Safari 2.0
I’ve been excited about, and have used Firefox as a secondary or, when it hit version 1.0, primary browser when it was called Firebird. It’s been a great, secure and fast browser that works with the latest CSS and DHTML. Over the years, it’s gained many useful features and extensions such as Web Developer and Sage (for RSS)… both of which I used(ed) very often. Features like these made it so that I can take my browser, and add in only the features I want.
After reading about Safari’s hidden Debug Menu, I saw that many of the Firefox extensions that I use frequently are built into Safari. Features such as Javascript Console, Importing/Exporting bookmarks and Keyboard Shortcuts are readily accessible via the Debug Menu in Safari 2.0. They work well, too. And of course the new Safari 2.0 includes a pretty slick RSS reader built into the browser. RSS was the other thing that I started to really like in Firefox. It’s the best way to read the new stuff on your favorite websites (that have RSS, naturally). Sage worked great adding that feature to Firefox. It’s fast and easy to use. You can also use CSS to change how your feeds are displayed. Basically, Firefox can and does all the Safari does… the useful parts at least. The kicker is that Safari does it like 3 times as fast. Fast is good. Slowdowns and long wait-times are no good.
I’m a bit disappointed that Apple has kinda forced this on me… I mean, their new OS is what slowed Firefox down. But until some things can be fixed at Mozilla, the Apple way, for me at least, is the best way.