Like most Mac users, I have some important choices for having the best web-browsing experience possible. The crux of that choice is which browser do I rely on. Do I choose Safari, the web browser designed by Apple to fit in with the OS, or do I choose Firefox, with it’s tried and true extensions, themes, and other benefits. Here, my friends, is where I will outline some of the choices and sacrifices I’ve had to make.
Currently, as I type this, I’m using Safari. This is kind of odd, since I’m normally an ‘all firefox, all the time’ kind of guy. What first brought me to Firefox are all present in Safari: the tabbed browsing, the bookmarks toolbar, the build in search function. A few things that I enjoy more about Firefox are the fact that I can move around my tabs, some extensions (specifically, the del.icio.us extensions), and the way it handles asian character sets. Safari chokes, specifically on the last point. But, as I said before, I’m typing this up using Safari. Have I lost my mind?
Allow me to explain what I like about Safari. First of all, the UI is beautiful; no one can deny that. The buttons are all simple and compact – there is only one ‘toolbar’ really, the rest is for pure browsing space. And Safari is much quicker (with cookies loaded), as well as less processor intensive than Firefox (it does use more RAM though). I love how the refresh and stop button are converged into one (to save space), as well as Inquisitor – an extra search function I added to Safari. If you’ve ever used OS X, it’s a lot like Spotlight for the web. The whole experience is very ‘mac like’. The key difference (and deal maker/breaker) would be in text handling.
I was recently pointed to an article by Jeffery Zeldman, a man who is greatly revered and respected among the Mac community. This article starts off with a title that’s pretty close ended – ‘Safari better than Firefox?’ He goes on to explain why: superior text handling, which is something that OS X users are very accustomed to. I suggest you read the article, that is linked up there. It’s eye opening, as well as quite interesting.
Where does this leave me though? I’ve previously noted that I normally use Firefox all the time (I use an OS X optimized version called Bon Echo), but have basically shown you that Safari appears to be superior in a lot of interesting and optimal ways. If this is so, why was I using Firefox all the time? Two words: spell checking. Anyone knows that although I do write fairly well, I can’t spell well enough to save my life. This is one reason I really loved Firefox 2.0 when it first came out – built in spell checking is incredible for me. Safari has this feature, but I was under the impression (before right now) that you had to enable it for every text box that you encounter. If that was the case, it’s usability is moot and I don’t want to even try. I’d rather get the spelling wrong than have to do something so monotonus. Thankfully, this does not seem to be the case any more. As I type, it’s telling me that I’m spelling Firefox wrong. There’s the little red line again. A simple control + click tells me that I should either be typing Firebox or Fire-Fox. Apple has been known to be a little elitist. In any case, Safari remembered my settings, and I’m happy about it.
So, wrapping up: I choose Safari, for the following reasons:
-Aqua looks nice with Safari – clunky with Firefox (I had an optimized build of Firefox remember – I chose the Aqua build)
-Safari supports superior text handling
-Most of the features I enjoy in Firefox are present in Safari (including some ones I like more)
-Safari is faster (by most estimations – I find it does hang when a cookie isn’t available. Pretty fast otherwise)
-This dialogue is a lot nicer in Safari; the text is a lot easier to read as well
In any case, I hope that this has been somewhat interesting, as well as thought provoking. Here’s my chan
ce to ask you questions: why do you use the browser you use?
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