Jump to content
  • entries
    4
  • comments
    20
  • views
    327

I'm on a Safari

dobar

Entry posted by dobar in Random Rantings

1,929 views

 Share

I'm not a Mac user. Nor do I ever think I will be. However, I'm turning towards it due to a program, designed for Mac by Apple and now for Windows too: Safari.

 

Safari, for those who don't know, is an internet browser. Not unlike Internet Explorer, only because Microsoft based the latest version on Safari, I think.

 

So, why is Safari so great? Well, there's a nice load of features that Microsoft never got.

 

Apple claim Safari is the fastest browser available. It is. My wireless router is supposed to send data to my computer at a rate of 54 Mbps (Megabytes per second), it usually doesn't. Sometimes, it drops to 48 or 36. But, if I'm really unlucky, it'll go for 1 instead. That's where Internet Explorer fails. Once the speed drops, it takes an eternity to load any page, even if it's been cached before.

 

Safari is fast no matter what. I ran on 24 Mbps the other day and was still as fast as IE can go on 54. Brilliant!

 

There's another excellent advantage for Flight Sim enthusiasts who, like me, enjoy some of the great freeware available on the internet. Safari's download speeds are far greater than IE, meaning files are downloaded a lot faster.

 

Another handy part of the downloading process is the Download window. It shows all downloads you have for that session, with details similar to each download dialogue in IE. Another good idea from Apple. It saves cluttering up the desktop when downloading multiple files. I've included a little screenshot of the download window so you can see what I'm talking about.

 

I really recommend taking a look at Safari, you won't be disappointed.

 

http://www.apple.com/safari/download/ is the place to get it, along with other features I haven't mentioned.

Edited by dobar

 Share

5 Comments

Recommended Comments

xxmikexx

dobar,

 

In addition to talking about it here, how about your opening a Safari thread in the PC Software Tech forum? Many more people will see it there than here.

 

Discussions about Macs are also fair game, there as well as here. For example ...

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Ten years ago my wife and I had a combined graphic arts and printing company. We needed to have both Macs and Windows PCs. This was about the time of OS7 and OS8 so I have no idea what OS X is like. But I can give you my assessment from that time ...

 

I liked the Mac. It was easier for me to use than the standard Windows 98 machines of the day. (And I'm a power user.) However, the sheer breadth of software available for PCs caused us to use PCs whenever possible for a variety of things, not just desktop publishing.

 

Yet we had a need to move data back and forth between the PC and Mac environments. At the time we did it with utility programs and a LAN. Today it could be done by sharing file systems on a dual boot Mac, yes?

Edited by xxmikexx
Link to comment
dobar

I may post it also in the PC Software forum, thanks for the suggestion. I just felt like posting something to my blog and this is what I thought of.

 

I have heard of dual booting Macs with Windows. I believe Apple do provide a program called Boot Camp to do this.

Link to comment
loki

Safari is a nice browser, on Windows or the Mac, though I still prefer Firefox for its variety of plugins. Firefox also has a download manager, and has had it far longer than Safari has been around. Maybe one day IE will join the club... :)

 

The new version of IE is based on Microsoft's own code as far as I know. Safari shares its rendering engine, WebKit, with the Konquerer browser of the open source KDE desktop project.

 

http://webkit.org/

http://www.konqueror.org/features/browser.php

 

While Safari is fast, I think you're getting your network speed mixed up with your internet speed. Unless you have a fiber optic internet connection (or are just connecting to a server within your local network), most home internet connections run at less than 10Mb/s, which is far below the 54 Mb/s speed of a standard wireless G network. Even if your wireless network is running at 36 Mb/s, your internet connection, at thus the data your browser is pulling down, will be running at something lower than your internet connection speed.

 

You can dual boot Windows on a Mac using Apple's Boot Camp. It works by creating a separate partition to install Windows on and then giving you the option of which to boot when the computer starts up. There are other options like Parallels' Desktop virtual machine program as well that let you run Windows within Mac OS X.

Link to comment
dobar

When I was referring to the speeds, I was referring to the network speeds, not the connection speeds. I'm not entirely sure what my internet connection is in terms of speed.

 

I found out today that IE 8 is in the works for release soon. I haven't heard anything about that download manager yet...

Link to comment
loki

Yes, I know you were talking about your network speeds. I was trying to explain that even if your router and computer are connecting at 36, 48 or 54 Mb/s, the data is only coming to your router at something less than your internet connection speed. The local network almost never has any effect on internet transfer speeds as it is much faster than most any internet connection.

 

To see how fast your internet connection is running, go to SpeedTest.net.

 

http://www.speedtest.net/

Link to comment

Quick Links

Store  Links

Please note the Store and the forum use two (2) separate login systems. You need an account for each

Forums Rules - File manager Policy

×
×
  • Create New...