Yesterday, Apple launched a public version of Safari 4. Although it’s still in beta, this is an impressive browser that has a few smart features and is well worth the upgrade. I’m normally the first to buck against upgrading my software unless I’m going to see a real difference, as multiple versions of the same programmes and browsers clog up my machine. They often hide themselves away, sucking up precious space - even when I have made sure that I’ve cleaned up and uninstalled old versions.
However, the promised ability to be able to ‘choose your favourite sites from a stunning wall of graphical views’ was enough to bait me into giving it a go. This was predominately because it sounds like a direct rip off of Cooliris (which transforms your browser into a full- screen 3D experience for viewing any online media).
Interestingly, there’s also a direct comparison to flipping through album covers on iTunes within the first installation screen. Had the penny finally dropped for Apple? This suggests that they may have finally cottoned on the fact that YES, most Mac users are visually orientated! It just makes sense to integrate this into its browsers, as it’s so apparent across everything else they develop.
After being stalled slightly by the need to install a security update, the first noticeable different is the quality of design. It’s sharper, cleaner and awash with beautiful tones of gun metal. But lets start from the top down. On the top right sits a plus sign that opens a new tab to display the aforementioned visual wall of favourite sites. Whereas I’d assume these would be created by looking at my bookmarks, they appear to be pulled directly from those recently visited.
Running the mouse over these highlights each in an electric-blue neon frame, and clicking on them results in a swish zoom before loading in full size. A full range of sites that I tested loaded very quickly, even on my vintage iBook G4.
You can also access the visual wall by clicking the grid symbol underneath the search box, or choosing ‘view favourite sites’ from the ‘view’ menu. There’s capability to edit the sites included on the wall;a you can remove or ‘pin’ individual boxes to keep them on the list, or change the view size to decrease numbers of sites to six, or increase to 18. I was also a fan of the drag and drop feature to organize sites by preference or most used.
Although you can’t really read the content on any of the homepage shown, you could almost use this like Netvibes or another RSS-based homepage. It certainly loads far quicker, and there’s no need to log in. Clicking on the plus symbol opens a new tab located at the very top of the page. This allows for more space to browse, and makes the entire window appear bigger.
The bug button to the right hand side of the search box flags problems directly to Apple HQ, which is nice touch to put in such a clearly visible location within a beta launch. The open book symbol - as with previous releases - links to bookmarks, RSS feeds and history.
When visiting this section for the first time, Apple asks if you’d like to visually browse by using preview images. Much like looking at a visual wall of your favourites sites, you can flick through your history etc. in the same manner. This is going to be a godsend to me. Often I can remember sites I’ve looked at by layout of the homepage or its design, but never via the ridiculously long URL.
Safari will automatically add preview images as you browse the web, but you can also add previews from the web pages you’ve visited most recently. As I played around more with Safari 4, the presence of cross-referencing became more apparent. From the favourite sites visual wall, you can also search your history directly and use the same visual preview feature outlined above. Yes, you heard it. The Firefox awesome bar comes to Safari, and it’s supported by images.
Safari 4 still includes the good old integrated search box for Google, but it’s far smarter. Not only do you see recent searches, but also suggestions and the ability to search within your current page. So that’s it in a nutshell. I’m happy to say that Apple has focused on a few massive changes – rather than lots of insignificant features no one will ever find. It’s a sexy browser that quite frankly puts Chrome to shame. It’s intuitive, took 5 minutes to load, and just works.
I couldn’t work out an easier way to add favourite sites to my visual wall (it’s not as straightforward as just bookmarking them). But, I’ve sent in a request and hopefully it’ll develop as it grows. Additional nice to haves include a ‘merge all windows’ button in the ‘window’ menu, and a far easier way to customise your toolbar (also drag & drop) - which can be found in the view’ section.