Safari 4… Not Bad So Far [UPDATED x3]
I’ve started using Safari 4 on both my MacBook Pro and Windows XP PC at work, and I have to admit that for the most part, it’s a worthy replacement for Firefox on my computers. Here’s why:
- It’s generally faster than Firefox, and nothing (so far) has proven to be a problem. Although since installing it on my Windows XP machine, the machine does seem to “stall” from time to time. I’ll keep an eye on this to see if this is a problem long term. No such effects have been noted on my Mac.
- Memory usage is kind of on the high side. Two windows with a total of three tabs ate almost 265MB of RAM. Firefox only took 52MB of RAM with the same number window and tabs with the same content on the screen. Talk about being a RAM hog.
- Javascript on Safari does seem to process WAY FASTER than Firefox.
- Some of the eye candy such as the “Top Sites” feature which gives you a graphical view of the sites that you tend to go to a lot are cool. But I’m sure that accounts for the memory usage that I’m seeing.
If you’ve tried the new Safari, please leave your feedback in the comments section. If you’ve seen this “stalling” problem that I’ve noticed, I’d really love to hear from you.
UPDATE: My “stalling” problem is apparently Safari related. It seems to occupy anywhere from 0% to 30% of the CPU. So it’s a CPU hog as well as a RAM hog. It’s related to Safari’s “Warn when visiting a fraudulent website” feature. I turned it off and my computer became “normal” again. A search of Apple’s discussion boards found this posting that points to a corrupt database. Specifically SafeBrowsing.db. However this is a Mac specific document, but a search of my computer found the file at C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\Safari on my Windows XP computer. I will delete it, turn back on the “Warn when visiting a fraudulent website” feature and see if it improves things.
UPDATE #2: So far that seems to have solved my issue. I’ll continue to monitor the situation.
UPDATE #3: The “stalling” has returned. Unchecking the “Warn when visiting a fraudulent website” feature is how I am dealing with it at the moment until Apple kills this bug. No sign of a similar behavior on my Mac thus far.
June 11, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I have officially replaced Firefox with Safari 4 because it’s extendable enough to do the things I need it to do, it’s much faster than Firefox at rendering most websites I go to regularly, and it works seamlessly with the OS and many of my applications. Also, don’t forget the fact that Firefox has an annoying habit of crashing and suddenly forgetting all of your extension and browser settings. It’s only happened to me 10 times.
There are some big flaws, though:
1) Memory hog – Safari is using 338 mg of real RAM as I type this
2) CMS issues – it’s not compatible with pre-1.5 Joomla installations or current Virtuemart apps
The pros outweigh the cons. Besides, I’ve had Safari running for 24 hours and it’s still speedy. At this point, I would have already force-quit Firefox a few times. I just wish Safari was nicer to my CPU.