Which is the world's fastest browser? According to Zimbra, Safari runs fastest, though it didn't beat out Firefox by much. Both Safari and Firefox were roughly twice as fast as Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7.
Of course, Zimbra was testing for how these browsers perform with the Zimbra Web application. Your mileage may vary with other applications. In fact, I'd love to see a wide range of tests for different sites and applications. Who's next?
As an aside, I continue to be impressed at how Zimbra treats non-Microsoft platforms as first-class citizens (along with Microsoft). Firefox is the same way. Both allow you to run on the Mac, for example, without losing any functionality that you'd find in Windows/IE.
It's called great code. Weak developers write code that limps on anything but Windows. Great developers write code that ports well to diverse platforms.
Safari users are at risk of littering their desktops with malicious software because the browser does not ask for user permission when downloading files in the way that Firefox and Internet Explorer do, a security researcher said Thursday.
In a blog post titled "Safari Carpet Bomb," Nitesh Dhanjani describes how a rogue Web site can easily download resources to the Windows desktop or downloads directory on the Mac.
"Apple does not feel this is an issue they want to tackle at this time," he writes.
An Apple representative told Dhanjani that an "enhancement request" for an "Ask me before downloading anything" preference would be filed with the Safari team. "Please note that we are not treating this as a security issue, but a further measure to raise the bar against unwanted downloads," the Apple representative wrote in an e-mail to Dhanjani.
That issue, coupled with the fact that Safari doesn't warn users when a local resource, such as an HTML file, attempts to invoke client-side scripting, creates a risky situation for most browser users, Dhanjani said in an interview. "People are starting to expect more from browsers today," he said.
The Apple representative told him that the company has been "investigating the potential for a 'safe' mode for local HTML."
Meanwhile, Apple does plan to fix a high-risk security vulnerability that Dhanjani discovered. It could be used to remotely steal local files from a user's file system.
An Apple spokesman did not return a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.
"Since Safari does not know how to render content-type of blah/blah, it will automatically start downloading carpet_bomb.cgi every time it is served. If you are using Safari in Windows, this is what will happen to your desktop once you visit http://malicious.example.com/," Dhanjani writes in explaining this screenshot.
(Credit: Nitesh Dhanjani)Correction 6:18 p.m. PT: I misinterpreted the announcement; Inquisitor founder David Watanabe isn't joining Yahoo.
Inquisitor augments Safari by autocompleting search queries and showing results.
(Credit: Yahoo)Yahoo has acquired Inquisitor in a move to improve how search results appear on Apple computers.
The Safari browser plug-in offers autocompletion of search queries and shows a pane with search results as users type queries. The plug-in, now in version 3, is a free download.
Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but Inquisitor founder and developer David Watanabe will continue to work with Yahoo on the software.
"I look forward to assisting Yahoo in refining and extending the Inquisitor user experience beyond where it is today.," Watanabe said on his blog.
"David and our team of Macphiles will continue to innovate on both form and function for Inquisitor," Ariel Seidman, director of search product management for Yahoo, wrote in Yahoo's blog posting.
Following a storm of criticism, Apple has changed its Software Update software to mark a distinction between new programs, such as its Safari on Windows browser, and updates to existing ones.
Last month, Apple started to include Safari 3.1 in a list of applications available from its Software Update program.
Now Apple Software Updates distinguishes between new software and updates.
(Credit: Asa Dotzler, Mozilla)Among those complaining was John Lilly, the CEO of Mozilla which makes the competing Firefox browser.
In a blog, Lilly said that Apple's practice was "wrong" and bad for the industry "because it undermines the trust that we're all trying to build with users."
Now, Apple's Software Update has two separate boxes, one labeled "New Software" and the other labeled "Updates." Before Safari 3.1 was under the "Updates" box and there was no "New Software" heading.
The old way: including new programs like Safari in with updates of already installed programs.
(Credit: CNET Networks)"This is a good first step. Now Apple needs to stop checking the box for "New Software" items by default. With that change, I think I'd be pretty happy to let the Apple Software Update service back on my Windows machine," Asa Dotzler, director of Mozilla community development, wrote Thursday.
An Apple representative told Computerworld that the change was done to distinguish new software from updates but declined to say whether it was in response to criticisms or whether Apple may leave the "New Software" box unchecked, as Mozilla's Dotzler suggested.
Apple on Wednesday released an update to the Safari browser that plugs security holes on Macintosh and Windows machines.
Safari 3.1.1 fixes two Safari vulnerabilities that affect Windows XP or Vista and two WebKit vulnerabilities that affect Mac OS and Mac OS X Server versions 10.4.11 and 10.5.2, as well as Windows XP or Vista.
One of the two WebKit vulnerabilities could put computer users at risk of a cross-site scripting attack that can inject malicious code onto a victim's computer. The vulnerability was discovered during the PWN to OWN contest at CanSecWest last month by Dan Charlie Miller, Jake Honoroff, and Mark Daniel of Independent Security Evaluators.
The other WebKit vulnerability could lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. Apple credited Robert Swiecki of the Google Security Team and David Bloom for reporting this issue.
The remaining two vulnerabilities, which affect only Windows XP or Vista, could lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution, or control the contents of the address bar and spoof the contents of a legitimate site.
The Windows version of Safari 3.1.1 can be downloaded from CNET's Download.com here and the Mac version here.
Apple has more information about Safari 3.1.1 here.
Apple, it seems, hasn't totally gotten used to making browsers for this Windows thing.
The license terms for the company's Safari Web browser on Windows include a curious restriction: "The software allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time."
(Credit:
The Register)
The Register, which was tipped off by legal eagles at the Italian site settleB.IT, calls the terms a "mockery of end user agreements."
Apple last week caught a lot of flak from users and from Mozilla, which makes the rival Firefox browser, for its practice of offering Safari for Windows as part of its auto-update service for iTunes.
Let's see how many millions of Safari for Windows downloads there are before Apple's legal corps tweak their language to cover exotic things like, you know, Windows PCs.
Update 7:11 AM Pacific: After seeing this blog, an editor at settleB.IT informs me that the Apple license has been updated so that Windows PC users can install Safari without fear of violating any licenses. He says the change occurred overnight Wednesday to Thursday European time.
If you have good eyes, you can see the different versions: before and after.
A lot of people appear to be bent out of shape about Apple using its auto-update service to distribute the Safari Web browser on Windows. The CEO of Mozilla, which makes the rival Firefox browser, calls it bad business.
In a blog on Friday, Mozilla CEO John Lilly criticized Apple's practice, uncovered this week, of offering iTunes and QuickTime users Safari 3.1 on Windows through the Apple Software Update pop-up.
Lilly says that automatic updates are a good way to ensure people have the most recent and secure versions of software. It's a practice that Mozilla uses with the Firefox browser.
What's different in what Apple is doing is that it is adding a product to the auto-update list that users never requested. That means they could very easily install software unintentionally, he argued:
Apple has made it incredibly easy--the default, even--for users to install ride along software that they didn't ask for, and maybe didn't want. This is wrong, and borders on malware distribution practices.
It's wrong because it undermines the trust that we're all trying to build with users. Because it means that an update isn't just an update, but is maybe something more. Because it ultimately undermines the safety of users on the Web by eroding that relationship. It's a bad practice and should stop.
Easy for users or a breach of trust?
(Credit: CNET Networks)An Apple representative issued an e-mailed statement on the matter to Information Week: "We are using Software Update to make it easy and convenient for both Mac and Windows users to get the latest Safari update from Apple."
Meanwhile, my colleague, Tom Krazit, in a post on Friday argues that people should become more aware of the software on their systems and think before they install.
Apple has started offering Windows users its Safari 3.1 Web browser through the same online updater it utilizes for iTunes and the QuickTime video player.
With the release of Safari 3.1 on Tuesday, Apple started giving Windows users the option of downloading Safari via the Apple Software Update pop-up.
"Safari for Windows is the fastest and easiest-to-use web browser for the PC. It displays web pages faster than any other browser and is filled with innovative features -- all delivered in an efficient and elegant user interface," states Apple's message in the pop-up screen.
The move is a more aggressive play by Apple to snatch browser market share from Microsoft.
In February, Microsoft's Internet Explorer had a 74.9 percent share of the browser market in terms of usage, while Firefox had 17.3 percent, and Safari had 5.7 percent, according to figures from Net Applications, which measures Web traffic and market share.
Care for some Safari with your iTunes?
(Credit: Apple)Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet notes that when Apple CEO Steve Jobs first unveiled Safari for Windows last June, he said that the main way Apple planned to get Safari on Windows is through its Software Update program.
"Jobs said that Apple plans to use iTunes as a distribution vehicle for Safari for Windows. He noted that there are a million downloads of iTunes a day, with 500 million of those going to Windows machines."
Apple on Tuesday announced that version 3.1 of its Safari browser is available for both Mac and Windows users.
The Web browser now supports a number of new Web standards: HTML 5's latest audio and video tags, as well as CSS Animations. Apple claims that page load times in Safari 3.1 are 1.9 times faster than Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 and 1.7 times faster than Mozilla's Firefox 2, and that JavaScript runs as much as six times faster in the new Safari than in other browsers.
Safari 3.1, Apple's latest Windows cross-over
(Credit: CNET Networks)Apple offers Safari as a free download. The browser, in its Safari 3.0 iteration, was first made available to Windows users last June.
In order to run Safari 3.1, Mac users will need to be using the Mac OS X Leopard or Mac OS X Tiger version 10.4.11 operating systems; Windows users will need to be running Windows XP or Windows Vista.
The last few days of my MacBook Air have been a little wonky. I couldn't figure it out until today when I noticed that Safari was using anywhere from 90-97 percent of my CPU. I also noticed a few times when the CPU was running over 100 percent.
Please note that I was using Microsoft Office, but I didn't feel good about it. We have a board meeting tomorrow and I needed to review some stuff. I still can't figure out how to get the formula bar where I want it in Excel 2008 and it makes me crazy.
I had been blaming Firefox for the machine slowdown, so my apologies to the Mozilla team.
