Web Browsing

Safari is a tabbed browser much like Firefox and its usage is pretty straightforward. I've been a die-hard IE user ever since IE4 and have always appreciated its rendering speed and enjoyed its compatibility with the majority of websites out there. For an IE user, or any user for that matter, Safari is real easy to get used to.


But before I get into the little features that make Safari a good browser, let me address its biggest shortcoming: rendering speed.

Back before Firefox's release on the PC, the one argument that I'd always hear against IE was that it was too slow compared to lesser used browsers such as Opera. Having used Opera, I could hardly tell any performance difference in rendering speed in comparison to IE. It was the lack of any appreciable difference coupled with no real application level benefits over IE that kept me from using it on the PC.

But when comparing Safari rendering speed to IE, the difference is much more noticeable. Webpages render instantaneously under IE compared to the multiple second delay that exists under Safari. In order to show the difference, I ran a couple of informal tests:

IE (PC) Safari (Mac)
www.anandtech.com 2.825 4.073333333 0.306464812
www.cnn.com 2.75 4.123333333 0.333063864
www.slashdot.org 2.33 2.373333333 0.018258427
www.apple.com 2.625 4.073333333 0.355564648
www.microsoft.com 2.365 2.44 0.030737705

What we see here is that IE on the PC is consistently a lot faster in rendering webpages than Safari, and although the numbers may seem small themselves, they make the Mac (and actually your internet connection) feel a lot slower when browsing normal web pages. Considering the amount of web browsing that we all do on a regular basis, Safari's rendering performance is nothing short of unacceptable.

One solution would be to use Firefox, which is available for OS X, and in doing so, performance is improved tremendously - although Firefox under OS X continues to be slower than IE on a PC.

The performance problem, although alleviated by Firefox, is still a serious issue since I found that I personally preferred using Safari under OS X over Firefox. Safari feels much more polished and looks much more like the rest of the OS. The other problem with Firefox is that scrolling in Firefox is much less smooth than under Safari, and can get annoying when reading large web pages that require lots of scrolling. The other issue I had was that I couldn't seem to find a keyboard shortcut to switch between tabs in Firefox and for whatever reason, the autocomplete URL keyboard shortcut for a .com URL would never work for me in Firefox. Some can get used to these quirks of Firefox and won't have a problem, but I wasn't one of them.

So, now that we know what Apple needs to improve about Safari, what is so great about this browser?

Built-in pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing support are both must-haves with any current generation browser.



Safari also includes a built-in Google search bar and a download manager; again, nothing revolutionary, but a nice must-have for a web browser.

As with the rest of OS X, keyboard shortcuts are plentiful in Safari. As you would expect, Command-T will open a new tab while Command-N will open a new browser window. There is no auto-complete URL function, unfortunately (e.g. no equivalent to IE's CTRL-Enter). Although, just typing in the URL sans www. and .com will eventually find the site that you are looking for after a short lookup delay.

While Safari lacks an autocomplete URL keystroke combination, it does make navigating to a particular directory on a website easier without unnecessary typing. For example, if you want to visit www.anandtech.com/mac/, you can simply type in anandtech/mac and Safari will fill in the www. and .com for you in the appropriate places. It's not a huge time saver, but it's a nice feature to have.

The IE equivalent for shifting focus to the address bar is Command-L in Safari, which quickly became one of my most frequently used keyboard shortcuts under Safari (much like F2 or CTRL-Tab were for me in IE).

Unlike IE, regardless of how many Safari windows or tabs I have open, there is never any slowdown and definitely no slowdown in spawning new windows - both very important things to me as I tend to have a good number of web browser windows open at any given time.

Website compatibility, for the most part, wasn't an issue with Safari, but there were some definite compatibility issues that required me to have Firefox installed whenever a website wasn't working properly. The issues usually revolved around things like car configurators on car manufacturers' websites, or certain forms not working properly. Everything that didn't work under Safari had worked without a problem under Firefox, but the choppy scrolling under Firefox and lack of an integrated feel resulted in me being a Safari user - one who just had to put up with its shortcomings in terms of speed and compatibility.

When we were redesigning the AnandTech website, I had the pleasure of being the only Safari user on the team and thus, the only one with random weird problems that would crop up during the design phase. It quickly became evident how many Safari incompatibilities can crop up - most developers don't have an OS X box with Safari on which to test their websites. Needless to say, if I hadn't been running Safari at the time, AnandTech wouldn't have been the most Safari-friendly website.

I'd say that Safari is probably the weakest link in Apple's OS X package, and it's one that they absolutely need to fix. After all, you can argue that not everyone games, but when a $300 eMachines computer browses the web faster than a $3000 Powermac, it's time for an updated web browser.

Internet Explorer for the Mac is basically a piece of garbage. It looks like an old version of Netscape, it is horribly slow and it is nothing like the Windows version of IE. For me, Safari was the web browser of choice under OS X, with the occasional launch of Firefox whenever there was a compatibility issue. With the latest preview release of Firefox, the situation has been much improved for OS X browsing, but the OS still lacks a truly solid browser, which is very important in my book.

iCalendar Microsoft Office
Comments Locked

215 Comments

View All Comments

  • webchimp - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

    When you compared multitasking performance on a Mac to a Windows PC, was the Windows PC also a dual processor machine?

    One of the major benefits of multiple processors is multitasking performance and it would be unfair to compare a single processor PC to a multi processor PC regardless of the particular CPU and OS.
  • insomn - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

    "When writing an article (especially big NDA launches), I'd have around 20 IE windows open"

    IE?
    www.getfirefox.com
    20 IE windows = 1 firefox window.
  • CindyRodriguez - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

    I'll try to only comment on the big stuff.
    Anand doesn't get the application install process at all. He's overthinking it way too much. Things don't have to be 'windows complicated' in OS X.

    In a drag and drop install, you aren't copying the "Application Installer" over to the hard drive. You're actually copying the Application its self over.

    Applications in OS X are actually bundles. They appear as binaries but they are actually directories with a hidden .app suffix on them. Select any OS X native App and control-click or rightclick on it. A contextual menu will pop up, select "Show Package Contents". This is the whole application.

    Contrary to what Mr. Shimpi said, there is no process were files are auto-magically copied to hidden and forbiden regions of your hard drive when you copy an application bundle from the installer disk to your hard drive. The application is entirely selfcontained so you are actually dragging everything over in one fell swoop. There is no disconnect because what you see in the install is what you get, a simple copy. OS X bundles are actually incredibly elegant ways to package applications.

    Some applications do require some additional files to be installed into the OS and this is where Anand was getting confused. Not all application installs in OS X are simple drag-drops. Many use more familiar installer shells. Some Drag and Drop installs also contain self repairing, Office is one example. Though the install is simply a copy, the application does require some files (like fonts for example) to be installed into the OS. This occurs when the application is first run, not when you copy the application over. On subsequent launches, if any of the required support files have been removed, they are reinstalled in much the same way. This is also a very nice feature.
  • Chuckles - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

    With regard to your trouble opening folders and applications using the keyboard:
    Command-o opens whatever you have highlighted. I had never heard of Command-Shift-Down Arrow opening stuff before this.
  • CindyRodriguez - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

    Argh.. I could only get through the first two pages before I was ready to pull my hair out.

    * The article is outdated even though it was published today. Apple rev'ed that machine in July.
    * G5s are expensive but so are similarly configured PCs. A dual opteron or dual Xeon from a real vendor with a real warranty will cost you just as much or more than the G5. I've actually spec'ed out dual G5s next to dual Xeons and dual Opterons and contrary to what Mr. Shimpi says.. do don't get "much more". Do it your self everyone.. but remember that a dual 2GHz isn't a $3K computer anymore.
    * Your overview of the Mac on page 2 is wrong. Apple didn't ship a Radeon 9600. The rev one shipped with a Radeon 9600Pro. That may seem like picking nits.. but I bet you'd consider is significant if I offered you a free 9600Pro or a free 9600 but not both.
    * Anand tells us in Page 2 to look at the specs to see how mediocre they are.. but he forgets to remind us that this computer is a Rev 1, not a rev 2.
    * Anand apparently didn't bother to look at Apple's new DVI monitors. He asserts that you loose the cable clutter cutting benefits of ADC but this isn't true. There is STILL only one cable to the DVI monitor. The cable breaks out to power/usb/dvi at the computer end.. in fact, Apple's new cable now includes firewire.
    * Once again, to pick nits.. the mouse cable on an apple mouse is short to plug into the keyboard not the monitor. Apple keyboards have always had pass through ports for the mouse.

    I'll try to trudge through the rest when I get time.. but it's pretty painful so far.
  • knutp - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

    Sure there is a 2004 version of the Office pacage. Remember that this is a version only suited for Mac OS.

    http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/A...
  • KutterMax - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

    One aspect not touched on in the review is some of the other applications included with the G5, that being iMovie, iPhoto, and iDVD.

    I'm a PC user but my wife has her own G5. She does a lot of work with digital photography and video and uses these apps a ton. They seem to work really well and integrate nicely together. $3000 is a lot to justify for a machine, but certainly these apps add some value. Further, an iMac G5, which would be about half the price, would also include these same apps and provides a little more value for the money (but only a single processor).
  • ksherman - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

    the current version of the MS Office is 2003, not 2004... But a very god article indeed... Though i dont think ill be slapping down $3000 down for anything except a down payment on a car! :) I do agree that the slow downs that exist are crazy, given such an expensive computer. The fact that over 1GB memory is practically REQUIRED is a bit of an annoyance. But thats the price for a sexy OS!
  • sgd2z - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

  • ThatGuyPSU - Friday, October 8, 2004 - link

    Thanks, Provia. I realized that after I hit Post Comment. Regardless, MS Office 2004 for the PC doesn't exist and probably won't since we're just about at the end of 2004. If anything, you'll see an MS Office 2005.

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now