Back in the mid to late ’90s when graphical Web browsers appeared, the offerings were quite limited. You had a choice of using the revolutionary Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, Microsoft’s early attempt at extending its iron grip on PC desktops into the online world. A handful of alternates appeared in the years that followed - and some even worked on the Mac, or claimed that future versions would: Opera and the seemingly forever-in-beta iCab come to mind.
Fast-forward a dozen years, and Netscape’s heritage lives on in open-source projects, Internet Explorer is Windows-only once again, and more than 100 Mac-compatible Web browsers have hit the scene - including Apple’s own Safari, which, in a curious twist, now runs on Windows PCs too. (Sounds like a throwdown to Microsoft to start WBWII. But with so many options on the Mac these days, IE would be walking into an ambush.) Here’s a look at some of the coolest Mac browsers out there.
Finally, a Decent Browser for Windows and Mac: Safari 3 Beta
First it was iTunes for Windows. Then it was Windows running on the Mac. Now Apple has sent its Web browser, Safari, over to the dark side. Safari 3 beta (free) is available for the Mac and for Windows PCs.
The browser itself is a righteous piece of work - and we mean that in the best way. Sure, some of the new features sound like catch-up to Firefox’s hot mustard, but one look at the inline page search will bring back at least a few Firefox expats. If you’ve cursed the meager highlighting by Firefox (and other browsers, including the previous Safari), get a load of Safari 3’s reverse-highlighting. Finally.
Other slick new features: You can resize a text field just by dragging it. You can move tabs into new windows (with some genie-effect eye candy). You get a supersized Reset Safari dialog that’s now full of options. If you enable the Debug menu (quit Safari, open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal, type defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1, press Return, and then launch Safari again), the Web Inspector (Debug > Show Web Inspector) is hella cool, showing the page’s HTML source in a block view, where you can collapse specific tags to get a better look at the structure. And Apple’s website promises more goodness to come in the full release of Safari 3, due out in October with the release of Mac OS 10.5 (aka Leopard). If you’re tracking such things, the Safari 3 beta was downloaded over 1 million times in the first two days - and a security patch for the Windows version followed soon after.
Safari 3 lets you see what you'll be getting when you hover over a link.
More...
Anonymous
November 19, 2007 at 7:47am
I often had a problem with Safari 2 just bogging down after a few hours of browsing. Switched to Shiira and haven't looked back. It's not perfect but it gets me where I want to go.
Jerry South
August 19, 2007 at 5:26pm
I use Camino for general browsing because it has a nicer looking interface and it's noticeably faster than Safari. It also will allow you to select download folders on the fly, rather than having to set it in preferences. That is very clumsy for Safari.
However, the MacLife writer did not know about or mention any problems with Camino. It happens that if you use your browser to do your online banking, and you try to print your bank statement, it will only print the first page. This is a known error with Camino. I was told it was a failing of the Gecko browser engine? Can anyone verify that?
So I use Camino for everything on the web but my online banking print statements, and for these, I use Safari. I leave them both in the dock.
macmansan
August 15, 2007 at 8:55pm
I LIKE EM ALL, BUT I USE FIREFOX THE MOST WHICH I GUESS WOULD BE THE BEST BUT I ALSO LIKE FLOCK ... THEY HAVE ALOT OF GREAT STUFF I FIND USEFUL AND IF FIREFOX WOULD HAVE EM THEN THAT WOULD SEAL THE DEAL ..
erich13
August 11, 2007 at 7:45pm
To me, there of several features that are extremely appealing... http://lilurl.org/m516uib
Anonymous
August 06, 2007 at 7:36am
Hmmm I don't know about that. I can't access my bank account informationm, I get an error everytime I try to log in with Safari 3.
Some would say I should get a different bank or they should update, but I say that Safari should be able to connect. Safari 2 does.
For the record I use Camino, I have found it to be the best all around.
Jerry South
August 19, 2007 at 5:30pm
I can print only one page of my bank statement using Camino. I have to use Safari 2 for that one job. How about you? I heard it's a failure in the Gecko browser engine that Camino is built on. ???
Dave Barnes
August 04, 2007 at 8:17pm
Firefox is the best.
Yes, the font rendering sucks.
But, it has AdBlockPlus and the Developers Toolbar.
For me, there are no adverts on this website.
For me, as a web developer, the developers toolbar is extremely useful.Also, I like having my bookmarks in a menu on the left.
Dave Barnes
August 04, 2007 at 8:13pm
"Creative Suite 3 installer stops with a blank "Installer Alert" dialog box (Mac OS)"
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb402337&sliceId=1
In plain English: you must use Safari 2 if you plan on using Adobe CS3.
Oops.
Anonymous
August 03, 2007 at 5:40pm
Niko, nice job! We miss you! (Hey, MacLife staff, why did you let him escape!?) Good information. I had never heard of "SplitBrowser" or "Googalizer" Thanks Mr. Cousmartcougeekcouinfovanis!!
