Review of Apple Safari 3 Beta

 Apple Corporation has released a beta version of their web browser Safari 3 Beta for windows machines. It's look and feel is similar to the Apple's trademark. If you use Mac OSX and iTunes, you would feel the similar. Apple corporation included Safari web browser in Mac OS X. Previously, Apple hasn't released any of their safari versions for Microsoft machines.

The Beta release offers three choices for download.

• Safari plus Quicktime for Windows XP and Vista
• Safari for Windows XP and Vista
• Safari for Mac OS X systems

Download Safari for Windows XP and Vista

The setup process has a choice to install Bonjour protocol onto your system. This is unfamiliar to the Microsoft windows users. Apple's Bonjour protocol finds the local IP address of all devices such as your network printer.

Reviews and findings on Safari 3 Beta

Pros:

• When compared to other browsers, the application launch time is very less. The moment you double-click the application, it instantly loads.
• It loads the pages faster than IE and Opera. It is said that Safari loads 2 times faster than IE 7 and 1.6 times than Firefox 2.
• It executes javascript faster than IE 7 and Firefox 2
• The UI is similar to Mac style. The animation of the bookmark window is a sample of Apple's trademark style.
• Has the features of blocking popups, autofilling forms, Tabbed browsing, bookmarking, Built in RSS and security
• Rendering the page is excellent and more clear. You will find the difference when you open the same page in different browsers.

Cons:

• Offers very few plug-ins
• It takes time to load the previous page when clicked on back button. It's not using cache but instead requesting the page.
• Doesn't preview tabs.
• Often crashes like when the Autofill function is activated, crashes when one tries to fill the text field
• Problems with loading bookmarks
• Shows error messages such as: "Safari is missing important resources and should be reinstalled."
• Some problems with the fonts not being loaded on the web pages
• Problems with installed iTunes software when installed

On a whole, Safari 3 beta is a mixed-bag. There are some good features and many features yet to implement. The current Firefox and IE users will feel disappointed due to the lack of add-ons and plugins. Lets hope Safari 3.0 would resolve all these issues.

Download Safari for Windows XP and Vista