my two machines (iBook and G4 desktop) *were* both running firefox, for bookmark syncing and because FF seems to be a bit better at loading poorly constructed pages.

but, when i installed tiger on my desktop, i gave Safari2 a go... it seems much quicker than the old version. on tiger, FF seems to load a page slightly quicker, but Safari will scroll *much* more smoothly.

its a real dilemma - at least on windows there is a clear choice (FF)... it seems like i am torn between safari (smooth scrolling, keychain integration, nice-looking), FF (fast load, robust, but lacking in kechain and services because it is not a 'true' OSX app).

I thought i would give camino a go, hoping it would have the best parts of FF and a true OSX app, but found it to be slow and awkward. it uses the keychain, but doesnt read the safari keychain entries... meaning that migrating to it would be just as much work as to FF was... it also doesnt have the FF extensions...

I will keep using FF on my iBook (it cant have tiger) and will wait with anticipation for a new release of FF, which should be more mac-orientated (and maybe mozilla should ditch camino and put all their efforts into a macFF ??)

I only use OmniWeb. Been a happy and loyal user (other than a couple months of Safari when it was first released) of OmniWeb since version 2.4.

Firefox still does not feel like a native OS X app to me, and its GUI is less responsive than Safari in my opinion. Also I prefer Safari's RSS mechanism over Firefox's. Since Safari 2.0 Firefox has become a less attractive alternative to me, especially with its much noticed speed bumps.

However, I like the Gecko engine more than KHTML. If Camino starts making progress and offers me an experience similar to Safari's, I might consider it in the future. I'm afraid Firefox will never be an option, since its corss-platform compatibility prevents it from ever feeling like a real Mac application.

Safarisofar
 

Because it was there! It seems to work well and quickly, after binning acid stuff and installing java update. I am considering Firefox though, for it's developer tools, which look well handy.

Shiira
 

Its Shiira for me, I'm stuck on the older version
since I'm still on Panther. I find the browser fast
and love features like 'tabbed expose' and a very
useful Sidebar.

I use Safari ocasionally and fire up the old Mozilla 1.7.something
(which I somehow still prefer over firefox) when I need to go
into irc or just need a change.

Have you used Safari 2 and have any comments about it vs. Shiira?

Shiira seems to not save login info for any sites. Did I miss something, fail to turn on a feature? Or does it really just not do that? Makes it pretty useless if so.

I agree why take time

Nothing is wrong with posting and sharing browser preferences

to be honest for users who simply browse (no hacking and advanced use)
they are both the same but there is a great feature found in safari and not in firefox.

in safari there is an "x" button in every tab meaning that u can close the tab by clicking its "x" button. However, in firefox there is one "x" button at the far right corner to close the tabs. You have to click on the tab then drag the pointer all the way to that "x". While in safari u can simply close each tab without going all the way to the corner. Other than that I personally find them identical.

there is one more difference that may not concern you:
firefox displays arabic websites perfectly while safari messes with arabic text it separates the letters while they are supposed to be connected there is a fix for this. But I simply use firefox! Which is good plus i don't have to fix safari's problem with arabic websites.

Yeah, but there are also ways to place a close button on each tab in Firefox, if you prefer (such as through extensions). Or, you can always just close tabs using Command-W. :D

I never thought of that I will place the close button on each tab. I am not a fan of keystrokes :)

That has nothing to do with Safari; it's Microsoft Office's installation of non-Arabic compatible fonts. The 'fix' is removing 'Times New Roman' and 'Arial' from the font directory in each user's home directory, defaulting back to the standard Apple versions.

I deleted the fonts and it worked. I am switchin to Safari 2.0

btw ur nickname is bedouin. I am a bedouin too. Bogomy from the bogooms (southern KSA) :cool: to be more specific

Yeah, that's one of my great annoyances in Safari. I haven't found any way to remove those useless close buttons. Anyone know a way?

I'm back to Safari. Shiira is pretty, but won't save my logins, so it presents too much effort to use.

Did you mean eg. logging into macosxhints or gmail? If so, Shiira
remembers my logins. Strange :confused:
I guess everyone has his/her own preference and knows what works for
them. I have not tried Safari RSS so I can't really compare.

AFAIK - shira and camino save your username/passwords, but have no 'form-fill' memory. at the moment, this is keeping me from using them...

still on safari 2.0

wheel click
 

Safari opens a new tab with "middle click"
FF doesn't

Safari for me, FF as fall-back browser when S occasionally chokes.

There are two ways to remember logins; cookies which automatically log you in when you return, and a browser that remembers your login info and enters it on the form for you (auto-fill). Some sites keep your cookie for a long time. Bank sites and such don't, so you need the auto-fill feature for those.

Does Shiira give you auto-fill?

I have my logitech mouse programed for middle-click = left-click + command

This IMHO is better than the system default, as it works in Safari and FF, and also means that you get the command-click functionality elsewhere:
- click on the name of a folder (at the top of the window) in finder to display a drop-down menu of where the file is (ie its parent folder etc)
- the above also works for clicking on the filename portion of any open textedit window (and many other apps). this is really useful for easy access to the 'containing folder' which the file is stored in...
- click on a finder sidebar component to open it in a new window

I have a feeling there are other uses which aren't listed here.

chris, you're right, of course, it can be accomplished by programming the mouse.
I like to avoid installing the logitech program, though. (Have a cordless logitech mouse).
Camino accepts the scrollwheel click out of the diskimage (doesn't come in a box ;)). Come to think of it, it's really Camino I try first when Safari acts up, then FF.