Mozilla's Firefox browser vs. Safari

JJiMAC

JJiMAC

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For years I have used the Firefox browser and never gave it a second thought until I recently bought a brand new iMac and installed the Lion program so I am about as up to date as I can get with Apple. I even downloaded the most recent application of Firefox and am continuing to use their latest version as my browser but it occurred to me that I did this without ever talking to anybody from Apple about the possible downsides to using Firefox on the new Mac. Will it be as secure? Will it allow me to be able to apply ALL of the Apple programs to their max and have access to all of the Lion's features? (I know enough about operating an Apple computer having owned one for 8 years but still consider myself a neophyte in the computer technical arena, so I would appreciate any and all comments about using Mozilla's Firefox and possibly missing out on some things using Safari.
JJ
 
I use Safari almost exclusively for all of my web browsing needs. However, I have several Gecko-based browsers including Firefox installed on my computer as much out of curiosity as anything else. That said, I am aware of no security compromise related to using Firefox on the Mac. Many Mac users swear by Firefox. I prefer Safari. This is a personal choice, not a security issue.
 
Thanks MisterMe...Any security issue is important but if that is NOT A PROBLEM with the Firefox browser that's great!

I am curious if Safari delivers ANYTHING to the iMac computers that Firefox does not?
 
Yes, speed,
and while we're at it, maybe tone down the font size a tad, it's almost like you're yelling
 
Thanks jbarley,

Speed? Please elaborate. Which browser is faster and how did you measure it? Also I can't help but wonder if there are other advantages to using Safari. Steve Jobs was a brilliant man surrounded by similar minds and after reading more about this man my opinion was that his products were designed to function beyond just Apple's selfish proprietary needs. (Meant as a compliment.) Safari has to be a better fit for Apple users and so far nobody has entered into this discussion that has clearly identified what it is.
 
Safari has some nice features that Firefox still lacks. I like Safari's "Reader" mode, which will take a news article and strip out all the junk, presenting just the TEXT in a nice, readable way. There are plugins for Firefox that work similarly (I believe it's called Readability), but in my experience Safari's implementation is better.

I find the newer versions of Firefox to be a tad slow. I feel like it's been downhill since version 4.

My advice would be to try Safari for a while and just see which one you like better. I have 4 browsers installed on my Mac. I generally just use Safari, but occasionally I will use Firefox, Chrome or even Opera.
 
I like Safari but its autofill rarely seems to work. I find that Camino' fill form works almost all the time. I like its colorful big toolbar buttons. That is what I am using at the moment.
 
nealt said:
I like its colorful big toolbar buttons. That is what I am using at the moment.
Click to expand...
Funny isn't it, big ugly icons are the first thing I get rid of no-matter what Browser it is I'm trying.
Right now I'm using OmniWeb, always was an excellent Browser and now it's also free.
And yes, I was able to modify the big, colorful ugly icons.
 
nealt said:
I like Safari but its autofill rarely seems to work. I find that Camino' fill form works almost all the time. I like its colorful big toolbar buttons. That is what I am using at the moment.
Click to expand...
Are your talking about autofill of name, address, and telephone number or autofill of username and password? Safari's autofill works for me. However, it is not the godsend that you make it out to be. In the case of the former, I have multiple addresses--for business and home. I have to be careful about what gets fill-in. This requires editing my auto entries. In the case of the latter, I often have to type one or two correct letters before it fills-in the rest. The extent to which login credentials are autofilled seems to be somewhat but not necessarily entirely under the control of the website.
 
(MisterMe and not so Crotchety Mikuro ) both of you have provided me with enough information to keep me in Safari. I expect to stay there and thanks for your contributions. jBarley...you like unobtrusive type and get rid of gaudy icons. Now if anyone else cares to contribute more I welcome it.
Jake (JJiMac)
 
Mister Me:
Yes I am talking about Autofill. In safari 80% of the time Safari informs me that it cannot fill in the info even if it is just name and e-mail address. Camino fills in the same sites 95% of the time.
 
Camino is nice - no harm in having two or more, as many as you like, browsers on the same system. Some pages work better or faster in one browser, and with several browsers you can be logged on to a site with different accounts (sometimes useful for development or work).

So apart of Camino... OmniWeb might still be around. Opera can be comfortable too, and some swear by Chrome. Try them, customize them to your preferences, and see which works best for you. :)

I'm using about 75 % Safari, 15 % Firefox (with paranoid settings and every script and unrelated cookie etc blocked), 10 % Camino.
 
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