainly not OS X-looking. I've also seen some minor fonts problems (can't remember what exactly, probably sizes).

In any case, I like all 3 browsers because they adhere more or less the same way to the W3C specs, unlike Internet Explorer.

 

[clevin]

Firefox, on the other hand, takes forever to load and then render pages like I'm on Windows or something, the widgets on pages are really ugly and certainly not OS X-looking. I've also seen some minor fonts problems (can't remember what exactly, probably sizes).

I described the aqua widgets (osx-looking u mentioned) in my previous post, please take a look at it.

about page rendering speed. the best I can offer is to try fasterfox, see if you like it. it DOES work for me.

I have no solution for application starting speed. please try out firefox 3.0 later this year, it is written in cocoa with aqua widget by default. It might or might not solve all the problem u have tho.

 

[dsnort]

oh, ok, I would invite you, and all users who feel firefox is too windows-ish, to try out firefox 3.0 later this year maybe (LOL), its is written in cocoa, and has aqua widgets like camino.

I probably will try it. As I said, FF is a fine browser, it's just that at the moment, I don't see a compelling reason to change.

 

[tempques]

For those of you wanting bookmarks-syncing for Firefox, you might like FoxMarks.

 

[paulbaker]

FF seems to change the way text and pics fits onto the page. I just assume that Safari is representing more of the original look and feel.

 

[nsbio]

Slowness and clunkiness of FF prevents me from using it on a daily basis, on G4 PB and G5 iMac. I only launch it when I need a proxy server access, something that is handled abysmally bad in Safari.

 

[The Red Wolf]

Slow to Open

Safari opens almost instantly, while Firefox takes nearly ten times as long to open. I want my browser to open when and just go. I know it seems rather lame, but 40 odd seconds vs two or three breaks the deal. Safari does what I need it to. The only time I do use Firefox is for google chat and that sadly is it.

 

[PlaceofDis]

care to share some details?

well its a ported app. when it becomes a 'true' OS X app i'll give it another go.

i just didn't like the setup and the way things worked. wouldn't allow me to import my bookmarks for some reason. and just general issues such as that.

and while extensions are cool. i hate to have to rely on them.

 

[heySparky]

I can't pick any one of the vote choices. I use both. I prefer Safari for daily use. I use firefox for the times Safari chokes.

 

[Yvan256]

I described the aqua widgets (osx-looking u mentioned) in my previous post, please take a look at it.

I'll wait until Firefox 3.0 is officially released. I shouldn't have to install or configure anything for the application to look like a native OS X program.

I have no solution for application starting speed. please try out firefox 3.0 later this year, it is written in cocoa with aqua widget by default. It might or might not solve all the problem u have tho.

See above.

Why the need to push people toward Firefox, if I might ask? It's not like we're making the web a bad place by using Safari (or Opera). I might understand if you were trying to push people away from Internet Explorer, but if you ask me I don't care if someone uses Safari, Opera or Firefox. They rarely give me any problem when I'm coding a website.

IE, on the other hand...

 

[calculus]

If you feel like you will not be able to admit the basic fact when they are stated, then please pass this post.



My hope is to convince safari users to try firefox and opera for a bit longer than they usually do.

I have absolutely no idea what the first sentence means.

Why do you want safari users to try firefox and opera?

 

[SilentPanda]

I use Firefox on Windows and Safari on Macs.

I've just not been compelled to use Firefox at home on my Macs. I have it installed but it offers me nothing over Safari. I might have a problem with a web site in Safari once every 3 months at most and then I load Firefox to see if it'll work there. Safari has ad blocking via Pith Helmet and that's the only extension I use in Firefox on Windows also...

I'm not saying Firefox is better or worse than Safari but I have no compelling reason to use Firefox on my Macs. Actually I would say the biggest reason I don't is because for some reason the initial launch of Firefox takes a bit for some reason. Successive launches don't take long but the first one does. Not sure why. That's on a quad Mac Pro with pretty much no apps open too.

I use Firefox nearly daily at work on my Windows machine but there's nothing on it that I do differently on Safari.

Edit: Now that I think about it... I prefer Safari's built in RSS to Firefox's live bookmarks. Maybe I'm doing something wrong though.

 

[Cromulent]

I've used Firefox (and Thunderbird) since version 1.0 on the PC and when I got my Mac Pro I installed both of them and used them for a month or so. But I found the Safari and Mail work 100x better than Firefox and Thunderbird ever did for me. Especially seeing as I have so many e-mail accounts.

I've now ditched Firefox completely and use Internet Explorer 7 on the PC.