14/08/05
261OS X Browser Survey 2005
The question is simple: What browser are you using the most on OS X? With so much (good) choice on Mac these days, and the ‘field’ being very different to a year ago, I’d like to know what peoples tastes are.
This is a survey in the form of the Comping app and Text Editor surveys from last year (I.e – not very scientific). Is Safari the favourite? Have Firefox and Camino eaten into its share? Has support for underdogs (Shiira, Omniweb, Opera, iCab) increased? Or are you using apps like NetNewsWire for their browsing needs?
How to take part : Name your default browser in the first line (to make it easy for me to count), followed by a short sentence on the next line, saying what it is about that browser that ‘makes’ it for you. The only other rule: this is OS X only I’m afraid. Unlike the previous surveys, I’m going to be very strict on that point this time, you have been warned! I’ll leave comments open for a week or two before I publish the results.
Go!
Tags:
Daniel Nicolas said 1091 days ago:
Camino Nightly buildthe cleanest very snazzy choice
Marc Kohlbrugge said 1091 days ago:
SafariI tried Firefox, but it doesn’t feel like a real ‘Mac OS’-app. And others browsers (like Camino) don’t have any advantages over Safari, I think.
Josh Jarmin said 1091 days ago:
Right now I am using Firefox as my default browser, but that may soon change.I like Firefox because its fast, easy on the eyes, and (like OSX) it just works. Safari and NNW are a close second for me. I do alot of my surfing these days in NNW as I go through the days updates.
Jeff Wheeler said 1091 days ago:
SafariI tried Firefox, and I really want to like it, but it’s just so ugly. I can’t use it. :(
Travholt said 1091 days ago:
FirefoxFirstly because it’s become the reference browser, secondly because of all the useful extensions. (Greasemonkey/Platypus, Web Developer etc.)
paul haine said 1091 days ago:
SafariIt just does what I want and it works very well. Firefox just seems a bit odd on OSX to me – it seems to want to go back a page whenever I use the double-finger scrolling.
Zach said 1091 days ago:
After @media I bought myself an iBook after seeing everyone elses.I’d barely used a Mac before. One of the first things I did was download Firefox. After doing a bit of surveying I came across your site PimpMySafari which made me think maybe Safari’s not so bad.
I currently use Safari though I have Firefox in my Dock Bar if I need to cross-browser check.
Patrick said 1091 days ago:
Firefox.I don’t use my Mac that often, but when I do I always turn to Firefox. Maybe it’s just because I’m used to using it on my PC as well, but I just find it slightly more cuddly.
Jon said 1091 days ago:
Safari 1.3Firefox comes a close second, but it’s slower, doesn’t feel Mac-ish, goes its own way with proxy settings (which is annoying if you travel as much as I do), and has a couple of annoying little features that really hack me off…
Rob Mientjes said 1091 days ago:
Safari is it for me. First of all, it looks better than Firefox (okay, so I think Firefox is simply ugly), second of all, it’s faster than any other browser I tried and liked and thirdly, the render engine is HOTT.Rachel said 1091 days ago:
FirefoxFirstly because it means I can use it (and stuff like the web developer toolbar) whether I am on Linux at work or the Mac or Windows at home. I’ve also never liked Safari, on my machine it runs far more slowly than Firefox and things looking less like a ‘real’ OS X app is a plus as far as I am concerned ;)
Jérôme said 1091 days ago:
SafariIt’s a pleasant browser, it works perfectly, and Dave Hyatt makes a wonderful work on WebKit.
Gabriel Castro said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0Like Rob said, it looks better than Firefox, it’s faster, and WebKit is awesome.
I only use Camino to manage my university stuff because their web app doesn’t support Safari (they’ve been “looking into it” for the past two years…hmmmf).
EJ said 1091 days ago:
SafariRSS baby
Siobhan Curran said 1091 days ago:
Safari.Much as my inner-soul tells me I should be using Firefox, I just find it too angular. Safari is all smooth and lovely.
Aesthetically (in my head), Safari BBC. Firefox Channel 4. MSIE == ITV.
My only gripe with Safari is the icon. I dunno who they got to design the Firefox one, but I reckon he could probably make a better thing than that insipid compass.
Erik V. said 1091 days ago:
SafariI occasionally use Firefox, though; I like its warning for quitting with multiple tabs open and its greater flexibility with popup blocking.
computerdude33 said 1091 days ago:
I use a Camino nightly. It really is Mozilla power, Mac style.Tom said 1091 days ago:
Firefox compiled from sourceI like to use Safari when there is no way for me to compile Firefox, but I like the flexibility and fastness of Firefox when it is compiled from source with optimization FLAGs.
Carl-Johan Kihlbom said 1091 days ago:
Safari...for that genuine Mac feeling. And it’s got all the features I need and the speed I crave.
Brad Smith said 1091 days ago:
OmniWebOmniWeb is the best combination of features of any browser. The only downside is the speed, which is a very noticeable issue on older PowerBooks.
Jeremy Weathers said 1091 days ago:
Safari/FirefoxSafari for my primary browsing, Firefox for primary web development testing. Firefox creates new windows in the default Mac down and right placement, even though my windows are full height – Safari places them to the right only. Also, with 10.4.2, I find I need to restart Firefox occasionally (it gets really slow and stops handling Javascript occasionally), but that’s just as likely Apple’s fault as 10.4 is incredibly buggy.
quis said 1091 days ago:
CaminoI use one of the G4 optimized nightlies which can be found at mozillazine. Seems to be faster than the normal builds at handling lots of tabs. I also think that it has the best feel of any OS X browswer, but that’s pretty subjective.
Younghusband said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0Firefox is my backup browser, but 99% of the time I am using my pimped out Safari!
Miko said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0I use Safari for daily browsing, but am finding myself using Camino 0.9 from the nightly builds. Fast and lightweight.
I prefer Safari over Firefox plainly because of how it handles bookmarking. RSS is in it’s dedicated aggregator, thank you.
Otherwise I use all the web browsers available for web testing my new sites.
Joris v. T. said 1091 days ago:
SafariLooks better and loads faster than Firefox. I use Firefox when I need webdeveloper toolbar; the only thing I miss in Safari.
Adam Thody said 1091 days ago:
SafariRSS. Speed. OS integration. Esthetics.
I do use Firefox as my main testing browser for development however. The web developer extension is hard to do without now.
Jeremy Fields said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0I recently got my first Mac and was a Firefox diehard, but I’ve fallen in love with Safari’s quick loading, RSS and support for advanced CSS. I keep Firefox in my doc (along with IE, yuck) for testing.
Samuel Sjöberg said 1091 days ago:
SafariBecause it is fast and nice looking. As a new OS X user I started of with Firefox, but it was too ugly (especially the forms) to consider in the long run. Still need it for some debugging though.
Denis Defreyne said 1091 days ago:
Safari (2.0)It’s faster and its text rending is better than Firefox and other Gecko-based browsers. It also has that “Mac look and feel”.
(Isn’t it odd that OmniWeb hasn’t been mentioned at least once yet?)
G.Lindqvist said 1091 days ago:
I’m using Firefox with live boobmarks as sidebar.Andy said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0With Saft and built-in RSS, it has the right amount of features while retaining a certain simplicity, good function and speed, and clean design.
Drew McLellan said 1091 days ago:
I use Safari.Key reasons for me are integration with the system-wide spell checker (my spelling sucks, so this is essential), and that the interface is unobtrusive. The Firefox UI is too colourful (looks like a pre-school toy) and I’ve not been able to find a professional looking monochrome theme for it. Plus Firefox form widgets are broken (missing borders etc) that just make it unusable.
Colin Frame said 1091 days ago:
SafariActually started out into my Mac experience 10 months ago jumping straight into Firefox but then went back to Safari recently. Still use Firefox from time to time but might start going the Camino way as it seems quite a bit quicker and more responsive than FF.
Gareth said 1091 days ago:
FirefoxMainly for all the extensions (Web developer, Tidy, View rendered source in particular) but probably also as I can use the same browser across multiple OS’s and computers.
Chris said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0It just has that certain something. I don’t need nor want all the extensions for Firefox. Certain little tips and apps from PimpMySafari are all I need.
Firefox just seems like a browser that wants to be OS. Which is strange because back in the old days when I used Phoenix 0.6 it was the slim and trim browser.
Ben S said 1091 days ago:
SafariI’ve always used Firefox, but recently I’ve found that Safari is just so much more snappy than FF, especially now that its been pimped! (thanks, Jon)
I still use Firefox though for the extentions such as WebDev & Pagerank (I know, I know, but it’s fun!)
Aust said 1091 days ago:
I’m a Safari man. Once I stripped out the brushed metal and went down the unified toolbar route I was a happy man. I use Camino for Gecko testing.Jez said 1091 days ago:
SafariForce of habit really, I’ve been using Safari since Apple released it. But I do switch between FireFox and Camino at times.
Remi said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0While I miss some Firefox features, I like Safari’s interface, and the RSS integration is nice. Extra features like spellcheck is also something I can’t live without anymore.
FSFunky said 1091 days ago:
Safari is the best, although I do use PithHelmet for adblocking.Denis Radenkovic said 1091 days ago:
Safari...then Firefox.
Jeremy Keith said 1091 days ago:
Safari, for most of the reasons that Drew already gave.I do like Camino though.
Samuel Sidler said 1091 days ago:
Camino.Speed is #1.
Simone Merli said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0Firefox, Opera and IE Mac only for testing sites.
Come on Jon, Pimp My Safari! :)
Han Wonka said 1091 days ago:
IE all the way.Come on guys, you can pretend that you prefer all of this space-aged stuff, but we all know that Bill’s Browser is the Bollocks.
Omar Shabbir said 1091 days ago:
Firefox, because of all the useful extensions that are available. I’ve also got a safarish theme which ain’t that bad looking :)Also because you designed the logo :P
Gord Fynes said 1091 days ago:
Safari.All the usual sites look better with Safari. Omni would next in line.
Jason Kitcat said 1091 days ago:
SafariI find it has the best interface by far, but the poor speed and network robustness (for me at least) is beginning to get me down – Firefox tempts…
Ben Hiller said 1091 days ago:
SafariI have tried Firefox, but it doesn’t seem native enough, although it is great for web development.
Stuart Frisby said 1091 days ago:
FirefoxSpeed and stability is an issue, but the plethora of extensions and an interface familiar from my windoze days keeps me coming back for more.
brian warren said 1091 days ago:
Camino.Tough to say why, I actually flip back and forth between it and Safari. Rarely do I only have one launched. Camino has better javascript support.
I also do a ton of my browsing (like submitting this form) from the browser in NetNewsWire.
kevin finlayson said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0i like the intergration with NNW, and the render engine is my favourite. mostly it’s just fast and beautiful and I’m used to it. I prefer the developer extensions in Firefox, however, and built-in workspace saving would be nice b/c I always feel like SIMBL might be slowing me down.
Adriaan said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0More relevant for me and I like text-shadow.
samyoung said 1091 days ago:
ShiiraI’m happy to be the first to vote for it. I recommend all give it a try. RSS support is a bit of a failing at this point – but if you use a newsreader, Shiira is definitely the way to go. Excellent Bookmarking/History/Download system, Expose-esque view all tabs (seriously, try it), a neat page flip browsing mode, private browsing, lots of customization and all the rest.
Kevin McKay said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.xThis version of Safari brought me back. I find it works more reliably than Firefox, at least for the sites I visit. But Firefox remains a very close second for me.
Aronnax said 1091 days ago:
a Deer Park nightly (preview of Firefox 1.5)+ the Sage, Scrapbook, Tab Clicking Options and Web Developer Extension
naturally, with one of my themes http://www.grapple.net.tf/
Silus Grok said 1091 days ago:
Safari, with SaftI say “with Saft”, because it’s not the same browser without Saft. And I have the Aqua interface turned on.
Jonathan Holst said 1091 days ago:
Firefox.It might not be the best browser, but I totally dig those extensions.
Greg said 1091 days ago:
SafariMy favourite browser, mainly for RSS, for daily use but Firefox for development work.
Matt Turner said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2On my powerbook fastest loading and page rendering plus built in CSS. Firefox with webdev toolbar is rarely closed when i’m developing websites though, couldn’t live without it for that.
neil said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0Though I switch back and forth between this and Firefox, with brief flirtations with Camino. Safari wins out due to its balance of OS integration, standards support, and extensibility(1), though.
(1): Without Saft, PithHelmet, and Stand, I wouldn’t touch Safari whatsoever as it would be way too simplistic. But once these are added in, it’s great.
I keep waiting for Omnigroup to get their act together and get Omniweb up to snuff, but I’ve almost stopped hoping at this point… though the fact that Web Kit is now open source is a hopeful sign…
Matt Turner said 1091 days ago:
Er.. i meant built in RSS obviously! :DMatthew Kappenman said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0I’ve tried using Firefox (I always use it on Windows Machines) but I agree with the above comments that it doesn’t feel like a Mac OSX app. For some reason Safari and I have become good friends, and I haven’t really felt the need to look at other browsers for quite some time.
Matt Crutchmer said 1091 days ago:
Camino 0.9But more and more NetNewsWire 2 for surfing and MarsEdit for posting. Camino is faster on my box than the rest, and I really like the ‘lightness’ of its appearance on my small 17” screen. Safari 2 gets weighted down with lots fo RSS feeds to respond quickly.
Kelly said 1091 days ago:
I’m all over Camino .9a2. It’s such a beatiful tool, fast, and fairly solid for an Alpha. I switch to Safari on occaission for it’s OS integration. I really want to like Firefox, and I use it for site tweaking and development, but no matter how long I use it, it ends up becoming unstable. I do really, really like the live bookmars, though.I’m surprised at how few Camino users there are.
Colly said 1091 days ago:
Safari.On looks alone. Firefox has everything I need, want to use, and I find myself launching it all the time to check certain things. But, it’s always Safari for me. It looks simple, is unobtrusive, and I can actually see my designs in it’s frame.
Careful though, so much CSS renders slightly differently on older versions of Safari. That’s caught me out no end lately.
Jakob Heuser said 1091 days ago:
Firefox 1.0I started using the Web Developer Toolbar [ link ] and haven’t been able to tear myself away from the browser since. Safari gets called up when flash is needed though, as the flash plugin for Firefox is really sluggish.
Brent said 1091 days ago:
“My only gripe with Safari is the icon. I dunno who they got to design the Firefox one, but I reckon he could probably make a better thing than that insipid compass.”I’m ticked to death by that comment (#15). Does he not know where he posts!? =]
I use Safari. I agree with others that Firefox has many useful plugins but doesn’t feel enough like an OS X app. Safari, with Saft, is fine.
Pat said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0 mainly, but I use Firefox when I want to use the DOM Browser or some greasemonkey fu (like geotagging flickr photos)Steve Hubbard said 1091 days ago:
Safari 1.3Alan Jacobs said 1091 days ago:
OmniWeb.The features of OmniWeb are unbeatable, but it crashes too often, and has little quirks—like an inability to autofill forms properly—that from time to time send me back to Safari. (but when that happens, Safari’s own little quirks send me back to OmniWeb. . . .) I’ll also be happier when OmniWeb adopts a more Tigerish appearance.
[Hey Jon, I’d be interested in a survey of favorite email clients.]
Philippe said 1091 days ago:
Firefox nightly builds, daily updated.With my own form widgets naturally and Aronnax latest theme (Zaphod).
As second choice, Opera 8. Safari is only used for cross browser testing.
D Alexander Carlin said 1091 days ago:
Safari.Firefox is admirable, but I find it clunky on the Mac OS (on Windows it’s another story). Plus, Safari is, according to my testing with Eric Meyers’ CSS test suite, more standards-compliant. I use Camino as a backup, though, and to test my pages with the Mozilla rendering engine.
Chet said 1091 days ago:
FirefoxI use firefox since i swith back from mac to pc and want the same browser on both.
josh said 1091 days ago:
CaminoI use nightly builds of Camino. Safari is decent, but its preferences (even with Saft and PithHelmet) don’t offer as many options.
Massimo said 1091 days ago:
Safari. Still the best with Saft enabled…Ryan Prins said 1091 days ago:
Firefox 1.0.6 on both my PC and my Mac.Magnus said 1091 days ago:
I use Safari and Camino.If I’m going to a site with ads all over I use Camino with various prefpanes to block the ads.
Jason Cosper said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0 + Stand + InquisitorWhile Shiira and Camino are both doing their damndest to pry me away, I always find myself coming back home to Safari. shrug
Christopher Anderson said 1091 days ago:
OmniWeb 5.1.1I’ve loved this browser since first understanding its true power. Thanks Jon for your support and the beautiful iTunes skin for it.
I’ve used about every OS X browser (Safari, Camino, Shiira, Firefox, I.E.), but OmniWeb has been the one that I now use 99.9% of the time. It took some getting used to, but it has paid off.
Yes, there are a few quirks, but the tabbed browsing windows, saved sessions, and the workspaces, my God, the workspaces! I couldn’t live without this browser.
Michael said 1091 days ago:
SafariIt has the nicest UI of all the different browsers available and I find it faster than Firefox.
Shawn said 1091 days ago:
Safari.Despite it being a very taxing program (ever waited for your volume to adjust or for a window to close when using Safari?).
I keep Firefox up to date and use it for development but when just reading or browsing I much prefer how Safari behaves. Firefox feels very clunky on OSX. I use Firefox on both my Windows and Linux installs but can’t bring myself to enjoy it on the Mac.
I’ve also come to like Shiira quite a bit too.
Jeff Hume said 1091 days ago:
Camino Nightly.Camino is really starting to rock again.
Chris said 1091 days ago:
CaminoI’ve been using Camino since the days when IE was the dominant browser on OS X. Nothing has been able to dislodge it from its perch yet, and with the recent improvements in the nightlies, it’s unlikely anything will any time soon.
cl
pketh said 1091 days ago:
Shiiranormally I use safari, but I’ve been loving on Shiira lately.
Looks to be a good browser, and one I wouldn’t mind using full time .. I just hope that the author implements the many small tweak suggestions on the shiira forums. Then it would truly be great
(plus, it’s hella fast on both my ibook and imac)
Matthew said 1091 days ago:
Camino Nightly for me as well.Firefox for RSS reading because for some reason I can’t get used to using NetNewsWire or anything else.
I do use safari but because I don’t yet run Tiger (the horror) I ditch it most of the time. Safari 1.3 is pretty slow compared to Camino. Camino feels less clunky as well.
Amit Karmakar said 1091 days ago:
Safari + Saft + inquisitor + pithhelmetOmniweb
Camino
Firefox only for testing (its way too ugly and doesn’t render colour well)
david gouch said 1091 days ago:
Safari on odd days; Camino on even days; Shiira at night; and Opera on days that start with _T_.(I just switched to Mac and can’t figure out which one to use.)
PS. It’d be cool if you kept stats on this page to see how the visitor browser IDs compare with the votes.
William said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0I prefer Safari, but I do use Firefox sometimes.
Jamison said 1091 days ago:
Safari 1.3I enjoy the simple, clean interface and using three macs, bookmark syncing with .mac for my two personal and one work mac invaluable. I would probably use Firefox, but it has a feel like I’m using a windows app with a mac skin, but not truly a mac application (which is largely the case) so when I am using something other than Safari it’s Camino. The latest Camino releases and the .9 alpha builds have really improved performance, if there was a way to just make it use the Safari bookmarks instead of it’s own I might find myself using it more.
Sean said 1091 days ago:
Camino 0.9aIt’s simply speedy, stable, powerful with CamiTools and not bloated unlike Firefox.
I also do use Safari as much as Camino and occasionally other browsers like Shiira (as fast as Safari, but more features) and Firefox (useful when using Web Developer Tool, but too buggy for a daily use).
Lowell Wood said 1091 days ago:
FirefoxIts much more simple and basic (and faster) than safari. I also tried out camino but it dont have my extensions.
Jay Torres said 1091 days ago:
Camino nightly builds.In my experience, the fastest browser in terms of rendering pages and start up. Plus, it’s prettier than Firefox.
Vaughan Osborne said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0OS integration
Hyeonseok Shin said 1091 days ago:
SafariCamino for test of XHTML.
Cale said 1091 days ago:
SafariWhy? Firefox is incredibly slow on my G4 iBook.
Jamie Wilkinson said 1091 days ago:
Firefox 1.0, but only because I can’t live without Web Developer Tools/Greasemonkey.I am mere inches from learning to develop Safari plugins…
John Oxton said 1091 days ago:
You will laugh to here me say it but Safari 2.0 is my bwwwoser of choice!John Oxton said 1091 days ago:
Sorry I shoulda read the survey properly. I like it for it’s speed on my iBook and also—the whole open zips, auto install widgets thing. Yup, the OS integration reminds me of the glory days of IE ;-)David Stutler said 1091 days ago:
SafariIt is simple looking, simple to use, and I’m simple-minded.
Paul D said 1091 days ago:
SafariA Camino nightly build is my back-up browser. I like it for speed, but Safari is still a more polished browser and is being improved so rapidly.
I love some of Omniweb’s features; I wish they’d work on making it as fast as Safari or Camino.
Firefox is too slow and doesn’t feel right, and the widgets are ugly as heck.
Lisa McMillan said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0I use firefox for developing because of the webdeveloper tools and aardvark, but I can’t help but really love safari for browsing. Fast, pretty, good standards support, better OS integration. If only it had an easier to use aardvark-type build-in…
Brandon Arbini said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0I also use Firefox for web development. But Safari is very simple and stylish.
Tom Richards said 1091 days ago:
Safari.I use it for a variety of reasons: it’s built in RSS reader, I prefer its forward and backward shortcut buttons to those in Firefox, I like supporting Apple’s development practices with the project, and I use its CSS effects (like text shadow) in my personal pages that are not yet supported in Firefox.
Stefan said 1091 days ago:
Firefox 1.06 with GrApple (Zaphod) Theme.Safari might be a little faster but I need all that fancy stuff like Adblock, Web Developer, Scrapbook…
Wolfgang Bartelme said 1091 days ago:
Safari 2.0due to best OSX integration (functionality and look&feel)
claudia said 1091 days ago:
safari 2.0plus a ton of stuff from pimpmysafari (can’t remember precisely what). i like being able to open links in new tabs with a middle click, and all those osx dictionary functions. completely annihilated firefox from my pb a few times, but it’s still there just in case for now.
Adrian D. said 1091 days ago:
Like many others, Safari 2.0 for browsing/RSS/general-lickableness and Firefox when needing the more advanced developer features.Patrik Thors said 1091 days ago:
Safari because it looks nice and feels faster than Firefox so i use it for daily surfing, when working i use Firefox so I have access to the Web Developer Extensions.peter royal said 1091 days ago:
safari 2.0i love omniweb. but i want the updated engine that safari has. waiting with baited breath for an ow that build upon webkit!
Mike D. said 1091 days ago:
Safari.Fully aquafied. Fast enough. Improving rapidly.
Jon Hicks said 1091 days ago:
#69 Brent – Hah! Siobhan was just jesting!#100 John – You see! We got to you in the end!
sean curran said 1091 days ago:
Firefox 1.5 (deer park)I am too used to find as you type and the extensions. I do hate however, that it doesn’t fit with everything else. I have had Safari, Omniweb and Camino as my defaults and I always seem to feel something is lacking. I am willing to give Camnio another shot, hopefully it has grown enough.
Mayo said 1091 days ago:
SafariNice integration into the OS (though I disable opening of “safe” files). Firefox seems too edgy, very unlike native application (for example, but not limited to, GUI widgets [text boxes, etc], spell checking, toolbar customizability [simulates native, but it’s just simulation and it’s very apparent], hate the Firefox tabs, can’t stand find as you type, etc, etc) I’ve ried Camino and few other ones, but just can’t get used to them and their interface.
Ian said 1091 days ago:
SafariThe interface is the most refined and ‘Mac-like’ – sites just look better in Safari than in other browsers. Camino is my stand-by if I’m having trouble with a site in Safari.
Kenny said 1091 days ago:
Safari.Nothing comes close.
Michael Heilemann said 1090 days ago:
Safari. You can’t beat bookmark’s via .Mac. Also I can’t stop uding CMD-number for my bookmarks.Gavin Sim said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0Roger Johansson said 1090 days ago:
Safari.It’s just more polished, so I use it for my everyday browsing. Firefox is a close second because of its excellent extensions, so I use that a lot when developing.
Simon said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0 & SaftI aslo like omniweb, but since the version 2.0 of Safari come out, I’m not using it anymore..
Jean-Christophe said 1090 days ago:
Safari 1.3Simple as usual by apple.
Then Firefox for developpement, as it got many extension for it.
Mark Boulton said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0When Firefox first came out I used it all the time, but I’ve had so many problems with Firefox (lag, crashing and flash problems) that I ditched it and went back to the Safari 2.0. It’s fast, stable and looks nice!
Joe said 1090 days ago:
Firefox + NetNewsWireFirefox cause of extensions and I like the idea of an open-source browser, but I think of switching to Safari every time a Flash site crashes my browser.
Philipe said 1090 days ago:
When I had a PC 5 months ago, I was using Firefox with the Sage extension. Then I bought a 15” PowerBook and Firefox doesn’t look and feel like a Mac Application. Then I started using Safari.I’ve got the impression that it is faster and smoother. I had this experience with an image following the cursor onmousemove. On other browsers you move the cursor and some milliseconds later the image moves—but not in Safari.
Then with Tiger including the Safari RSS reader the combination was perfect. The only thing I miss in Safari is a JavaScript-console like in Firefox for developing Dashboard widgets. Does someone know if this exists or if there’s a plugin?
Anthony Shafto said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0It just feels ‘right.’ The interface is clean and doesn’t feel gimicky like other available browsers. I do, however, tend to also use Firefox from time to time.
Wil said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0Metal-less, and it’s great, though I hate when it forgets window position.
matt Carey said 1090 days ago:
safari 1.3Longtime listner first time caller said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0Can’t beat system-integration. Plus I’m lazy, if it ain’t broke…
Joshua Marshall said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0I keep copies of Camino, Deer Park, Opera and Firefox around for testing purposes, but Safari plus a handful of plugins is what gets used day to day.
James Nash said 1090 days ago:
SafariI think Firefox has a slightly better rendering engine and the extensions are cool and it has more features, but…
* Safari has close buttons on each tab which means I don’t need to move the mouse around so much.
* Safari is native OS X and looks and feels like it – Firefox’s GUI toolkit does a very good job of looking aqua-ish but it’s still not perfect.
* Safari can do CSS text-shadow and CSS3 multiple backgrounds! :D
Small Paul said 1090 days ago:
Safari (with Saft)Erm, yeah. Seems snappier than Firefox. Can’t quite be bothered trying Camino. Saft remembers my tabs and stuff. Safari’s nice and minimalist, and thus Apple-like.
Paul Lloyd said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0But Camino is catching up – it’s my second preferred browser on OS X, followed by Firefox, but only when I have need for the developer toolbar.
Of course on the PC it’s Firefox (Deer Park) all the way!
Junap said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0Clean, simple, fast. Exactly what I need for general browsing and procrastination.
I heart Firefox, but it’s currently more useful to me as a dev app than for casual browsing.
Richard Medek said 1090 days ago:
FirefoxOh, I really want to use Safari. It’s faster, looks better, and is a little more “Mac”... but I really like FF’s sidebar-type bookmarks and it’s fancy-schmancy plug-ins. Even when I’m just browsing around I tend to use the Web Developer Toolbar every now and then. It all comes down to those bookmarks, though.
bq. it seems to want to go back a page whenever I use the double-finger scrolling.
That’s the trackpad’s horizontal scrolling. I ended up turning off that option in the trackpad preferences.
matthew said 1090 days ago:
SafariI have tried Firefox, Camino, iCab (remember that?) but I keep coming back to Safari for the general Macness. I do confess to using Firefox alot when Im working on websites though as the various plugins are very helpful.
Sven said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0I was using OmniWeb for a while but it’s way too slow on my TiBook. I’m using Firefox whenever I need the web developers toolbar.
Terr said 1090 days ago:
In my short time as a home Mac-user, I’ve been quite a switcher when it comes to browsers.I’ve started off with Camino, with whom I had great experiences on my older beige G3. It was justed plain fast, but it lacked a lot features I even didn’t find in the nightly build.
With 10.4 I decided to give Safari another shot. I was very satisfied with it, until Deer Park Alpha 2 came around the corner.
Being an alpha, it has some annoyancies, but in contrast to Firefox it’s fast (I always found Firefox slow on the Mac). And in comparison with Safari, I can use the extensions that make the Mozilla project so cool.
Thomas Loudon said 1090 days ago:
OmniwebIt is just brilliant. I love the tabs and the workspace system is wonderful.
Simon Zirkunow said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0The other Mozilla-based browsers don’t have that typical Mac-feeling. Although I like Camino nightlies for testing purposes.
Judi Sohn said 1090 days ago:
Firefox 1.xI work on both a Mac & PC and Firefox let’s me configure browsers on both platform to be nearly indentical in bookmarks, theme and functionality.
Wade Winningham said 1090 days ago:
FireFoxI use it on both my Mac and Windows machines with similar plug-ins but have the Brushed theme installed with the Tax X Mac extenstion to make the tabs look and feel like Safari.
Hans Nilsson said 1090 days ago:
SafariIt’s the fastest one. I still use Firefox now and then, primarily when Safari won’t allow (or can’t handle) certain things on websites.
Daniel Andrews said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0I try every browser under the sun on the Mac, but I always come back to Safari for it’s speed, it’s simplicity, and the fact that it is more complete and integrated than Firefox or Camino will ever be.
Terr said 1090 days ago:
As requested: My vote goes to Firefox 1.5, or Deer Park. Sorry for being unclear :)David Brent said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0The best Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger browser around. A lot better looking then Firefox as a whole but I do have an issue with Safari’s cache.
Timmargh said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0No particular reason – I just prefer it to others.
Neil T. said 1090 days ago:
Only got a Mac last week and haven’t yet got internet set up at home, but I tend to lean towards Camino. I have Safari RSS and Deer Park Alpha 2; Safari is the default but I do use Deer Park now and again. It does seem to have some display issues on my Mac though and is a bit ugly – Camino is nicer on the eyes. Safari is the nicest though.Brad Chmielewski said 1090 days ago:
SafariMain reason I use it is for the sync features. Tried having the sync add-on for firefox and it just did not work as well. I also now use Safari as my RSS reader.
I was using firefox for awhile but always had trouble with Flash sites, so I was just gave up on it.
jgt said 1090 days ago:
Camino nightlyI like Safari a lot, but it can’t beat Camino’s speed. There are some sites (Netflix, Newegg come to mind) that Safari just can’t handle. Even on simpler sites, though, Safari’s CPU usage is much higher. I miss RSS autodiscovery, though.
Paul Groves said 1090 days ago:
SafariFirefox on occasion.
Rob McMichael said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0Still not perfect but looks great and never acts up.
Patrick Keenan said 1090 days ago:
CaminoIt doesn’t freeze when I open the bookmarks menu(Like safari) and I made a custom RSS reader(better than safari)
Paul Livingstone said 1090 days ago:
SafariFirefox is the daddy on Windows… but feels clunky as hell on OSX, and is a bit of a machine hog.
I might move over to camino, now that they’ve sorted out the ‘orrible tabs though.
bjorn said 1090 days ago:
I use Safari for most casual browsing, but find the developer extensions available for Firefox very handy when debugging xhtml or tweaking page designs.com.users.benAlpert said 1090 days ago:
Safari, FirefoxI am a proud Apple supporter, so I use Safari most of the time, but occasionally it crashes, so I use Firefox then. The JS Console in Firefox is also better than Safari.
Scott M. said 1090 days ago:
FIREFOXI was a diehard Safari user until 1.3 came out and all of sudden I got constant spinning beachballs and crashes. So I’ve been using Firefox.
In addition Firefox has some fantastic extensions (Web Dev toolbar, FlashBlock, AdBlock). I had previously tried a few blocking extensions for Safari (thanks to Pimpmysafari.com) but found drastic increases in processor utilization and a slower browsing experience. I’m also enjoying Firefox’s built-in ability to search History.
stevietheb said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0It’s got the features I want (I admit that I don’t demand too much from my browser…tabs, RSS, a few cool extensions like Sogudi), and, so long as you remove the brushed metal it LOOKS real nice. In fact, the OS X look/feel is what’s most important to me. Yeah, I’m shallow like that.
Nelson Buster said 1090 days ago:
Safari – cause Firefox seems so slow on mac. the only case I use firefox from time to time is when I need one of the amazing pug-ins like webdeveloper tools. would be great to have something compareble for safari.Delfin said 1090 days ago:
SafariMosaic: Testing purposes ;-)
I’m a Mac user. Firefox is more appropiate for Windows users.
Jenn said 1090 days ago:
SafariI would be lost without my Autofill.
AJ said 1090 days ago:
SafariUsed to use Firefox, but recently moved, and just find it has a nicer ‘feel’ to it
Karen said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0I love OmniWeb, but it is just a bit slow at present. I’m hoping that the Omni Group will fix it, as it is my favourite in terms of the features it has.
I’ve got Camino, Firefox and Opera all installed on my machine too – for the sites where Safari still doesn’t work properly, although these are increasingly IE only sites and won’t work on any other browser anyway.
Craig Davey said 1090 days ago:
SafariFor the progress bar in the address bar.
Dave Simon said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0 & Firefox. I switch back and forth.I use Safari as my RSS reader and for “work” stuff, and Firefox for fun browsing and as an easy way of testing changes to CSS (with Web Developer extension.)
Joop Vos said 1090 days ago:
Safari 1.3 is my first choice … because it has the look and feel I like most … Firefox is second best … special as a webdeveloper tool … and Firefox is very good in remembering usernames, passwords, etc.Danny said 1090 days ago:
SafariIt’s native, simple and fast!!!
Juan Carlos said 1090 days ago:
SafariCamino has ugly back/forward icons, and I don’t like that it has folder icons on the bookmarks bar.
Firefox’s UI is still pretty clunky and lacks that native os x app feeling.
However, I do like Firefox’s DOM inspector and several extensions that Safari doesn’t have.
Terry Majamaki said 1090 days ago:
Safari has remained my primary browser, but I’ve been using Firefox for all my RSS feeds for the “Live Bookmarks” feature that I like so much. Camino has become the default browser for one site. IGN.com. Being an avid gamer, I’m always reading the message boards and I’ve found Camino to be the fastest loading on their site.Wilson Miner said 1090 days ago:
Safari + SaftFast rendering + stability. I used to use Firefox at work for the developers toolbar, but the combination of increasing instability of Firefox releases and the advent of the web developer plugin for Safari made me give it up forever. Can’t wait for the new WebKit changes to make it into an official build.
Grant Kindrick said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0Speed, simplicity and easy of use. I like Firefox for its plug-ins and web development tools but it just seems sluggish compared to Safari and has problems rendering Flash content.
Ryan J. Bonnell said 1090 days ago:
SafariI use Safari for my everyday web browsing: the interface of Safari is simple, elegant, and the intergration with the Operating System — plus it has the look and feel of a great OS X app.
When I’m doing web development work, then Firefox wins hands down for it’s wonderful plug-ins and consistent rendering across all Operating Systems.
riccard0 said 1090 days ago:
Camino nightly builds,I just love when they crash on me ;-)
Damian said 1090 days ago:
SafariThe new alpha of Camino (0.9a2) is nice, too. I haven’t tried Omni’s offering, so I can’t comment on that. But, out of curiosity, I’ve tried almost everything else. Some swear by them; others, swear at them. I simply see no reason not to use Safari: nothing else looks as good, feels as comfortable in use, renders as fast, and all-round works as well as Safari. It’s a very fine product.
Agust Atlason said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0Very fast and just plain OS X app
Rutger said 1090 days ago:
Safari RSS/2.0Safari is faster, has RSS, is very stable and just feels better on OS X.
For webdevelopment I also use Firefox (love the extensions). Also love Camino, but I wish it had extensions support.
Javan said 1090 days ago:
FirefoxSafari is prettier, but I’m too attached to the many extensions that I use.
Jaakko Knuutila said 1090 days ago:
SafariIt just has the Apple feel in it. I also use Netnewswires integrated browser, which if I understand it correctly is basically just liike Safari. Oh and Firefox is nice because of the Web developer toolbar, it’s a pitty that keyboard shortcuts tend to stop working after a while in Firefox.
Brad said 1090 days ago:
Safari 1.3Firefox just doesn’t feel as lightweight and snappy as Safari. Also I’m too cheap to pay for any other browser.
Adam said 1090 days ago:
Firefox – as it’s the only one that works with the companies VPN/Proxy setup.If it wasn’t for that i’d probably say Safari for browsing, Camino for developing.
Rick Tuttle said 1090 days ago:
Firefox. It runs much faster on my Tiger Powerbook than Safari, plus I have gotten hooked on the developer extensions.Brian Morris said 1090 days ago:
SafariFirefox as a secondary, then Camino (rarely). I also do not like using Safari as a newsreader, I enjoy my newsfeeds as a seperate entity, and nothing rocks as hard as NetNewsWire!
Ben Ward said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2Very nicely designed, fast and the Spelling/Address book/etc. integration is a winner.
I’ve had a mixed experience with my new Mac. Safari went through a phase of ‘much crashing’ t’other week so I had a crack with the latest Camino nightly (which is very, very nice. Just needs those last few bits of OS integration – namely spell check). I looked at Firefox, but since the Mac is my secondary machine I don’t have need for the extensions and I’m an aesthetic kinda guy so the form controls are a turn off. Opera isn’t up to the task, imho, and none of the ‘smaller’ browsers have gripped me (nice as seeing Acid2 rendered in iCal is).
Chris McLeod said 1090 days ago:
FirefoxBecause I use it on my Mac, XP and Linux boxes and have he same setup – without the fuss of remembering how different browsers behave/key commands, etc.
That said, I’m increasingly using both Camino and NetNewsWire, if it’s just something quick I need to check online…
Thomas said 1090 days ago:
FirefoxExtensions are key to my browsing experience.
Andy Peatling said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0I use Safari at home when browsing generally as it’s so much faster than Firefox on mac, however I tend to use Firefox when developing due to the web developer plugin. It just makes like far easier.
Will Parker said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0, build 412.2Whenever I find a site that has some silly script incompatibility with Safari, I fire up FireFox (current install is 1.0.3). Other than that, I haven’t used another browser on my Mac since Safari was in beta (despite being a Microsoft employee when Safari went beta).
When forced to use Windows or Linux, I fall back to the current build of FireFox.
monkey dancing shadow said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0 + SaftAll other browsers feel clunky in comparison, despite their various interesting features. However, without Saft, I’d still be using NewsNetWire as my default browser, just for it’s primitive saved tabs feature.
Dave said 1090 days ago:
Safari 2.0I used to get the camino optimised nightlies when I was on OS X 10.3, but Safari 2 has a great rendering engine and the RSS support is great.
Firefox is a mess on OS X in my opinion and Opera is my favourite choice for my windows box but the mac version is poor in comparison.
Todd said 1090 days ago:
FirefoxWeb Developer Toolbar. Don’t leave home without it.