Safari 4: Webkit gets dressed up
Today’s Safari 4 Beta packages the great stuff we’ve been enjoying via Webkit Nightlies with some interesting UI improvements. Some of my biggest pet peeves with Safari have been addressed with this release:
- Tabs On Top: I think everybody knews this was the way to go when they saw in in Chrome, and the Safari team’s take on it is crisp.
- Full Page Zoom: A rare case of Safari getting a feature last (after Firefox, Opera, and IE).
- Great developer tools: These have been in the Webkit nightlies for quite some time, and have some things Firebug doesn’t have (and vice versa).
- Native Windows look: Even as somebody who strongly prefers the OS X look and feel, it was disturbing to me to see the faux-Aqua skin on Safari for Windows.
Using Firefox 3.1 and Safari 4 betas side by side, I’m back to seeing a basis for the “Firefox isn’t Mac-like enough” argument that some people are really fond of. Especially now that Safari is trying to fit into the Windows look and feel, the gap between the browsers in terms of “fitting in” might become an interesting topic again.
Sadly, Safari’s Location Bar is still relatively primitive. So for me, for now, Safari 4 is just a pretty toy to play with.
Feb 25 2009
4:14 pm
I actually hate the tabs on top, so for those like me you can fix this:
Go into terminal and paste this:
defaults write com.apple.Safari DebugSafari4TabBarIsOnTop -bool FALSE
if you want the tabs back on top, change FALSE to TRUE
I can’t take credit for this, as I found it over at macosxhints.com. There’s a couple other changes you can make as well. I hope they just make it a preference in the “final” release.
Chris
Feb 26 2009
4:10 pm
That’s interesting that they kept it as a defaults write pref. What don’t you like about the tabs?
Feb 26 2009
7:08 pm
I just find myself not noticing them. When I’m doing web design and I’m switching in between two sites, I actually want them to be somewhat obtrusive so I know they are there.
When I used Safari with the tabs on top, I found myself closing the browser window rather than just the tab.
Perhaps I will change my mind when the full version is released. Maybe I just need more time with it.
Mar 5 2009
7:57 pm
Tab’s on top? I’ve had that in Ion WM on Linux for every app for ages. It’s great to see Apply and other major application writers copy a correct implementation of tabs.
http://www.modeemi.fi/~tuomov/ion/
Pingback Pinderkent: Responses to the release of Safari 4 Beta.
Mar 7 2009
7:03 pm
[...] Safari 4: Webkit gets dressed up: The author of the review says that his “biggest pet peeves with Safari have been addressed with this release.” However, also mentions that it’s “just a pretty toy to play with.” [...]