Safari 4 Impressions and Disappointments


Okay, Safari 4 is out, showed up in my update today…

Okay, Safari 4 is out, showed up in my update today. I was a bit surprised as I thought I already had 4 installed, but it didn’t take more than a quick peek at my existing Safari to realize it was the non-beta version. Like a kid opening a present, I quickly cut out of what I was doing and hit the Install button. A short time later, I was ready to load the latest experience. That was when disappointment set in.

Right off the bat, the interface was different and, in my opinion, not for the better. Back to the old look for the tabs and, surprisingly, it looked out of place. I had really gotten used to the tabs at the top. They were both convenient and space savers. Another oddity is that text looks lighter than before — I’m using Apple’s text and not Windows. I also miss the old loading graphic. The new pop up “loading” message looks odd in Safari.

Not all is bad. It is still pretty fast and all the features from the beta are here. I noticed a little better performance with the “Top Sites” and history, but not enough to matter. If, like me, you liked the beta, you’ll mostly enjoy Safari 4. I’m really hoping they bring back some of the old features in a preference option. I’m sure I’ll learn to live with the changes in time. If not, IE8 is quietly waiting in the background.



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