So apple just released a beta of Safari 4, and seeing its now the main Safari download on apple.com it looks like they are really pushing it. Windows users will be very happy, it appears to have stopped with the dodgy text rendering on windows, and apparently fits in better with the UI.

http://www.apple.com/safari/download/

http://images.macrumors.com/article/2009/02/24/085934-safari4.jpg

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/02/24/apple-announces-safari-4-public-beta/

Its also done a complete rip job of both Google Chrome and Firefox. The UI is very similar to Chrome now, and the debugging is a blatant firebug ripoff. Coverflow for history/bookmarks and the nice wall look of top sites is very nice though.

Thoughts?

www.getfirefox.com

By 'fits in better with the UI', does that mean they've dropped that stupid bloody brushmetal interface and have finally gone with the native L&F?

When will Apple get that it pisses people off by them having to do their own thing and ignore standards?

Agreed, I won't enjoy using Apple apps in Windows until it doesn't feel like using a dodgy home made Java application.

I just put Safari 4 on this work comp and its like a clone of Chrome. I have no problems against that as I like Safari and I like Chrome. I suppose Apple are in bed with Google so not too surprising.

last edited by 3dee at 09:18:17 25/Feb/09

which one is the male in the relationship?

Safari and Chrome are both based on WebKit.

Isn't WebKit just the rendering engine/application framework though, nothing to do with the look/design of the UI?

I bet it would influence the UI a lot simply by what features it provides.

Somehow I doubt that considering that the old Safari was based on WebKit as well, and wasn't a clone of Chrome...

do either of them have an add-ons system? they seem pretty limited.

I'm still at a loss to understand why Google made Chrome. They donate like $70mil USD to Mozilla a year - surely for that cash they could push their own agenda through Mozilla. The other question for me is that they obviously see a hole in the market where Chrome fits in - but what is that hole? If it's a lightweight-browser-hole then they are already messing with that idea in their plan.

If they think it's going to be more secure, open, stable, blah blah, than Firefox then they're f***in' trippin'.

Chrome is/was the first step toward the inevitable GoogleOS. (Android is another)

I'm waiting for the 3rd generation - Google Government. It still has a few bugs in the Socialist routines...

Google Earth will one day take on a new meaning...

I'm still at a loss to understand why Google made Chrome.

chrome is EXACTLY what i want from my browser
speed, stability, secutity and ease of use:

i dont want to use firefox

Using it now, seems ok so far. The new native windows interface fits in better.