Browsers on mac?

I've been using Camino ever since I bought my macbook a couple of months ago, but the lack of features (auto-complete for forms and search fields, for example, and above all the inability to install a plug to open .pdf files in the window) makes me want to switch browsers. I remember Safari was OK but some of its features were really annoying, like pressing the 'tab' button to jump to the next field didn't always work neatly and would skip some things. I think firefox had the same problem, as well that it sometimes clogged too much of my memory and my fan would start going crazy. I would still use firefox but the design is also ... a bit out of touch with mac.

Camino's design is perfect but alas, like i said, lack of featuers. My question is, what other browsers are out there that are stylish, don't have bulky tabs and bookmark bar (firefox), don't make my HD go at 999999999rpm and can open .pdf files within the browser?

 

You can get skins for Firefox, and you can customize bookmark bar. You should also check out Opera.

 

Hmm...not sure if they do all the things you want, but you may want to try out Shiira. That's a pretty recommended Mac browser. Once again, I don't know if it has the features you want.

 

If Opera works the same way in Macs as in PCs then Opera ftw.

 

I really like Firefox, i used to be really against it, but ever since they have the spell check built into the browser (like MS Word to correct it on the spot) I have fallen in love with it.

 

OmniWeb hands down. Once you get used to all the features it's an amazing browser. Not the lightest on resources that you'll find, but it's much much faster than firefox at least, and on par with Camino.

Shiira is also incredibly fast. If it wasn't for the fact that it's missing two key features I want, I would probably use it over Omniweb.

It's hard to explain all the features of the two (expose, tab drawers, regular expression searches, workspaces, etc.) - so just try them out to see if you like them

Keep in mind all the modern browsers, with the exception of the Mozilla suite, uses Apples newest webkits - so basically they'll be similar to Safari in how they render pages.

 

Hey Taelrak this is kind of off topic but is there any way for Omniweb to have tabs as actual tabs instead of giant images? That's the only real thing about both Shiira and Omniweb that really annoys me

 

on pc i use opera, but on mac its safari although safari is missing a few features, one disappointment is that you cant save your tabs like you can in most other browsers.

 

Which key features are you referring to, taelrak? I'll wait for your answer before I try it.

All I need really is tabbed browsing, the ability to use the tab button PROPERLY to jump from one field to the next, autocomplete, spell check, the ability to open pdf files, and neat aesthetics (small tabs, small bookmark bar, etc.).

Guess I'll go back to firefox for now. Maybe i'll get used to it.

EDIT: I just installed omniweb. It's not a free browser? wtf, didn't know such a thing existed!!

 

and is there a way to get omniweb to open new tabs inside the window like the rest of the browsers? It's a huge waste of space opening tabs on the left or right.

Aesthetically, it's pleasant!

UPDATE: on omniweb, go to www.hotmail.com and make sure you've signed out of everything and you're at the very first hotmail page. If you press tab from the username field, you go to password, and if you press tab again, you would HOPE it would go on the sign in button and one more tab will get you to the sign-in preferences (e.g. "save my email address and password"; etc.). Camino does this, but neither firefox nor omniweb seem to be able to do such a primitive thing properly.

ARGH!!%)(!)(&!. Why can't they get something so simple right?

 

Shiira gives you the option of using a traditional tab bar at the top instead of the thumbnail tab drawer at the bottom. Omniweb forces you to use the tab drawer on either the left or right side.

You can choose whether or not "tab" brings you to the next form or link within OmniWeb's general preferences. For example, my hotmail page works the way it's supposed to: tab brings you from username to password, tab then brings you to the controls to save your id or password, and then it brings you to the "sign in" button. Of course you can "sign in" anytime just by hitting enter too.

Omniweb seems to be not for you however - the tab drawer to either side are not "small". They're designed to save vertical space (i.e. so you don't have the tab bar on the top, since vertical viewing space is arguably at more of a premium than horizontal). I'm not sure I necessarily like the way they handled it since I like to put two windows side by side, but it's something I don't mind living with.

As for Shiira - the features in question are search keywords, and new tab from location bar. Of course, it may have these features in some form and I just haven't found them too

Another thing OW doesn't have is inline search - which is annoying. On the other hand, you can do a quick search using -F and also use regular expressions, which is nice.

 

I am using firefox too. It is much more convenient for me to use and I really enjoy it.
I even use it on my pc.

 

How do you do that? I went to omniweb's preferences and chose "tab key selects link and form controls" under General, but when i press the tab button while i'm in the password section on hotmail.com, nothing happens, the cursor or whatever you call it stays put. If I choose "form controls only" then pressing the tab button just moves from password to username to password to ...

Can I also change this on firefox?

UPDATE: It just occured to me, could this problem be due to the fact that I have the demo version? I really like the broswer actually, and slowly getting used to the tab drawer to the right, even though like you i usually have 2 windows open and put side by side vertically. The only thing is, it costs some dolla, and it aint no 1 dolla holla.

 

No...the demo version is the same as the full except for the homepage.

 

K I finally figured it. In order to navigate throug everything in a form using the tab key, I had to turn on full keyboard access in Mac's system preferences first. Once I did that, I could navigate with ease.

Phew.
And thanks

 

I actually like safari a lot! The only caveat for me is that the new yahoo mail does not support it, only firefox if I'm using a mac. I hate firefox on the mac... Opera looks good, but meh.

 

I pretty much agree with you. I really don't understand why everyone loves Firefox for the Mac . I mean, if you want plugins and add-ons, okay. But I don't do any of those, and I don't think the majority of users do, so I don't see why everyone uses Firefox, even on the Mac, where there's so many other great browsers.

Opera, personally, I think looks too Aqua-y. Too much Aqua look.

Safari looks good. Before, I used to feel it was too strong in the brushed metal look, but I've gotten used to it and now I like how Safari isn't very "flashy", as in, bookmarks don't have favicons, loading bar is right in the address bar. It allows me to concentrate more on the actual webpage.

 

I can't figure out how to import RSS feeds from Internet Explorer into Firefox or even find out how to access the RSS feeds in Firefox. Can someone please help? Thank you

 

I suppose I could do my own research, but does Safari have the following: spell checking, dictionary, auto-complete, and, ummmmmm.... hmmm, what else is important????

 

Yes. Yes. Yes.

 

Cool, thanks
What about Safari beta? That's what I have on my mac right now. Is it more stable now than it was 2 months ago?

 

I'm using Safari 3 Beta right now. Its pretty stable. I've had a few crashes now and then but since the last update I haven't had any.

 

sam do u find safari 3 a lot better than 2

 

Well, I do find that I like its new features. At first it doesn't look different from Safari 2, but later on you notice little features that turn out to be pretty useful.

 

I use safari 3.

I've used nothing but firefox in windows and i'm kinda tired of it. It's a great browser, but coming to OSX i was looking for a "macish" browser.

I have a few quirks with it i hate though. Like Ctrl+Tab doesn't scroll through tabs.

 

Yes, Safari has the weirdest shortcuts.

Have you tried Camino, Eallan? Its based on Firefox but has a more Mac theme.

 

I just downloaded it. I have tried Shiira as well. I still like safari. I just wish the damn download window would close when it's blank.

 

I'm using safari myself.

 

Same here, I love Safari but the download window needs an auto shutoff.
You can install Saft and it will do it.

 

Camino is great. It just lacks some really basic features, like auto-complete. Nothing's saved in the fields of a form.

As for Safari 3, I don't know why you guys like it. Immediately after I asked SAM about it, I thought I'd give it another try. I had to press the reload button TWICE for news.bbc.co.uk to load up, and then on to google, the google image didn't appear the first time, and I had to reload it to make it appear. I know, nothing huge, but it was enough for me to close the application. Heck, I'm sure i could've found other problems if I just kept using it...

Needless to say, i'm gonna give it another try right now

 

May I ask what are the issues with Firefox--it comes with all sorts of extensions to make the browser do what you want it to do? and I believe it could be themed to fit the aqua of OS X?

Also I hear there is a Netscape 9.x version based on Firefox--any one tried that in Mac OS X?

 

I don't know, somehow it just doesn't 'fit' into OS X. Plus, it's not that fast of a browser.

Omniweb is just great, stylish and fast. The only problem is, the trial version that I have will end soon, and then I have to really sit down and think whether I should pay to use a browser.

Sorry, never tried Netscape.

 

Thats my thing. It's an arbitrary feeling

I don't know how i feel about paying for a web browser

 

That would be Camino...

 

Haha, nice one. That's true, the Mac themed Firefox is Camino.

 

do regular firefox extensions (add-ons) work with Camino?

 

Nopes. Firefox add-ons only work with Firefox. That's the drawback of Camino.

 

bummer...well you lose some you win some.

Hey I came across this site that gives Mac browsers a good treatment: http://darrel.knutson.com/mac/www/browsers.html

 

Ever since FireFox 2.0 I have had some serious stability issues, more UI bugs and a significant slowdown. Unfortunately Safari does not support as many web pages and the ones it does show up different to me, so I am kinda stuck with FF, although my patience is growing thin.

 

nice site smiley. It's nice to see a place compile a list of all the browsers.

Even after reading that entire list (132!?), I'm still of the opinion there isn't a perfect browser out there. I'm still using my OmniWeb/Shiira combo to take care of most things, and it works fine, albeit it's a little more maintenance-intensive than most people would like probably. (OW shot up to 1GB physical RAM, 1.5GB virtual, 99.8% CPU and took 5 minutes to load yesterday I ended up having to delete a corrupted history file, go figure).

Still love it though! I had to use k-meleon and minefield the other day when I was in Windows, and both felt amazingly clumsy

 

i love firefox- and it's a lot more customizable than you think. you can get rid of any toolbars that you want using the view>toolbars menu (unchecking the toolbars that you don't want to see) and the view>toolbars>customize to get rid of any other things you don't want showing.

 

I use Firefox for a few reasons but with Safari 3, things have changed. Safari 3 has hands-down the best inline search which is a major reason for me to use it.
But - Safari 3 is also very quirky. Some pages don't work with it, it uses loads of memory, and the thing that I hate the most is how when one page freezes, it freezes the entire app. Or how starting a Java Applet freezes the entire thing. I would like to be able to still open new windows, etc, but that's not possible at that point.

I also use Camino. I have three browsers in my dock and use them all

I also like Firefox for flashblock. Though I now use GoodVibrations.css on Safari which seems to be even better at wiping out ads. Without me having to configure it at all. Nice.

Haven't tried OW in a very long time but I think 3's enough for me. The next Firefox should also be a lot better in terms of native Mac OS X looks.

 

Yes, Safari 3, unfortunately, is sometimes clunky. I notice it doesn't work well with Facebook; sometimes I have a Facebook tab open and it won't refresh it, I can't click any link on that page, etc. Thankfully, its easy to solve: just exit that tab and re-open Facebook on a new tab.

I hope Apple fixes it all up and ready for Leopard.

 

It can't even load google.ca properly. The image is always missing on the first load. I hope everything will be resolved by the time the new OS comes out.

 

I tried using Safari in win XP on gmail webaccess, the page was poorly rendered--the boxes where we write subject and body of email all have different sizes. I remember Opera 8 back then did this as well--until Opera fixed this in v9+. I guess it has to do with the rendering engine in Safari.

 

That's ridiculous! We should not need more than one web browser. The problem with Safari and Opera is that they are designed to web standards. Unfortunately, most pages aren't so they end up breaking a lot of pages.

 

You don't even want to know how many browsers I rotate between then

I'm actually quite interested in trying some of those Shiira derivatives from that site. Shiira is amazing in its own right and definitely worthy of being used as a primary browser.

 

It just loaded fine for me and i've never been there before

 

I have to use Camino in addition to omniweb right now because omniweb doesn't load some international fonts.
Which reminds me, I asked this question on the omniweb forum and never got a reply. How do I add fonts to omniweb? Specifically, I want to be able to read Farsi (Persian/Iranian) on the browser.

What?Never been on google?

 

Whoa, that is ridiculous. I only cycle around Safari and Camino, and it displays all the webpages I use just fine.