[Hootayah]

I will say one thing in favor of Safari over Firefox..
Firefox drives me nuts with so many updates. It seems like every time I start up the app expecting to go to my home page... it delays everything instead to tell me of some new plug-in update or something. This slows me down so much it negates any other advantages of having it.

I've gotten to the point where I start up Firefox... it loads a blank page telling me about some update... so I say to hell with it, shut it off and go back to Safari.

My only complaint with Safari right now is the progress bar. Although I don't notice any speed improvements at all.
In fact it seems slower... especially when you surf to Flash sites. (if they even work)

Another problem with Safari now that I think of it, is filling out forms. The postal code dialogue box won't accept your input.
You put your postal code in and it reverts back to some random number.

This happens on every site that requires a postal code.

[penkapp]

My major gripes with Safari 4 are with (the lack of) security/privacy functionality:
# After installing Safari 4, I still continue to get an error message telling me that the Google Safe Browsing Service is unavailable/out of date, but at least the browser no longer crashes. Also, I was concerned/confused as to why I would see a cookie for doubleclick.net in my cookie cache, despite having "Accept cookies only from sites I visit" checked. Kinda disappointing.
# No visual cue (can be subtle) that you’re using the browser in Private Mode, unlike Firefox.
# Cookie management still sucks. Despite Safari being the only browser to have third-party cookies disabled by default, there is no way to easily automatically clear these (by default) after each session or set up exceptions like in Firefox.
# Cookies are still sent and received when using Safari’s Private Browsing mode. Huh? The cookies are deleted after you quit Safari, but this behavior does not prohibit cookie-sharing during a session. Firefox and Opera are the only two browsers that are capable of blocking outgoing cookies.
# Cookies are acquired from sites that "magically" appear in Safari’s "Top Site" viewer, even if you have never visited that site. Not cool.
# Safari 4 beta is a fatty-boom batty, memory hog. It seems Top Sites, history Cover Flow, and the top-tabs features are the likely culprits.
I'll stick with Firefox Adblock Plus NoScript for now, thank you.

[dtarr]

barman said:

I like Safari in many ways and would like to feel content using it, but there are a couple of things that bug me and bring me back to Firefox. First, there is no option (as far as I know) to have clicks on new links consistently open in a tab. Instead, regardless of the options checked ("open new apps in a tab"), Safari opens some links in the current tab (which is fine), but others in new windows, and one soon winds up with a bunch of open windows that to me are messier to work with than open tabs. With Firefox, pretty much everything opens in your current tab unless you tell it otherwise. I know you can force Safari to open links in new tabs with command-click. But, that is a bit of a nuisance and seems like it should be unnecessary just to prevent it from opening multiple windows. If there is a workaround to convince Safari to be more tab-friendly, please let me know.

The other issue for me is that there isn't any way to add icons to the bookmark bar. I find my eye much more quickly detects the icon (in Firefox) than the plain text in Safari. Again, if there is a work around, please let me know.

These 2 issues cost me more time than Safari gains for me in its quick page rendering.

I agree with your complaints about how Safari handles tabs. I use Firefox on my Windows box at work, and I just love the Tab Mix Plus add-on, especially the ability to have a new tab open next to the current tab. With Safari, the new tab opening all the way to the right drives me crazy. Yeah, I can drag it back to where I want it, but I shouldn't have to. In spite of the tab annoyances I use Safari almost exclusively at home on my iMac, so I guess I don't have too many other complaints about it.

[jack1]

What happened to the blue loading bar? Was there something that was wrong with the way it was that it just had to be omitted? If so, what was wrong with it?

[ilovemymacs]

Been trying to revert to beta version, pls advice.

[Kayaker]

Another problem with Safari now that I think of it, is filling out forms. The postal code dialogue box won't accept your input.
You put your postal code in and it reverts back to some random number.

This happens on every site that requires a postal code.

You have a Canadian postal code, right? This is not a new problem, it dates from at least Safari 2. I wonder what's taking them so long to fix it. I sent them a bug report long ago, and many others probably did also.

The only way I found to avoid this annoyance is to remove my postal code from my Address Book entry.

[kersen13]

One of the complaints was extra bulk I used monolingual and stripped all the languages I don't use and now its only 12 megs. I don't think it can get any smaller than that.. The thing I miss though is the old progress bar. And I wish I could get rid of the google search Bar. I like things as minimal as possible.. Also I would like it if Cooliris worked..

[Hootayah]

Yep... it's a Canadian postal code.

Major pain in the arse... especially after you've spent 10 minutes filling out an entire form only to find out you can't finish it.
Then having to open Firefox and start from scratch.

I've sent a bug report a dozen times but I don't think those guys even read them.

[micaelm]

What is the problem, Apple? Everyone wants the progress bar back. I think I'll be going back to 3, there is nothing new and essential in 4.

[MrMojo]

So far this has been the worst Safari update yet...

I have experienced intermittent crashing at a number of Web sites. And the worse performer by far is Apple.com.

The only way that I can access these problem Web sites is to switch to Firefox. WTF???

[micaelm]

Part of the allure of the turquoise address bar progress indicator is that it is a great pacifier. I wonder if it actually accurately indicates the loading progress.

[cwcod]

I am a new convert to the Mac family,to this forum or any Mac forum. I am using Tiger OS and the new Safari 4 failed to open. I tried another download and the result was the same. I tried to re-install my previous Safari 3 and that won't install. I need help for Tiger OS.

[micaelm]

I have a similar problem, After deciding I am really pissed at Apple about Safari 4 I angrily trashed it, planning on reinstalling 3. No way,they won't allow it. I went to Firefox, Camino, Opera and after a few days I sheepishly went back and installed 4 again. I do like that it auto completes my thoughts in the address bar, but I think that's an old feature we had in old Netscape. So I am resigned to the current state of the Mac browser and I will not stop complaining until we get it fixed!

[mrkwst22]

OK, folks.

The new update, 4.0.2, seems to have brought Safari back from the dark side. It loads slower than 4 but faster than 4.0.1. I have been trying to crash it or make it hang or cause a kernal panic for almost two days now but it ain't happening, no matter how many pages I open. It is still sluggish on some site loads but it gets there. I still miss the speed of 4.

I'll give this version 4 stars and hope things improve. And I wish there was an option for tabs to be on top or bottom. I hear from more and more people who liked the tabs on top.

Oh, well. I guess MacLand has its own 'drive-by' media controlling thought patterns.

Cheers.