# Safari or Firefox?



## chgough (Mar 12, 2005)

I am one of the band of 'switchers' that was attracted to a mac mini - and great it is too. It is the 1.42mhz machine with 1gb RAM. I became familiar with Safari but noticed it seemed pretty slow to use. I downloaded Firefox; which I use on my PC. Firefox assembles pages faster than Safari. Anyone else find this the case?

Will Safari RSS be faster?


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## Zammy-Sam (Mar 12, 2005)

Hi chgough and welcome to the forum.
I used our amazing search function and found these threads.
http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47866
http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47268
http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47158


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## fryke (Mar 12, 2005)

Apple's continuously improving rendering speed of WebKit (i.e. Safari, Mail etc. displaying HTML). Safari RSS looks okay for me, but then so does Safari as of now. I would simply keep both applications and decide from _both_ a performance and usability point of view. For me, the handling of Safari and OmniWeb are worth a split-second of wait until a page is drawn.


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## DJ Rep (Mar 12, 2005)

I prefer safari due to the integration into the OS


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## powermac (Mar 12, 2005)

Firefox is a great browser. I like Safari overall.


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## kainjow (Mar 12, 2005)

Firefox has better rendering and stuff, it supports my bank's website much better then Safari. Safari crashes more often then Firefox does though.. but Firefox is more of a memory and CPU hog and doesn't run as well on slower machines.


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## Qion (Mar 12, 2005)

Go with Firefox. My belief is that because Firefox is also compatible with Windows, there will be more market/website/companies that support and tailor to it. I'm not trying to start an argument here- thats just my viewpoint.


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## Ashka (Mar 12, 2005)

I use Safari most of the time but have Shiira as another option. I use FireFox on the XP box but wasn't that happy with it on Mac.
Shiira will pickup all Safari bookmarks and works well, not keen on the default icons but others are available.
Great to have choices. 
http://hmdt-web.net/shiira/index-e.html


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## WinWord10 (Mar 12, 2005)

I like Safari much better than anything else. There's no major reason for that, but rather it's the little things that have won me over. Firefox doesn't have native OS X form elements, and although sheer browsing speed is pretty decent, the program itself seems a bit laggy. In my opinion, Camino is a much better alternative, if you want to go with Mozilla. Even Camino, however, is somewhat buggy, and neither Firefox or Camino have built-in spell checking or speech capabilities like Safari. I also prefer Safari's brushed metal interface to the look of other browsers, and the snapback feature for Google searching is useful. The little progress bar in the icon of downloading files is another little feature that makes Safari a joy to use. I've also tried OmniWeb 5.1 and Opera 8 Preview 1. OmniWeb is good, but it's a bit unstable and the extra features don't justify the price for me. Opera 8 is a huge improvement over the previous version, but the preview release is buggy. So, overall, Safari seems like a more robust option compared to everything else I've tried. Even if something else is slightly faster or does something a little bit better, Safari is dependible, native, and free.


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## fryke (Mar 12, 2005)

Gotta totally agree, WinWord10 (besides OW, to which I have a license...). It seems that besides WebKit (Safari, OW, Shiira etc.) nobody seems to get the "good rendering" right on the Mac. All the mozilla variants seem to use QuickDraw, which makes them look ugly like AppleWorks (whereas WebKit would be like iWork). I use Firefox for some sites that don't work right in Safari yet, but over time, my FF use has become less and less.


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## michaelsanford (Mar 12, 2005)

I got turned off Safari with that rediculous stop/reload button. It doesn't seem to be multi-threaded so if I am in the middle of loading a huge page and I click stop in Safari it just waits until the page it loaded, then reloads it.

I use Firefox on all my computers, XP, Slackware, everything.


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## jarinteractive (Mar 12, 2005)

Don't forget Camino.  It has Mozilla's rendering engine, but the best OS X integration of the Mozilla-based browsers.

-JARinteractive


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## nixgeek (Mar 12, 2005)

Firefox would have to be my favorite, although I have played around some with Camino and it does seem much nicer than Firefox on the Mac.  Once I get my Mac mini, I will probably switch over to Camino for my OS X browsing.


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## Jason (Mar 13, 2005)

It's too bad Camino doesnt really have any features though, I'd love to see some Firefox extensions ported and used in Camino, such as AdBlock. That'd be great


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## blue&whiteman (Mar 13, 2005)

I use both in combination but prefer safari in the end.  never liked camino.


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## Satcomer (Mar 13, 2005)

Jason said:
			
		

> It's too bad Camino doesnt really have any features though, I'd love to see some Firefox extensions ported and used in Camino, such as AdBlock. That'd be great



Um Jason, you haven't been keeping up with Camino and it's nightly build. Also, Firefox is a poor Windows Java build featured browser while Camino is a Cocoa written browser that doesn't try to be an email client with the kitchen kitchen sink thrown in.


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## mindbend (Mar 13, 2005)

I spent one day using both browsers side by side and then wrote a multi-page review noting my observations and preferences. Because I'm an idiot, I somehow lost that review, but the end result was that Safari eaked out Firefox IMO.

I have pretty basic web browsing needs. I don't customize the browser, or add plug-ins or any of that stuff, so if that's your thing, I have no input.

The few things that Firefox lacked could easily be added if they wanted to. It's so very Safari-like, for obvious reasons.

All the sites I go to work in Safari, though some took a while to get reconfigured for Safari. I also like having as much Apple software as possible and avoid all non-Apple solutions for tools that Apple provides. I figure it'll just make for a more integrated experience overall as well as be more stable and easily maintainable. So far, so good. 

In the end, it's just a browser. I mean, it's not like it's Photoshop or anything. Run em both, one will find its way to your heart. Wow, that sounded corny.


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## nixgeek (Mar 14, 2005)

Satcomer said:
			
		

> Um Jason, you haven't been keeping up with Camino and it's nightly build. Also, Firefox is a poor Windows Java build featured browser while Camino is a Cocoa written browser that doesn't try to be an email client with the kitchen kitchen sink thrown in.



Umm..you sure you're not confusing Firefox with the actual Mozilla 1.7.x suite?  Firefox itself is just a browser.  The Mozilla suite has the e-mail, chatzilla, html editor, and browser.


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## northmendo.com (Mar 14, 2005)

I love firefox it is much better than safari the only thing I use safari for is downloads it is a little better for that, and a couple of select websites.


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## Natobasso (Mar 14, 2005)

Firefox hands down, though it does have some problems viewing pages with java and flash overlap (see http://www.geniusproducts.com for an example).

I love being able to selectively delete Histories, Caches, etc. Not to mention the fact that the browser is open source, and it also has customized themes so you can get away from the metallic theme every now and then.


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## powermac (Mar 15, 2005)

It is great that we all have a different opinion of each browser. Isn't it great that we have these choices on the Macintosh? Got to love it.


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## ziess (Mar 15, 2005)

Firefox, but only after installing these:

http://macmod.com/content/view/195/0/

http://www.aroussi.com/article/11/firefox-osx-safari-look

and even then, Safari still has the better interface...


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## lnoelstorr (Mar 16, 2005)

I'm just not happy with any of the browsers I've tried in OSX, here is a quick list of pros/cons I consider each I've tried to have (my opinions, from my experience):

*Safari:*
_pros:_
- 'As you type', spell checker

_cons:_
- Interface is a bit bulky
- Lack of features/options


*Camino:*
_pros:_
- Best interface
- Fast

_cons:_
- No spell checker


*Firefox:*
_pros:_
- extensions
- extensions
- extensions

_cons:_
- General slowness
- Suckyness of the interface
- Lack of decent OSX keyboard support


I was using Camino as my main browser for a while, but have now gone back to Safari - for the sole reason of it's spell checking features.  I much prefer the interface of Camino to the other two (the tabs are lovely), and I have found it to be the fastest.

Firefox is good, but doesn't look OSXy enough.  The main reason I cannot use it though is that editing text in forms is a complete nightmare with there seemingly being _no_ keyboard shortcuts to do things like jump to the start of a line, etc...


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## Natobasso (Mar 16, 2005)

lnoelstorr said:
			
		

> Firefox is good, but doesn't look OSXy enough.  The main reason I cannot use it though is that editing text in forms is a complete nightmare with there seemingly being _no_ keyboard shortcuts to do things like jump to the start of a line, etc...



Firefox must surely have a theme that's OSXy enough for ya!  There's at least a dozen that I know of, if not more, that you can download from them. Most are pretty cool.


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## ziess (Mar 16, 2005)

I get what you mean about Firefox not acting like a mac app (try tabbing beween text boxes in the proxies tab...) but you can make it _look _ like a mac app.

http://www.aroussi.com/article/11/f...osx-safari-look

Does this screenshot look like any other browser?


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## lnoelstorr (Mar 16, 2005)

ziess said:
			
		

> I get what you mean about Firefox not acting like a mac app (try tabbing beween text boxes in the proxies tab...) but you can make it _look _ like a mac app.
> 
> http://www.aroussi.com/article/11/f...osx-safari-look
> 
> Does this screenshot look like any other browser?



Looks like an uglier version of Safari, which I'm not too fond of the look of anyway.  Camino is easily the best looking Browser on the Mac.

Also, does it change buttons and drop downs to Apple ones? (and by that I mean the ones in forums).

Still, no matter what it looks like, I'm sure it would still be completely unusable due to it's rubbish keyboard support.


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## ziess (Mar 16, 2005)

The theme's page also includes replacement buttons and form elements and, true it's keyboard support is a bit crap,but it's sooooooooo fast, esp. downloads after changing it's default config.


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## lnoelstorr (Mar 17, 2005)

ziess said:
			
		

> The theme's page also includes replacement buttons and form elements and, true it's keyboard support is a bit crap,but it's sooooooooo fast, esp. downloads after changing it's default config.



I found it really crawled along (yes, I'd changed the config).

It was just stuff like opening a new tab that really killed it.


I then used Camino and was amazed at its speed.

I am back on Firefox at the moment though (oh, and I much prefer it's default theme to that Safari-a-like one), but the editing stuff is already driving me mad again, I think it's back to Safari next.


Oh - also, Safari's form completion rules!


Oh, and finally, does _anyone_ ever use that 'snapback' thingy in Safari?


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## minckster (Apr 2, 2006)

The GrApple (Brushed) theme is very close to Safari. It even includes Safari-like icons for a lot of different extensions. The gear-looking icon on the far right is for Web Developer. The next icon is for the Autofill extension, but I had to edit the extension myself to use that icon. (I'm happy to share the edited extension, if anyone wants it.)


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## cyclyst1964 (Apr 2, 2006)

Try Camino , and also iCab.
iCab has some really neat features such as the ability to identify itself to sites as explorer in order to improve compatibility.


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## nixgeek (Apr 3, 2006)

cyclyst1964 said:
			
		

> Try Camino , and also iCab.
> iCab has some really neat features such as the ability to identify itself to sites as explorer in order to improve compatibility.



Firefox has this same feature available as an extension, and Opera has been able to do this for a while now.  As for Camino, I don't remember exactly if it has that option, but it's still a good browser.

iCab is OK, but it does tend to be rather dodgey at times with some websites.  I've used 3.0 on an OS 9 machine as well as an OS X and personally it doesn't do enough for me to switch me over from Firefox or Camino.  Of course, on OS 9 it's the only other option to IE (sure you can use WaMCom, but it's so out of date it's not worth it).


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## Satcomer (Apr 3, 2006)

cyclyst1964 said:
			
		

> Try Camino , and also iCab.
> iCab has some really neat features such as the ability to identify itself to sites as explorer in order to improve compatibility.



Safari has that same function if you turn it on. The easiest way to turn on the "Debug" menu (where you can select 'User Agent' to change the browser identification) is to download the application Safari Enhancer. Once the 'Debug' menu is activated it is super easy to change the browser identification.


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## Digitorb (May 2, 2006)

DEFINETLY FIREFOX, MUCH FASTER. Hehe... Just use Firefox, only had one problem with it, JAVA STUFFS UP. Also Firefox works with my problem on my recent post, thats another reason why I am happy with it. 


JUST USE FIREFOX!


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## whitesaint (May 3, 2006)

Man, people love firefox likes its running on windows  My vote goes to Safari, just feels way more integrated and more "osx-like", stable and faster.  Safari's web page loading speed may not be as fast as Firefox, but the interface definitely feels more responsive.  IMHO Firefox can get crowded up with "junk" pretty quickly and the interface can also get clogged up pretty fast, but that's just me.  Don't get me wrong, some extensions are pretty cool, but i just prefer Safari.  Safari can be customized really easily if you know what you are doing.  My website is really primitive but you can see that Safari renders it alot better than firefox.

I've actually been building a web browser and thought i would jus show it off really quick here just to show you what i think a beautiful browser should look like, its still beta/alpha so it wont be released for a while, but everything works fine so far; bookmarks history tabs etc.

ebrowser.jpg


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## jhawk28 (May 3, 2006)

Another free option is Opera: http://www.opera.com/

Joshua


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## Oscar Castillo (May 9, 2006)

I find the opposite to be true. Safari renders much faster than Firefox on my G5. In fact there are times when web pages render incorrectly with Firefox and render just fine with Safari.


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## KekoKun (May 9, 2006)

safari, im on an imac350 i need to keep performance as best as possible and when i installed downloaded and installed fiorefox, it took ages to run, safari loads much faster on this old computer so i think ill stick to ir, even though i love firefox on windows, maybe wehn i get a new mac ill try again


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## Mikuro (May 9, 2006)

I find that Safari is better/faster with "normal" sites, like say this one, or 99% of the sites I visit. But when I have to visit godawful sites like IGN, Firefox serves me much better. Actually, most video game sites these days have disgustingly bad design. Way too busy, way too fancy, way more complicated than they need to be. 

I've been going around a lot of video game sites lately because of all the news from E3, and Firefox is just so much better for the task. Flashblock alone is a lifesaver, since many of these sites have about half a dozen flash items on every page (which makes me want to kill someone...).

But for the sites I actually _like_ to visit, Safari is my #1.


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## Mystic Gohan (May 9, 2006)

I prefer firefox, but that is just me.


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## Thank The Cheese (May 10, 2006)

anyone seen the FireFox Flicks? 

my favourite has got to be the Whee! clip. priceless!


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## nixgeek (May 10, 2006)

Thank The Cheese said:
			
		

> anyone seen the FireFox Flicks?
> 
> my favourite has got to be the Whee! clip. priceless!




Oh my God that was good.  Of course, now people will think you're talking about Nintendo's console.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11onewonI (<-that's supposed to be a roman numeral )


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## Zakdonba (May 10, 2006)

I use both, Safari and Firefox for diferent purposes. Sometimes a certain site doesn´t behave with Safari then I use Firefox. In extreme cases I go back to Explorer.


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## webexplorer (May 16, 2006)

I have a Safari and Firefox on OS 10.4.6.

I have a question about a bookmark.  

I realized that I saved too many same website addresses in Safari's several folders.  

Is there a way for Safari to delete the repeated addresses?  It is too much trouble for me to go thru each folder manually.


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