Ceci n'est pas un blog
Firefox or Safari?
I've been using Firefox for a good while now as my web-browser. It's been the obvious browser to use on Linux and I've found it much better than Internet Explorer 6 on Windows (but, to be fair, I haven't yet given IE7 a chance). But now I'm using a Mac and I might have to make a decision: Firefox or Safari?
Both have:
- Easily-accessible search box in top-right
- Tabbed browsing
- Most other useful things
In favour of Firefox:
- Same on all platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac. Big plus for me, as I use all three on a regular basis.
- Interactive search (Ctrl-F etc).
- Quick Searches, e.g., "wp cucumber" gets me the Wikipedia article on cucumbers.
- The WYSIWYG editor for this blog doesn't work on Safari.
- Lots of extensions available: if I think, "I wish Firefox did xyz," then xyz is probably available on the Firefox Add-ons page.
In favour of Safari:
- It looks nice.
- Surely it's disloyal to use non-Mac software? Let me explain. Macs seem to be very integrated. Rather than switching the computer on to find that it does nothing, when you switch on the Mac it has everything there already - Apple Mail, iTunes, iCal, iPhoto, ... and Safari. And it's all good stuff, so there isn't really any need to search around for better software. So any "proper" Mac user will be a Safari user. (Not sure whether I like this or hate this. On the one hand, who needs a choice when you've got the best option already? But on the other hand, being able to shop around and then actively make a choice feels like a fundamental human right. Really - it would rob me of my dignity as a human being if I couldn't download Firefox. I have the right to choose!)
- Better RSS features (but I use Bloglines anyway).
Think Firefox wins. For now, at least. Especially now that I have the GrApple (Brushed) theme to make it look like Safari.
(Update: Firefox is being really slow this morning. I'm posting this using Safari.)
| Print article | This entry was posted by Anthony on 10 Jul 2006 at 9.43 am, and is filed under Computing. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
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about 6 years ago
hi. at uni on our macs we use safari because firefox tends to crash them and make them do stupid things. just thought you might like to know...
about 6 years ago
Hi Bec. It's been okay for the last couple of weeks - well, it sometimes crashes, and sometimes seems a bit greedy on the memory, but it hasn't made anything else go wrong ... yet!
about 6 years ago
They're both okay. I'd say Firefox over Safari but they're much of a muchness. Neither of them should crash your Mac if you're running OSX.
Opera on the other hand eclipses them both – once you get used to the dynamic book-marking system. The tabbed browsing is superb and there is quite an extensive Opera community for support if you need it.
http://www.opera.com/
about 6 years ago
Firefox Safari or Opera Shmopera, can any of them help you do work instead of procrastinating?
Perhaps one of the cool Firefox add-ons is a browser block while surfing inanely with an automatic redirect to your excel file. In which case, Firefox would win.
Situation pending.
about 6 years ago
Sam,
That would indeed be a cool add-on for Firefox - perhaps you should write one? At least that would be structured procrastination!
Back to work (really!)
Anthony
about 6 years ago
Please add firefox cookies/bad web sites immunization in next version!
Firefox 2 cannot reject third party cookies!!!!!!!!
about 6 years ago
just my experience -- firefox tends to crash more often on my comp than safari. I don't know. also the shortcuts (key commands) for safari don't make my hands hurt as much. true that firefox is similar on all os's, but also from experience, firefox displays ".png" files differently on windows/linux than mac. (transparency issues)
about 6 years ago
i've also had a few "won't close" issues with firefox, just fyi.
about 6 years ago
Hi Ben - thanks for your comments.
I've actually been using Camino for the past few months. It's very similar to Firefox, though without so many extensions and features (which I didn't use on Firefox anyway), and it feels more like a true Mac application. For example, it integrates with Keychain for passwords.
All I need now is an Intel version of PDF Plugin...
about 6 years ago
Heya,
Not to jump on this post late (only 10 months ago!)
Safari seems to do pretty well on the ACID2* test compared with Firefox. That said I'm yet to run into layout issues with Firefox. I've banged my head on the desk countless times with CSS issues in IE6/7.
I'm a Firefox man myself, couldn't live without the Firebug extension these days.
Hope you're well.
* http://www.webstandards.org/files/acid2/test.html
about 6 years ago
Greg,
It's been ages!
Thanks for the comments - and thanks for alerting me to Firebug. I've just downloaded it, and it seems really useful. (Though it doesn't seem to handle SSI's in SHTML, which limits its usefulness for the sites I'm currently looking after.)
I thought IE7 was supposed to obey the CSS rules? I've also banged my head a few times with IE6 - for astronomy.sussex.ac.uk I eventually gave up and left it looking mediocre to people who don't use a proper browser.