Apple releases Safari 5 with extensions, expanded HTML5 support

AppleInsider · June 7, 2010 5:15PM

Apple on Monday released Safari 5, the latest version of its desktop Web browser, with a 30 percent performance increase, the addition of Bing search and secure sandboxed extensions, as well as support for more than a dozen new HTML5 technologies.

The update is available for download from Apple's website or via Software Update on Mac OS X. Safari 5 is a 39.1MB update.

"Safari continues to lead the pack in performance, innovation and standards support," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Safari now runs on over 200 million devices worldwide and its open source WebKit engine runs on over 500 million devices."

Available for both Mac and Windows, Safari 5 includes improved developer tools and supports a number of new HTML5 technologies that allow developers to create rich, dynamic websites.

The latest version of Apple's Web browser also includes Safari Reader, which makes it easy to read single and multi-page articles on the web by presenting them in a new, scrollable view without any additional content or clutter. When Safari 5 detects an article, users can click on the Reader icon in the Smart Address Field to display the entire article for clear, uninterrupted reading with options to enlarge, print or send via email.

Powered by the Nitro JavaScript engine, Apple said Safari 5 on the Mac runs JavaScript 30 percent faster than Safari 4, three percent faster than Chrome 5.0, and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6. Safari 5 loads new pages faster using Domain Name System (DNS) prefetching, and improves the caching of previously viewed pages to return to them more quickly.

Safari 5 adds more than a dozen powerful HTML5 features that allow web developers to create media-rich experiences, including full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video. Other new HTML5 features in Safari 5 include HTML5 Geolocation, HTML5 sectioning elements, HTML5 draggable attribute, HTML5 forms validation, HTML5 Ruby, HTML5 AJAX History, EventSource and WebSocket.

The new, free Safari Developer Program allows developers to customize and enhance Safari 5 with extensions based on standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The Extension Builder, new in Safari 5, simplifies the development, installation and packaging of extensions. For enhanced security and stability, Safari Extensions are sandboxed, signed with a digital certificate from Apple and run solely in the browser.

The details match a support document published over the weekend that suggested the release of Safari 5 for Mac and Windows was imminent.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

solipsism · June 7, 2010 5:22PM

Because of Gizmodo this is actually much more exciting than the iPhone announcement and demos today.

stevegmu · June 7, 2010 5:23PM

Who did they release it to? I am up to date according to software update.

damn_its_hot · June 7, 2010 5:23PM

Wish I could get it - first Update said new software was available and then a sheet pop'd that said "You up to date." Kinda like -- just foolin', he eh eh.

christopher126 · June 7, 2010 5:24PM

Makes me think, what are all the IE programmers doing at MS? Sleeping?

christopher126 · June 7, 2010 5:25PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevegmu

Who did they release it to? I am up to date according to software update.

Me too!

rob_06 · June 7, 2010 5:25PM

No sign of it on apple's download site yet

eriamjh · June 7, 2010 5:31PM

Methinks Safari 5 is slower than Apple's press announcements.

robodude · June 7, 2010 5:32PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

Methinks Safari 5 is slower than Apple's press announcements.

Not so snappy, then.

noirdesir · June 7, 2010 5:33PM

Roughly when was Safari 5 forked from Webkit? In other words, how much of rendering engine improvements in Safari 5 are already in the Webkit nightlies or the other way around, how much of what is in the current webkit nightly is incorporated in Safari 5?

lorre · June 7, 2010 5:34PM

Excited about the new HTML5 features. Adoption across websites might be quite slow, but all this new css stuff is GREAT for other applications that use WebKit and are themeable, such as Adium, Growl and Bowtie. Themes for these applications have really gone to the next level with the adoption of css3 goodness.

tenobell · June 7, 2010 5:35PM

Wow, they snuck that in on us.

I was hoping their would be a presentation about creating HTML5 apps for iOS. But I guess it's not sexy enough for the keynote. I'm sure it will be disussed during the week.

monstrosity · June 7, 2010 5:38PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solipsism

Because of Gizmodo this is actually much more exciting than the iPhone announcement and demos today.

I thought the iPhone was quite a spectacular announcement. The iPhone is now one seriously polished product. Crossed all the boxes and a gyroscope ta boot. Should shut the whiners up for 5 minutes.

rob_06 · June 7, 2010 5:48PM

It should be available soon from what I have read in other places.

casmith07 · June 7, 2010 5:49PM

The whole extensions thing is contrary to what Gizmodo is reporting.

I'm still struggling to figure out why I even read that website, considering it's wholly biased. They do tend to post stories pretty quickly, I guess, and if you can sift through the snide remarks in their "articles" you can usually find good tidbits on device specs and stuff.

mint · June 7, 2010 5:52PM

Isn't it likely it will be released along with the forthcoming OS update?

parsec · June 7, 2010 5:54PM

What's the betting we STILL won't have a Google UK search? The only work around at present is to use a hex editor. Very annoying for UK users and people have been complaining about it for years.

I hope to be proven wrong here...

8corewhore · June 7, 2010 6:00PM

"Released"?

sheff · June 7, 2010 6:06PM

Did we gain tabs on top? When can we download this thing?

solipsism · June 7, 2010 6:13PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monstrosity

I thought the iPhone was quite a spectacular announcement. The iPhone is now one seriously polished product. Crossed all the boxes and a gyroscope ta boot. Should shut the whiners up for 5 minutes.

I absolutely agree, but Safari 5 with all these changes plus extensions is quite surprising to me.

As for the iPhone 4, I don't know how anyone else can come close to matching Apple's milled frame, super-glass caps, and double-stacked silicon and still be able to have a competing product at a viable price point.

And that's before you consider Apple's tying of the OS to the HW in ways that the others buying off the shelf can't begin to compete with. I doubt they are running at 1GHz like the other newer smartphones, yet they will probably beat them in most real world tests from the more efficient and refined design. We'll have to wait and see, but that is what I predict will be the case. We have the 1GHz Nexus One v. 600MHz 3GS as a prime example of what optimized CE can do.

2oh1 · June 7, 2010 6:15PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monstrosity

I thought the iPhone was quite a spectacular announcement. The iPhone is now one seriously polished product. Crossed all the boxes and a gyroscope ta boot. Should shut the whiners up for 5 minutes.

Sadly, it won't. There are so many people (and we all know who they are) who just compare tech specs in search of something to argue about.

I think the new iPhone looks spectacular and I'm even willing to switch to AT&T to get it. Can't wait!

Apple releases Safari 5 with extensions, expanded HTML5 support

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