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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has released a new beta version of its Safari 4 Web browser with technology that the company claims makes it the world's faster browser. Apple says it's built on a new Nitro JavaScript engine that can execute code up to 30 times faster than IE 7 and more than three times faster than Firefox 3. And what about Safari 3? The Nitro engine in Safari will run JavaScript 4.2 times faster than the previous Safari build.
There's more than just a JavaScript speed boost. Safari 4 runs on both PCs and Macs, and it brings innovations from Mac OS X and even the iPhone to the browser.
For example, Safari 4 utilizes Apple's Cover Flow interface for flipping through a Web history or bookmarks. It makes Web pages appear in a layout similar to the Cover Flow interface Apple first introduced with the iPhone and added to Mac OS X for browsing through files.
Plus, there's a new Top Sites feature, which shows off a visual preview of frequently visited pages, displaying them as though the pages were all displayed on a wall full of monitors.
Also new is a Full History Search, which searches through titles, Web addresses, and the complete text of recently viewed pages. Apple's tabbed browsing now looks more like the tabs in Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Chrome -- the tabs are now on top.
Full Page Zoom is also included, making it easier to zoom into a Web site without degrading the quality of the site's layout and text.
Built on WebKit
Safari for Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPod touch are all built on WebKit, the open source browser engine developed by Apple. Most recently, Apple says, WebKit led the introduction of HTML 5 and CSS (cascading style sheets) 3 Web standards and is known for its fast, modern code base. Incidentally, Google Chrome, the Google Android browser, the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Series 60 browser, and Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) webOS are all based on WebKit.
Speaking of HTML 5, Safari 4 includes HTML 5 support for offline Web-based applications and can store information locally without an Internet connection.
Safari 4, according to Apple, is also the first browser to support advanced CSS Effects that enable highly polished Web graphics using reflections, gradients, and precision masks -- and most everyone has seen how often Apple likes to use image reflections in its product shots.
Passing Standards?
Safari 4 is the first browser to pass the Web Standards Project's Acid3 test, Apple boasts. The Acid3 test examines how well a browser adheres to CSS, JavaScript, XML (extensible markup language) and SVG (scalable vector graphics) Web standards that are specifically designed for dynamic Web applications.
Still, is the Acid3 test really all that important? Or not so much?
"Not so much, to my way of thinking," Charles King, principal analyst for Pund-IT, told MacNewsWorld.
"Standards compliance is interesting from a technological perspective, but unless it fundamentally affects browser performance for better or worse, I doubt users care much. The companies bragging most about Acid3 compliance -- Safari (via WebKit) and Opera -- are minority players in an increasingly competitive market. The Mozilla team, which is nearing completion of Firefox 3, calls Acid3 a 'puzzle game' and aren't bothering with it," he explains.
Crowded Desktop
While Safari only holds a small portion of overall browser usage, it's also playing in an online world of choice. But are consumers really ignoring the built-in browsers on their PCs and Macs in favor of downloading and trying out new browsers?
"Consumers have definitely moved from a 'use what's included' to a 'try it and see' mode, and Firefox's continuing growth indicates how the stakes have changed for vendors. Add in Safari, Chrome, Opera, etc., and users have more options for online interactions today than ever before," King said.
Safari 4 is a public beta for both Mac OS X and Windows and is available as a free download here.
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