Comments on David Alison's Blog: Safari or Firefox?

Thanks for sharing this information

2010-05-19T04:38:32.821-04:00

Thanks for sharing this information

Firefox, Safari, and even Explorer have the first ...

2008-12-04T23:32:00.000-05:00

Firefox, Safari, and even Explorer have the first two features. As a captive app Safari integrates really well with other Apple apps and utilities, unlike Firefox and *really* unlike Opera. I keep reading hints and references to magnifying zoom in Safari and Firefox but so far at least there's no findable interface. (With Opera you option-scroll.)

@Ast A. Moore: Sorry for the late responce, but if...

2008-06-28T11:51:00.000-04:00

@Ast A. Moore: Sorry for the late responce, but if you ever decide to check out Firefox, selecting a URL and dragging the text to the tab bar also brings up the web page selected.

There are a few things that FF3 doesn't do compared to Safari, but compared to the flexibility of FF3's extensions, Safari just doesn't quite add up.

I just installed the Dictionary Tooltip extension...

2008-06-23T14:17:00.000-04:00

I just installed the Dictionary Tooltip extension and it works really nicely. You double click any word and mouse over the little dictionary icon that appears right under the word. It then opens a small window right there with the results from an online dictionary of your choice.

I simply like Safari and it works well, loads fast...

2008-06-22T08:26:00.000-04:00

I simply like Safari and it works well, loads fast and does the job for me. I use the internet all the time in relation to my work, so I am not just surfing around for the fun of it, the pages load faster with the latest update release to Safari. Im a happy bunny!

I've never understood any of the free models. A ma...

2008-06-21T04:25:00.000-04:00

I've never understood any of the free models. A man's gotta eat! I guess I'm just a capitalist at heart.

I have been using Firefox 3 in beta for a while. H...

2008-06-20T23:21:00.000-04:00

I have been using Firefox 3 in beta for a while. However, I still find Safari is better integrated with Apple's other applications, handles PDFS better, and is faster.

With that said, Firefox seems to handle forms better.

@Chris: looks pretty cool - thanks! I'll check the...

2008-06-20T22:49:00.000-04:00

@Chris: looks pretty cool - thanks! I'll check them out. They give this away free, I'm trying to figure out their business model.

David, Cooliris Previews is great plugin that incl...

2008-06-20T22:16:00.000-04:00

David, Cooliris Previews is great plugin that includes dictionary lookup. However, it's real value is it lets you view pages without actually going to them. Once you've used it a little you'll hate working any other way.

Also check out their sensational PicLens.

One more add-on for Firefox I thought I'd recommen...

2008-06-20T20:08:00.000-04:00

One more add-on for Firefox I thought I'd recommend.

Fission
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1951
Fission combines address bar and progress bar (Safari style). This makes the progress bar more visible and allows for a nice visual effect.

Sadly, Firefox has still not implemented full aqua...

2008-06-20T18:40:00.000-04:00

Sadly, Firefox has still not implemented full aqua interface. Take a close look at the drop-down menus: they lack the rounded edges other OS X applications have and its aqua buttons aren't quite right either. Anyway, Firefox 3 is certainly a huge improvement over 2 and I'm using it as my main backup browser. I also highly recommend that you give OmniWeb a spin if you haven't already. It's got some of the best features of Safari (including WebKit), as well as tons of advanced features like site-specific preferences, integrated ad blocking, and far more extensive security options on cookies, pop-up windows, and java script. Snapback (called page marking) and cocoa dictionary/word completion are all present. It also features a clean and minimal interface, unlike the latest version of Opera. Worth a look IMO as an alternative to Safari, though I do find it slightly slower at times.

@Semioticmonkey: Ah - got it. I didn't even notice...

2008-06-20T17:07:00.000-04:00

@Semioticmonkey: Ah - got it. I didn't even notice that until you mentioned it. Yes, that is something they should fix. UI consistency is pretty big issue to me and one of the reason's I've been so disappointed with Windows applications lately. Those little details don't seem like much in isolation but when added up make for an environment that just feels... unrefined.

@David: compare thishttp://img299.imageshack.us/im...

2008-06-20T17:02:00.000-04:00

@David: compare this
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/4498/immagine1az4.png (FFox)
to this
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5245/immagine2mn7.png (Safari)

I was referring to the tabs inside the panel. Sorry for being inaccurate.

I thought about switching to Safari at some point,...

2008-06-20T16:55:00.000-04:00

I thought about switching to Safari at some point, but there are Firefox extensions I can't really live without. FF3 is definitely a big step up, especially on the Mac. And it sounds like they will continue to make it an even better Mac citizen in the (hopefully near) future, enabling the dictionary lookup and the services menu.

I think FF3 is now superior to Safari, especially ...

2008-06-20T16:31:00.000-04:00

I think FF3 is now superior to Safari, especially if you're a web developer/designer. The plug-ins that you can find for FF are priceless and the search now seems just as intuitive as Inquisitor on Safari.

When I switched to Mac earlier this year, I also made the switch to Safari, but FF3 has now taken over. Firebug, Twitter, and Gmail plugin integration have made it a very versatile browswer.

@Semioticmonkey: Does Firefox 3 use older style UI...

2008-06-20T16:29:00.000-04:00

@Semioticmonkey: Does Firefox 3 use older style UI elements in Preferences? It looks pretty current to me but then again, I started off with Leopard, skipping even Tiger, let alone Jaguar. It looks like many of the preferences windows I see in Apple applications.

I also use one of the skins on the page that slubm...

2008-06-20T15:33:00.000-04:00

I also use one of the skins on the page that slubman recommended. It slightly increased the vertical screen real estate when compared to the default FF3 skin.

David, you mention drag and drop for upload forms. Try this https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2190 add-on for Firefox. I've used it on Windows and it works fine. I've yet to try it on my 1 week old MacBook, but I will probably install it today.

I wasn't aware of the Snapback feature you mentioned in Safari, but I quickly did a search for Snapback Firefox addon and came up with https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1245

I'll have to try out this Snapback feature in both browsers. I think what I do now that is similar is keep my original web site in one tab and always open other links in new tabs. Eventually I make my way back to the original tab.

How about Camino browser? Try that? I noticed it gave me even more vertical screen real estate than both FF3 and Safari. Just ever so slightly but still, I do appreciate it. Yes, you can change font sizes and zoom out in FF3 and Safari, but I'd rather leave the browser in its default config regarding font sizes and zoom settings for some reason.

For now, I'm using FF3 with default font set at 15, we'll see how long I keep it this way. This is all relative to the screen size and resolution you are using. I'm using a 13" MacBook at the native resolution.

Well, on Mac FFox it is for sure not as polished a...

2008-06-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

Well, on Mac FFox it is for sure not as polished as it need to be. The new UI is maybe worse of the former.
Anyway, check
http://www.sanneblad.se/johan/?p=180
to see some quircks.
I can add, Preferences Pane to the list as it continues to have the old Jaguar tabs.

I continue to use Safari but i have always an use for FFox (my default on my Wintel machine). Firebug is unsurpassed and the new Javascript rendering engine is fast.

If you need some useful safari plug check
this
http://www.machangout.com/
and this
http://safariblock.googlecode.com/

Use the nightly Webkit
http://nightly.webkit.org/

For Safari plug-ins, add-ons, etc., check outhttp:...

2008-06-20T14:32:00.000-04:00

For Safari plug-ins, add-ons, etc., check out
http://pimpmysafari.com/

I started using Opera back when it was the only br...

2008-06-20T14:31:00.000-04:00

I started using Opera back when it was the only browser with tabs, a separate Google search box, and, especially, magnifying zoom instead of just text-size zoom. The latter, when you've got old eyes and a really high DPI monitor, is just amazingly indispensible. At this point is all that's keeping me using Opera.

Firefox, Safari, and even Explorer have the first two features. As a captive app Safari integrates really well with other Apple apps and utilities, unlike Firefox and *really* unlike Opera. I keep reading hints and references to magnifying zoom in Safari and Firefox but so far at least there's no findable interface. (With Opera you option-scroll.)

Anyway, this week Opera significantly reved itself for the Mac and I'm still finding cool new improvements, but if I could learn to work magnifying zoom I, like you, would prefer to stick with Safari.

(P.S., the built in Macintosh control+scroll zoom zooms everything including menus and other open windows instead of just the client window. That's definitely no substitute.)

DTI

Oh, I just read about you Dictionary Lookup proble...

2008-06-20T14:23:00.000-04:00

Oh, I just read about you Dictionary Lookup problem, and remembered that I once had the same problem. I'm a really stubborn guy and stubbornly believe that there are very few (if any) problems that require a reinstall of Mac OS.

This one, however, was a very tricky one. You should take note of the following method, however. When you detect a problem, create a new account (I call it Test) on my machines and see if you can reproduce the problem in it. If you can't, you can narrow it down to your Home directory.

In my case, the non-working Dictionary Lookup was due to a corrupted .plist file in ~/Library/Preferences. The problem was that it was one of the invisible files. If I remember correctly, it was .GlobalPreferences.plist. I deleted it, logged out/in, and that fixed the problem.

When I tried FIrefox out, I found that even when I...

2008-06-20T12:40:00.000-04:00

When I tried FIrefox out, I found that even when I changed the scrolling options, I couldn't get the trackpad scrolling to feel right. It's a small thing, but it makes a big difference.

Did you know you could drag and drop links onto th...

2008-06-20T12:08:00.000-04:00

Did you know you could drag and drop links onto the Tab Bar in Safari to create new tabs? They don't have to be actually links even.

http://www.apple.com

Select the text above and click and drag it onto the Tab Bar (or the Address Bar itself).

Or, you know, use Opera, which is better than eith...

2008-06-20T11:43:00.000-04:00

Or, you know, use Opera, which is better than either Firefox or Safari.

More standards-compliant than Firefox, more stable than Firefox, and more functionality than Safari.

I think Firefox 3 is substantially faster than Saf...

2008-06-20T11:35:00.000-04:00

I think Firefox 3 is substantially faster than Safari on Intel Macs if my MBP is anything to go by. On the PowerMac G4, Safari is the slightly faster browser.