New Safari Browser Succeeds at Speed, Flops on Features
March 4, 2009
by Walter S. Mossberg
Apple’s Safari browser has always been speedy and has introduced its share of innovations. While it is mostly used on Apple’s own Macintosh computers, with which it is bundled, Safari also comes in a Windows version and it is the browser on the iPhone as well.
Last week, Apple released a new version 4 of Safari, for Mac and Windows, that it claims is the world’s fastest browser, and that has a number of new graphical features Apple says will make it easier to navigate the Web. Safari 4 is labeled as a beta, and both the Windows and Mac versions are free downloads at apple.com/safari.
I’ve been testing the new Safari on both operating systems, comparing it with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. My verdict is that Safari 4 really is significantly faster than its rivals, but that its user-interface changes are a big disappointment. They either add relatively minor eye candy, are catch-ups to features introduced by rivals, or actually make the browser harder to use.
First, let’s talk about speed. I tested Safari 4 on multiple Macs, and on multiple Windows PCs running Vista and XP. I did these tests on three different networks — a fast fiber-optic service, a typical hotel Internet connection, and a relatively slow cellphone data card.
On each type of connection, I timed the loading of a variety of common Web sites, like Facebook, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Major League Baseball, both individually and in folders that opened multiple sites simultaneously in tabs.
The results were striking. In nearly every case, Safari 4 was much faster than any of the other browsers. In many of my tests, it required only a third or a half of the time to load a given page, or a group of sites, as the other browsers did, even though all were running on the same computer and the same Internet connection.
I was especially interested to see that Safari 4 for Windows blew away Google’s Chrome in my tests, even though both browsers share some open-source technology managed by Apple but licensed to others.
In some cases, where the new Safari’s speed advantage was just a few seconds, that quickness may seem unimportant. But, when opening a large number of pages in tabs, it really makes a difference. For instance, on my fastest test network, Safari 4 for Windows fully opened a folder of 21 news sites in 43 seconds, while it took the new IE 8 over two minutes to perform the same task.
I wish I could be more enthusiastic about the other changes in Safari, but I can’t. Apple’s worst decision was to move the tabs that represent open pages to the very top edge of the browser screen, above all the toolbars and menus, instead of below the toolbars and menus, where they have traditionally resided.
This move was copied from Chrome, and Apple says it makes the tabs easier to discover. But I disagree strongly. Apple’s implementation, in my opinion, makes the tabs harder to see and use on a crowded computer screen and separates the tabs too much from the content in the pages they represent. This is a particular problem in Vista, whose translucent window title bars can make the tabs almost impossible to read.
In another unfortunate choice, Safari 4 has done away with the progress bar that shows how much of a page has loaded. The company says it did this because Web pages are now so complex that the bar was no longer fully accurate. But I believe users like to see where they are in the page-loading process, even if it’s only a rough approximation.
I am not alone in this sentiment. Already, Apple-oriented Web sites which normally defend the company’s every move are publishing instructions on how to hack Safari 4 to restore the old tab system and the progress bar.
The new graphical features are just OK. Now, when you open a new tab, without specifying a Web address, Safari fills the formerly empty space with a gorgeous graphical representation of your most-visited Web sites. You can simply click on any of these to go right to that page. It even indicates when a page has changed since you last viewed it.
This is nice, but it copies a feature already in Chrome, and I believe most people won’t see it much, since they usually know in advance which site they want to view in a new tab.
Apple has also adopted “cover flow,” iTunes’ visual method for navigating albums, for the bookmark organizer in Safari. It shows a preview of each page in your bookmark list. Again, this is fine, but not a big deal.
Safari 4 also catches up to its rivals by offering suggestions of what you are looking for when you type in a Web address or search term. This worked well, but not any better than it does in other browsers.
Finally, the Windows version of Safari now looks and works much more like a standard Windows program than a Mac program. It has traditional Windows-style buttons and behaviors, which Safari lacked before.
Overall, Safari 4 is a mixed bag. The speed is great, but the design changes range from mildly interesting to downright annoying.
Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.
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Comments
It appears that Mr. Mossberg is comparing a beta Safari with a much older Firefox version. When I compare Firefox 3.1beta2 (which has been out longer than Safari 4.0beta), I see Firefox equalling or beating Safari 4 beta.
Posted by Thomas Wolf at March 4th, 2009 at 7:44 pmI wish everyone would drop this whole “beta” thing. It’s a totally meaningless term when applied to software that’s generally available.
It should also be noted that Apple keeps trying to sneak Safari onto Windows machines by presenting it along with every update to the software we really want, e.g. iTunes. They should have more confidence in themselves. When the product is good enough, people will ask for it by name.
Posted by Charlie Brenner at March 4th, 2009 at 8:51 pmI’ve been using hte beta for a week now, and love it. THe tabs at the top took some getting used to, but they are visually better than the same feature in ‘Chrome’, and like in chrome don’t take up any browser window real estate. More window, less scrolling. And unlike chrome, I still have menus that make sense….
Posted by Jeff Wayne at March 5th, 2009 at 1:54 amThe speed, for me, more than makes up for any other quirks, especially as I run it from a thumb drive, and FireFox is very slow as a Portable App. However it’s none of the quirks you mention that bother me, what I would like to see is sortable Bookmarks, and better yet, Google bookmarks and Roboform. For now, I’ve put my Google bookmarks label on the bookmark bar.
Posted by Jamshid Faryar at March 5th, 2009 at 6:33 am@Charlie Brenner: “When the product is good enough, people will ask for it by name.”
In my experience this is simply not true, especially with Web browsers. Many continue to use whatever came with their system by default unless prompted by an installation or colleague/family member/etc. who recommends switching.
You need only see the stats on people still using IE6 to get an idea of the inertia out there.
Posted by Robbie Mitchell at March 5th, 2009 at 11:21 amExcept for the noticing the speed, I totally disagree with this assessment of of Safari 4.0. Every one of the interface/feature changes, including moving tabs to the top, is a huge improvement. Seems like Walt simply surfed the web for public opinion, and wrote his column based on initial impressions by people who are resistant to change. Tabs on top converts the useless title bar space into functional space.
Posted by doug aghassi at March 5th, 2009 at 11:40 amI haven’t tried Safari, but if the speed is really Good…
Then I’ll be tempted to walk away from my lovely Firefox…
But I wonder if it has as rich features and comfortable facilities as Firefox does…
Green Tech Gadgets:
Posted by Juandy Liem at March 5th, 2009 at 9:02 pmhttp://green-tech-gadgets.blogspot.com
This is my first post to you Walt. I downloaded Safari 4 about a week ago and love it. It took maybe 30 seconds to get used to the new tab placement so I really don’t understand the furor with that. The elimination of the blue progress bar doesn’t really matter because S4 is so fast.
The big disappointment is the elimination of Snapback in the URL field. When I got my first Mac 3 years ago Snapback is why I used Safari instead of Firefox. Hopefully Apple will put that back in the final release.
Pete492
Posted by Pete Grant at March 6th, 2009 at 7:09 am@Robbie Mitchell
Re: “You need only see the stats on people still using IE6 to get an idea of the inertia out there.”
You have a point, but on the other hand Firefox has reached an astounding 20% market share almost entirely by word of mouth and free media (like Walt!), without forcing itself on anyone. So there is something to the old “better mousetrap” adage, I think.
Posted by Charlie Brenner at March 6th, 2009 at 10:27 amHave you tried to print to a pdf file? Safari prints everything as images, meaning, larger pdf file sizes and you cannot select text in the files. Safari for Mac OS allows for the option to print as image to be turned on and off. This is not the case for Windows.
Posted by Bernard Chang at March 6th, 2009 at 1:31 pmI’m perfectly happy to have folks disagree with my opinions, but Doug Aghassi is way out of line when he writes: “Seems like Walt simply surfed the web for public opinion, and wrote his column based on initial impressions by people who are resistant to change.”
That suggests that I lied when I explained that I had tested the product extensively and drawn my conclusions from those tests. I was naturally aware of some of what was being said online — even mentioned it. But anyone familiar with my columns over the years knows that I test everything and then offer my views. Just because somebody disagrees with those views doesn’t give him or her the right to impugn my ethics.
Bulletin to Doug: it’s possible for two people to carefully examine a set of facts, or a design decision, and come to different conclusions. And the other side isn’t lazy or “resistant to change,” just because you disagree.
Posted by Walt Mossberg at March 7th, 2009 at 7:38 pmI find the tabs on top to be very helpful. I also find the “most viewed” feature to be very welcome. It seems everyone has noticed the increase in speed, and I am no exception. However, I have noticed that far to often pages will stall for several seconds at a time, or simply fail to load at all. I am running strictly over WIFI, but it is important to note that i had not experienced this with Safari 3. Anyone else run into this?
Posted by Jared Dilalla at March 8th, 2009 at 1:13 pmI just downloaded safari 4 and very disappointed – looks like a clone of chrome now
Worse still can open emails in hotmail !
removed and back to previous version !
anybody else had problems with hotmail ?
Posted by ian gallacher at March 17th, 2009 at 3:43 amLet’s talk about Safari4’s New Things.If u can read Chinese Article,See it on http://tinyurl.com/c7vd3s
Posted by franky xu at March 29th, 2009 at 9:08 pmTo ian gallacher:
My son had the same problem with hotmail but there is an easy fix.
Open your hotmail/windows live page first.
Open Safari Preferences. Go to Advanced. Click the box to show Develop menu in menu bar.
In Develop click on User Agent. I’m using Firefox 3.0.5 for Mac but if you have windows you will use one of those.
Then your mail will work like before.
Posted by Randi Summers at April 22nd, 2009 at 9:58 am