04-14-2007, 10:10 AM

Just curious to see which browsers Mac-users prefer. The fixation and preccoupation with speed is the reason why many in the PC world are reticient to use a Mac.

Interesting speed test compare and contrast for different browsers on various OS.

http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/browserSpeed.html

04-14-2007, 10:20 AM

Macintalk has this benchmark article on some Mac web browsers, Mac OS X Browsers Benchmarked.

I use Safari 99,9999999999999% of the time.

04-14-2007, 10:29 AM

kl research

i use safari most of the time - firefox now and then.

always firefox on windows. *shiver*

04-14-2007, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by MacHeadCase

Macintalk has this benchmark article on some Mac web browsers, Mac OS X Browsers Benchmarked.

Many thanks for the link!

I've been comparing others tested speeds with my own reaching the same conclustion that Safari is the "fastest" browser when running on Tiger.

Of course, there are still those sites which ONLY work on IE!

04-14-2007, 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by christm

i use safari most of the time - firefox now and then.

always firefox on windows. *shiver*

Firefox has some really cool themes and extensions that I like very much. However, the speed issue has caused me to turn to Opera on Windows, and Safari on the Mac.

I remember thinking "this thing runs like a dog" playing with Safari when it was first introduced in 2003. Now, it's blazingly fast! I was surprised at how brisk Safari was this time around when compared to some of the others.

04-14-2007, 11:05 AM

On my machine, Safari sits unused, alone and compressed, overtaken, then lapped, by Firefox because of Firefox's vast library of extensions aimed at ease of use. If Firefox is not as fast as Safari (and this is hardly measurable), its amenities make it far more comfortable. It has much more head, leg and elbow room — it's like comparing a Rolls-Royce to a Miata.

And I'm not alone with Safari's font-rendering problems.

04-14-2007, 05:59 PM

I started using Firefox about 3 weeks ago, and it lasted about 2 days before I realised it performed like an arthritic dog compared to Safari. I'm surprised Brown Study finds the difference is hardly measurable, as it was very pronounced on my G4, to the point of feeling like a modem instead of broadband.

I find only a very small handful of the thousands of websites I access don't work properly in Safari. Ironically, the Vista Upgrades website is one of them. On the very odd occasion I have problems, I use Firefox on a PC instead usually.

04-14-2007, 06:08 PM

On OSX I use Safari 95% of the time and Camino with CamiTools on a few sites. I have Firefox and Opera installed also but only use them to test sites I work on.

On XP Firefox 95% of the time along with Opera and IE on some IE only pages.

On speed, on the PC I find Opera the fastest especially with Java based pages. Firefox is fast also overall.

On the Mac at least with some sites Camino seems a bit faster sometimes here but Safari is more than fast enough.

04-14-2007, 06:08 PM

On my machine, Safari sits unused, alone and compressed, overtaken, then lapped, by Firefox because of Firefox's vast library of extensions aimed at ease of use

But it's those extensions that make Firefox feel amateurish and nasty to look at in my opinion. Browsers are boring and i just want them to work with minimum fuss and clutter. No time for 'extensions' here.

And I'm not alone with Safari's font-rendering problems.

The problem people come across every 6 months or so because they've activated two of the same fonts by mistake?

04-14-2007, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by Brown Study

it's like comparing a Rolls-Royce to a Miata.

Hahaha...nice analogy!

I'm leaning more towards the comparison between a Rolls to Porsche 911 Turbo!

04-14-2007, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by Alexis

But it's those extensions that make Firefox feel amateurish and nasty to look at in my opinion. Browsers are boring and i just want them to work with minimum fuss and clutter. No time for 'extensions' here.


The problem people come across every 6 months or so because they've activated two of the same fonts by mistake?

Actually Browny and I did a test with fonts in Safari and it's a Safari problem. I do not have duplicate fonts activated as I use Linotype's FontExplorer X and check regularly for conflicts which, I am glad to say, I have none.

So the font rendering problem in Safari is real and not due to user error.

04-14-2007, 07:15 PM

When on PC's I prefer Firefox. But now I've schanged to Mac I prefer Safari. I have tried Firfox and Opera 9 and I'm back with Safari.....I'm even using Mac mail now as well.

04-14-2007, 07:50 PM

I mainly use Opera on both my PC and MacBook - with FireFox on the PC for some sites.

04-14-2007, 07:57 PM

I've long used Firefox on my PC at work. I've tried Opera, can't stand IE7, but Firefox rules the roost on Windows.

On the Mac, Firefox crawls. (And I'm using a "G4 optimized" version.) Safari is quite responsive. I use SafariBlock (which has its bugs, but still...) and enabled the Debug menu. I don't miss most of the other FireFox extensions.

04-14-2007, 08:17 PM

I use Camino as my primary browser (on my PowerBook) because I was able to import bookmarks from Firefox (when I used Windows) and it is quite fast.

I sometimes use Firefox for certain sites which just seem to run better (like on one forum I visit, scrolling down to the simileys section next to quick reply box slows down Camino a lot and there is a couple of seconds delay after I type a character, yet it works fine in FF).

On my Cube, I use Safari because it is quicker and I don't need to access all of my favourites because it is primarily a music/IM machine.