Apple sees 11 million downloads of Safari 4 in three days

[AppleInsider]

Apple said Friday that more than 11 million copies of its new Safari 4 web browser have been downloaded in the first three days of its release, including more than six million downloads by users of Microsoft's Windows operating systems.

Introduced Monday following a multi-month public beta test, Apple bills Safari 4 as "the world's fastest, most innovative browser," saying its new Nitro JavaScript engine that executes JavaScript nearly eight times faster than IE 8 and more than four times faster than Firefox 3. The Cupertino, Calif-based company's test also show it to load HTML web pages more than three times faster than IE 8 and three times faster than Firefox 3.

"Safari 4 is an incredible success on Mac and Windows with more than 11 million downloads in the first three days," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Safari users love the incredible speed and innovative features like Top Sites, Full History Search and Cover Flow."

Safari 4 includes HTML 5 support for offline technologies and showcases support for advanced CSS Effects, enabling an entirely new class of web applications that feature rich media, graphics and fonts. The Apple browser is also the first browser to pass the Web Standards Project's Acid3 test, which examines how well a browser adheres to CSS, JavaScript, XML and SVG standards that are specifically designed for dynamic web applications.

With the release of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard this September, Safari will run as a 64-bit application, boosting the performance of the Nitro JavaScript engine by up to 50 percent, Apple claims.

The new operating system will also make Safari more resistant to crashes by running plug-ins in a separate process, so even if a plug-in crashes, the browser continues to run and the user simply has to reload the affected page. Safari running on Snow Leopard also delivers HTTP streaming, making it easy to deliver high-quality audio and video in industry standard formats from any web server without the need for browser plug-ins.

Safari 4 is available for both Mac OS X and Windows as a free download at Apple's Safari website.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Galley]

I've been using it on my crappy work PC, and it actually runs pretty well. The betas were terrible.

[deanbar]

Why have Apple removed such a useful feature as Snapback, in the url window. This used to save a convoluted navigation back to an original web page.

Come on Apple, please bring it back asap.

[deanbar]

Why have Apple removed such a useful feature as Snapback, in the url window. This used to save a convoluted navigation back to an original web page.

Come on Apple, please bring it back asap.

[replicant]

Safari is great but like most people I prefer to use Firefox for its plugins and wait the extra seconds. If there is one thing Apple should learn from the success of the iPhone, it's that a vibrant developer community can only help, especially when you are trailing behind.

I am definitely looking to see more (free) plugins on Safari.

[voodooru]

eye candy and crashes. look forward to updates to stabilize it.

still prefer Firefox with the bookmarks side panel with open folders. CAN'T BE BEAT.

[bslaght]

Originally Posted by deanbar

Why have Apple removed such a useful feature as Snapback, in the url window. This used to save a convoluted navigation back to an original web page.

Come on Apple, please bring it back asap.

at least it is on my iMac w/ OS X 10.5.7? However I agree it does seem to be missing on my Vista box.

[PKGuy323]

I love the Safari 4 on my Mac. However, the Windows version at work crashes almost EVERY time I use it. Not a good thing if there are Windows users considering switching to Mac.

[Abster2core]

Option: Tabs on Top. Please

[ivan.rnn01]

Congrats, Apple!

[mrob]

the new afari is crashing everytime I go to the online Apple store--why???

very frustrating!

[mrob]

the new safari crashes every time i visit the online Apple store--does anyone have an idea why this is happening or is it happening to anyone else?

this did not happen with the beta. . .

help!

[saarek]

Dunno about anyone else but I found the beta quick and light on system resources, but now that I am using the non beta release I find it a big resource hog.

[cozagada]

why are you guys repeating your posts ?

[cozagada]

why are you guys repeating your posts ?

are you typing on safari 4 ?

[bonklers]

i hope they eventually match chrome in memory use, its ridiculous how much memory safari uses, it seems it uses more memory when you open new tabs and it is not reduced when you close the tabs.

I notice that the tab can be dragged out to its own window, BUT how can i drag that window back to the tabs?? That seems like a pretty common sense feature that should be available. the solution is INCLUDE THE OPTION to have the tabs on the title bar and make tabs show up even if there is only one window.

I had to do a hack to allow torrent files to open automatically on download, they should allow us to specify safe files in the preferences.

they should allow clearing cache on exit like firefox, and all the browsers should have search integrated in the address bar.

in the end i think i'll have no choice but to wait for chrome to hit the mac platform.

[MacTripper]

"Safari 4 is an incredible success on Mac and Windows with more than 11 million downloads in the first three days," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Safari users love the incredible speed and innovative features like Top Sites, Full History Search and Cover Flow."

I'll be the judge of Safari 4 THANK YOU PHIL!

And also, please tell me again how everyone "loves glossy displays"...

Pushy Phil, one size fit's all mentality.

[kim kap sol]

I love this thread.

[kim kap sol]

I love this thread. Yes I do.

[rei_vilo]

I contributed to this 11 million record. I downloaded Safari 4.0 and tested it on my iMac 20" G5 (I known, it's not the latest release). What I've found:

Heavy and slow program - more resources are used and the response time is slow, especially for additional features like the Topsites page.

Complicated interface - the address bar is a mess, combining too many buttons. The tabs are bigger so fewer pages could be opened simultaneously.

Poor ergonomics - there's no more a progress bar, but a nice message saying "Downloading". I want ergonomics back!

And the end of the day, I deleted Safari 4.0 and went back to Safari 3.2.3. Light and fast, ergonomic and reliable.

So 11,000,000 minus one = 10,999,999

[MacTripper]

Originally Posted by cozagada

why are you guys repeating your posts ?

are you typing on safari 4 ?

Guess we found a bug in Safari 4...

[Aizmov]

Safari is great, but I find its lack of multiprocess architecture and sandboxing to be disturbing.
I'm already playing around with the pre-alpha builds of Chromium, and can't wait until there is a stable release of Google Chrome for Mac OS X.

[Rokken]

Originally Posted by bonklers

I notice that the tab can be dragged out to its own window, BUT how can i drag that window back to the tabs?? That seems like a pretty common sense feature that should be available. the solution is INCLUDE THE OPTION to have the tabs on the title bar and make tabs show up even if there is only one window.

just drag the tab in that window back to the tab bar of the previous window. how hard is that?

[dfiler]

Originally Posted by rei_vilo

I contributed to this 11 million record. I downloaded Safari 4.0 and tested it on my iMac 20" G5 (I known, it's not the latest release). What I've found:

Heavy and slow program - more resources are used and the response time is slow, especially for additional features like the Topsites page.

Complicated interface - the address bar is a mess, combining too many buttons. The tabs are bigger so fewer pages could be opened simultaneously.

Poor ergonomics - there's no more a progress bar, but a nice message saying "Downloading". I want ergonomics back!

And the end of the day, I deleted Safari 4.0 and went back to Safari 3.2.3. So 11,000,000 minus one.

Light and fast, ergonomic and reliable.

Other than top pages being slow, everything else should be noticeably faster. If not, there is something wrong with your Mac. (corrupted software, or bad hardware)

As for "ergonomics", well that's probably the wrong term. Ergonomics deals more with physical fatigue, discomfort, or injury. "Usability" would be a better term in this context.

[digitalclips]

Are all the trolls here freelance or paid I wonder

Safari 4 working great on iBook G4 (10 years old) running 10.5.7 through to latest MacBooks and Mac Pro here. Also on Vista, 7 and XP Pro under both VMWare and Parallels. Great job Apple.

[Quadra 610]

Good. Safari is good stuff. Certainly a lot better than that non-compliant garbage IE. IE needs to die, already.

Plus it's Webkit, so you've the #1 engine out there.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by rei_vilo

And (sic) the end of the day, I deleted Safari 4.0 and went back to Safari 3.2.3. Light and fast, ergonomic and reliable.

You win! You have successfully found the exact opposite of what most everyone else found. You must be so proud to be a unique person out of the other 11 million of us.

What's next?
You find Daytime dark?
do round things now appear square to you?

[randythot]

Originally Posted by Seahawk Fan 2

Why would there be more PC downloads than Mac for Safari 4.

Total 11 million.

6 million PC

This mean 5 million Mac.

Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

maybe because IE is that bad?
Safari is at least better than IE, and an alternative to Firefox.

The 6 million may also explain why they changed back the tabs...I would imagine the PC switcher factor may be in play.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by Aizmov

Safari is great, but I find its lack of multiprocess architecture and sandboxing to be disturbing.
I'm already playing around with the pre-alpha builds of Chromium, and can't wait until there is a stable release of Google Chrome for Mac OS X.

I'm surprised they didn't add multiple processes for tabs also, since it would be pretty easy to do.

However, there is actually lots of new sandboxing on Safari 4, just nothing to do with the tabs.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by bonklers

I notice that the tab can be dragged out to its own window, BUT how can i drag that window back to the tabs?? That seems like a pretty common sense feature that should be available. the solution is INCLUDE THE OPTION to have the tabs on the title bar and make tabs show up even if there is only one window.

Window/Merge All Windows. No keyboard shortcut, afaik.

[freelander51]

Is it just me or does safari crash more often then its predecessors on 10.5.7 /

Or is it as usual the Flash Plugin that gets the blame

1st gen MB, 12.5GB, 10.5.7

[randythot]

Originally Posted by Aizmov

Safari is great, but I find its lack of multiprocess architecture and sandboxing to be disturbing.
I'm already playing around with the pre-alpha builds of Chromium, and can't wait until there is a stable release of Google Chrome for Mac OS X.

I don't know how extensive it will be (mp arch & sandbox), but it sounds like they're saving that for 64-bit mostly. I'd like to hear a critique of limitations/complications from anyone out there regarding these. Enlighten me!

ack...Virgil beat me!

[randythot]

Originally Posted by digitalclips

Are all the trolls here freelance or paid I wonder

Safari 4 working great on iBook G4 (10 years old) running 10.5.7 through to latest MacBooks and Mac Pro here. Also on Vista, 7 and XP Pro under both VMWare and Parallels. Great job Apple.

this may sound like conspiracy, but I've always wondered if some of the editorial staff moonlights as trolls to keep us posting?

haha

[cmf2]

Originally Posted by Seahawk Fan 2

Why would there be more PC downloads than Mac for Safari 4.

Total 11 million.

6 million PC

This mean 5 million Mac.

Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

Because there are more windows users than mac users? Mac has less than 10% market share so even if all mac users downloaded safari, only ~10% of windows users would have to download safari to match. Many mac users also have a PC, so they would naturally download it on both platforms.

[wilco]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

You win! You have successfully found the exact opposite of what most everyone else found. You must be so proud to be a unique person out of the other 11 million of us.

What's next?
You find Daytime dark?
do round things now appear square to you?

Yeah dude!!!11

Don't you know that everything Apple does is awesome!!1 And will always be awesome!

And anyone who disagrees is just a contrarian troll???

Just like those trolls at macfixit and macintouch, who think they're so cool to point out that Safari 4 is a huge resource hog, has major javascript issues, and can't handle fringe sites like blogger, Apple and Amazon!

And don't you realize that because I haven't had any problems yet, it also means that no one else has?

Get on board the Apple express! It's awesome!!1!

[Denton]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple said Friday that more than 11 million copies of its new Safari 4 web browser have been downloaded in the first three days of its release, including more than six million downloads by users of Microsoft's Windows operating systems.

I guarantee that the majority of those 6 million windows downloads were people that neglected to de-select the "download Safari" option when updating to the new iTunes. Apple is far too pushy with their Safari browser: I don't have it on my computer, so why is the default option set for me to download and install Safari every time I update iTunes?

[christopher126]

Originally Posted by PKGuy323

I love the Safari 4 on my Mac. However, the Windows version at work crashes almost EVERY time I use it. Not a good thing if there are Windows users considering switching to Mac.

Sounds like it's time to do a clean reinstall of your Windows OS!

[villageindian]

Because its pushed with iTunes like earlier?

Originally Posted by Seahawk Fan 2

Why would there be more PC downloads than Mac for Safari 4.

Total 11 million.

6 million PC

This mean 5 million Mac.

Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

[christopher126]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

You win! You have successfully found the exact opposite of what most everyone else found. You must be so proud to be a unique person out of the other 11 million of us.

What's next?
You find Daytime dark?
do round things now appear square to you?

[Denton]

Originally Posted by christopher126

Sounds like it's time to do a clean reinstall your Windows OS!

Perhaps that would be true if they were getting random crashes on all programs, but that isn't what is described.