Useful Safari 3 Beta Features

I’ve been using the Safari 3 beta since the day it launched at this years World Wide Developer Conference. Overall, I’ve had a very pleasant experience with the browser, it hasn’t crashed as frequently as you’d expect with beta software and feels very well polished for such a new product.

Two features have stood out for me which I’m using on a constant basis. Those are the rearrange tabs, and the new on page searching feature labeled as “Inline Find.”

safari3search1.png

Both of these features are amazing, both in looks and function, I assume I’m dragging tags dozens of times a day, and I using the search feature at least five times a day on average. No more is searching on long pages clunky and time consuming, I can simply hit Apple + F and start typing, with results highlighted in orange instantaneously.

safari3search2.png

What features are you liking in the Safari 3 beta? Are you using it as your browser full time, or are you still on the previous version for extra stability?

Comments

  1. #1

    Michael Yurechko → mikeyur.com

    I’ve also been using it since Day 1, the new releases have helped. I’ve had a few problems, but they’ve all seemed to be sorted out in the latest updates.

  2. #2

    Cory

    Firefox has had these features for years…

  3. #3

    Michael Yurechko → mikeyur.com

    Cory, it’s a mac user thing. Safari is a lot more beautiful than Firefox, just as secure, but it does lack in the expandability department. The amount of Firefox extensions are endless.

  4. #4

    Jon → www.theappleofmyi.com/blog

    Hi Glenn,

    Firefox for me at the mo and has been for a while. I like the plugins and the excellent Google browser sync for book marks.

  5. #5

    Cory

    Ah, well okay.

    I’m a Mac user as well, and as much as I love Mac software and Apple products, I still prefer Firefox over Safari. And I suppose it’s just a personal thing, but I find Firefox to be the better looking browser.

  6. #6

    Denis

    Well, I’ve used it since first build, but on a PC (at work). At home I prefer to use old version.

    I can say that it wasn’t so good. First build has a lot of bugs with parsing html. Later it was fixed, but I’ve found something new… it takes a lot of physical memory.

    Firefox usually takes about 60 Mb, but Safari takes about 100 Mb and more.

    I don’t know does the same problem exist on a Mac.

  7. #7

    Matt Brett → mattbrett.com

    I gave Safari 3 beta a good run, and while I did like a couple of the new features I wasn’t able to stick with it. Lack of extensibility is its major shortcoming. But of the features I did like - of course, the inline find is brilliant. Resize-able text boxes blew me away. There’s a Firefox extension that claims to do the same, but it’s garbage.

    Another major downfall of Safari is its severe lack of preferences and customization options. Saft does a good job of adding the missing prefs, but paying extra for a plugin that is basically core features of every other browser is pretty lame.

    And for those that love the simplicity of the Safari interface, get the GrApple themes for Firefox. I grew quite fond of Safari’s visual style in the short time I used it, and found GrApple to be the solution to whipping Firefox into shape in that department. Especially if you’re using Uno, it’s fantastic.

    I really think Apple needs to pull out the stops and kick Safari up about 10 notches if they want it to be a serious contender. There’s rumblings of more features coming in the final version - I hope they’re true.

  8. #8

    matthew → www.somefoolwitha.com

    Firefox has had these features for years…

    Safari’s implementation is far better.

  9. #9

    Shreedhan → shreevee.com

    I tried Safari 3 Beta as soon as it came out but it was SO unstable I had to uninstall it. I have to say I’m very disappointed with Apples response time to add these ‘new features’, features FireFox as had for a good year!

    I just think it’s about damn time!

  10. #10

    Chris Marshall → chrismarshall.ws

    Firefox 75% of the time, Camino 25% of the time, Safari - never! Have tried a few times and it just leaves me cold :-)

  11. #11

    Hoge

    I use Firefox only because I haven’t found a way to get mouse gestures working in Safari. I feel choked when I have to press the Back button. So small, hidden in the corner. To be fair, Firefox needs an extension for gestures, the fact that extensions are possible makes all the difference.

  12. #12

    Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com

    Firefox has had these features for years…

    I knew Firefox had the search feature, but I believe Apple did what they do with everything, taking a single feature and simplifying it. The searching is very elegant in Safari 3.

  13. #13

    Shawn Blanc → shawnblanc.net

    Agreed. The movable tabs & new search feature are great. The ability to re-size text fields is slick, though not really necessary.

    So far I haven’t had any trouble with it.

  14. #14

    Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com

    Agreed. The movable tabs & new search feature are great. The ability to re-size text fields is slick, though not really necessary.

    So far I haven’t had any trouble with it.

    I totally agree, I’m liking the way Apple are doing the little things correctly, they have really mastered user satisfaction and attention to the smaller details over the past year.

  15. #15

    Caitlyn Imburgo → www.alwaysg5.com

    Good point about the little things, Glenn.

    Yeah, I love Safari 3. But has anyone found a Shapeshifter theme that can mask Safari 3’s looks?

  16. #16

    Dan Maurath

    I just started using it after firefox constantly running slow when I had more than a few tabs open. And I really like it. So much faster than firefox. And I would recommend getting the Safari stand plug-in which adds some cool features.

    http://hetima.com/safari/stand-e.html

  17. #17

    Spock → www.youcomprehend.com

    I love Apple’s simple approach to everything. It doesnt need a thousand confusing features and an ambiguous interface to go along with it like Firefox or IE. I was hoping for some updated RSS reader features though.

  18. #18

    mr.e

    Safari is faster, so I would use for that reason alone if it wasn’t for 1 feature that I’ve got used to in Firefox: using the middle mouse button to close a tab. I use a mouse with my laptop 90% of the time and it’s much faster to middle click on a tab then to do a comand+W. It sounds silly, but it’s the truth. If anyone knows a solution, I’ll buy you a taco.

  19. #19

    Chris Thomson → christhomsonblog.com

    I love using Safari. I was using Safari 3 for a while, but they downgraded. I am missing a few features. The Find feature, the “reopen window/tab” feature (Yes, I know a plugin can do this, but S3 did it well.).

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