Safari is (Still) My Favorite Browser

If you’re like me, the app you spend the most time using is your browser. There’s lots of apps that run continually in the background and iTunes is open pretty much whenever my Mac is turned on, but when it comes to actual eyeballs-on, mouse clicking, keyboard tapping use, my browser occupies more of my computing time than any other app, hands down. Mail is probably in second place, but it is a way-distant second. Let’s face it, these days “computing” means being on-line. On the rare occasion when I’m somewhere with no internet connection, I have a hard time finding a reason to use my Mac (or iPad or iPhone…).  I guess I could write something. Hopefully I won’t have to continue something I saved to the cloud. I’m not a gamer and my patience will only allow so much solitaire. So, I usually take the opportunity to unplug. As a side note: I think everyone should go “off-line” every so often, if for no other reason than to connect with the masses who don’t live their lives on-line like we do.

Internet browsers have become so important that choosing one is a task that shouldn’t be taken lightly. On a Mac, there are three viable browser choices: Safari, Chrome and Firefox. All have their pluses and minuses and your definition of the “best” browser will depend on how you plan to use it and what kind of hardware you own. What does hardware have to do with it? Well, if you use Apple hardware exclusively (Macs, iPhones & iPads), it makes sense to use Safari. It’s the default browser on all Apple hardware and integrates quite nicely with Mail, Contacts and iCloud. Keeping favorites and reading lists in sync across all your devices works best with Safari if you have an iCloud account (and why wouldn’t you?). Additionally, Handoff is a super-useful feature of modern Macs. It allows you to start reading a web page on your Mac and seamlessly move to your iPad or iPhone at the exact same spot. The inverse is also true. If you use Android devices, Chrome is probably the best choice. Living in Google’s environment is much the same as living in Apple’s. Google does a very nice job of keeping things in sync across devices and Chrome is even more useful when you are a heavy user of Gmail and Google Docs. Signing in to Google is much the same as signing into iCloud in that respect. It’s a “once and done” sort of thing where signing in once gives you instant access to all of Google’s toys, plus keeps your devices in sync. Firefox seems to be the “odd man out” here. Mozilla does a good job keeping bookmarks and add-ins synchronized across all your Firefox installations, but certainly doesn’t offer the tools and toys of either Apple or Google. Firefox seems to be the browser of choice for folks who are big into customization. There are infinitely more GUI and third-party software plug-ins for Firefox than any other browser. This is partly because Firefox has been around longer than Safari or Chrome, but also because of its open-source architecture. Firefox has a plethora of hooks into its code that aren’t available to Safari or Chrome developers. This is both good and bad. Good because it makes Firefox the most extensible of modern browsers and bad because there are a multitude of ways the bad guys can exploit it.

Chrome is the most popular browser by far. Roughly 70% of recorded browsing is done using Chrome. Ten years ago that popularity belonged to Internet Explorer. Microsoft has done such a poor job of making IE secure, web standards compliant and cross-platform compatible that it has seen its market share drop to less than 10%. This is mostly due to Steve Ballmer’s pig-headedness in thinking he could make the net bend to Microsoft’s will. Instead of adopting standards like Javascript, IE continued to push VBscript and ActiveX technologies that were insecure at best and downright dangerous in reality. Under his leadership, Microsoft Internet Explorer’s 85% dominance in 2004 has completely eroded away. This is due in no small part to Ballmer completely missing mobile altogether. He was so clueless he cracked jokes about the iPhone in 2007 while almost everyone else sang its praises. Under his leadership Microsoft now occupies less than 3% of mobile operating systems and that has played no small part in IE’s demise. Firefox was the initial benefactor of Microsoft’s blunder, but since Chrome’s release in late 2008, it has continually grown to the dominant position it enjoys today. Here’s how browser statistics shake out as of November 2015:

Obviously, my preference for Safari puts me in the minority. I must admit there are times that I’ve moved to Chrome for all the reasons that make it so popular, but I keep coming back to Safari. The main reason is because I’m so entrenched in Apple’s ecosystem. My bookmarks, keychain data and preferences stay synchronized across all my Macs and iOS devices without me having to do a thing. In addition, I use Handoff all the time. I’ll read a tweet on my iPhone, click a link to open it in Safari then move to one of my Macs or my iPad Air because the browsing experience is so much better on a bigger screen (not to mention my aged eyesight makes even my iPhone 6 Plus’s screen a bit of a strain to read sometimes). On top of everything else, Safari is just prettier than other browsers. Steve Jobs’ obsession with typefaces is made evident in Safari’s font rendering. It just does it better than Chrome or Firefox. This is especially true on non-retina displays. My biggest problem with Safari is Apple’s lack of Windows support. Like most Apple faithful, I find myself using Windows on a regular basis. My profession dictates it. When Jobs announced Safari for Windows in 2007 I was overjoyed. I made it my default browser on my Windows machines as soon as it was released. My Macs and Windows machines stayed in sync via MobileMe and early on, Safari was the fastest browser available on the Windows platform. It was great while it lasted. Alas, Apple abandoned the Windows version with the release of Safari 6 in 2012. The last version (5.1.7) still installs and runs fine in Windows 10, but it is really showing its age. It's kinda fun to fire it up and soak up its Aqua interface goodness. It feels like watching an NFL game on throwback weekend. It still renders fonts beautifully, but it’s incompatible with some of the newer web standards and not being updated since 2012 makes you wonder how secure it is. Also, it feels decidedly slower than Chrome and Firefox. Edge blows them all away when it comes to speed. The problem with Edge is it’s too new. Virtually none of the add-ins I rely on like Evernote Web Clipper, 1Password and AdBlock+ are available yet, but worst of all, Edge is Windows 10 only. This is a show-stopper for a multi-platform guy like me.

So now I’m primarily a Safari guy because I’m primarily an Apple guy. I do use Chrome on my Macs from time to time primarily to keep it up-to-date so when I do use my Windows or Linux machines my bookmarks and plug-ins are current.

But despite its shortcomings on non-Apple machines, Safari is still my favorite. My rule is: “Safari when I want to, Chrome when I have to”.

Comments

[playview download]

AWESOMEAPP TO WATCH ONLINE MOVIES