Apple’s new Safari 3.1 browser ‘the fastest’... but for how long?

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Wednesday, 19 March 2008

Page 1 of 2 ! The Safari of Apple’s browser adventures shows no sign of ending thanks to a new 3.1 release, promising “the world’s fastest web browser for Mac and Windows PCs”. This, however, is compared with the release versions of IE7, Firefox 2 and Opera 9 – with the speed (or otherwise) of the latest beta browsers not included. It’s ‘Tuesday’ in the US, (Wednesday for us down under) and yet again, Apple have launched something new – a new version of Safari! Although Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8) and Firefox 3 are still in beta, Apple is racing ahead in the browser stakes, bringing Safari 3.1 to Mac and PC users without subjecting them to achingly long beta periods. Despite Firefox 3 beta 4 also promising ‘blazing fast’ web speeds (see iTWire’s recent article, Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 streaks across horizon like lightning), Apple have chosen to compare their new browser to the release versions of IE, Firefox and Opera – and why not? Beta browsers may well promise all kinds of things, but until they’re certified for release, they’re generally not recommended for everyday users to download and rely upon as their everyday productivity tool – by the companies offering competing beta browsers themselves. That said, I’ve been happily using Firefox 3 beta 4 (and before that, beta 3) for some time now, and beta 4 is certainly the fastest Firefox yet, with suggestions already arising online that beta 4 of Firefox 3 is faster than Safari 3.1 (see Macrumors and an entry at Apple’s Support Discussions pages)  so just how long the speed crown rests with Apple is yet to be seen. Even so, Safari users on Mac and PCs are reporting that Safari is definitely faster than it was before, something that will undoubtedly keep loyal Safari users happy, no matter what the competition releases. Still, the ‘statistics’ speak for themselves, when speaking of released browsers, of course, which is convenient for Apple. The claim is that “Safari loads web pages 1.9 times faster than IE 7 and 1.7 times faster than Firefox 2. Safari also runs JavaScript up to six times faster than other browsers, and is the first browser to support the latest innovative web standards needed to deliver the next generation of highly interactive Web 2.0 experiences.” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing said that: “Safari 3.1 for Mac and Windows is blazingly fast, easy to use and features an elegant user interface. And best of all, Safari supports the latest audio, video and animation standards for an industry-leading Web 2.0 experience.” Whichever browser you’re using, on whatever device you have to hand (or is your favourite), please surf on over to page 2. << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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