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JohnDoe98

macrumors 68020
May 1, 2009
2,488
99
I've always used Safari for the most part, but lately I must say I'm tempted to move to Chrome since it has a feature that you can turn off all plugins and cookies, while still allowing for exceptions. You can them turn off in Safari but you can't manage exceptions for your trusted/regular webpages.

Also, having flash built-in is rather nice.
 

justperry

macrumors G5
Aug 10, 2007
12,627
9,933
I'm a rolling stone.
It's not the browser itself, but rather what Google does with the data that comes and goes through the browser. Like logging keystrokes, watching the entire search and download history in the browser, etc. This all for the sake of "advertising," which for some (Myself included) just isn't worth it.

Tinfoil hat.

Do you really think they log keystrokes, that is highly illegal.
 

MaxyMilan

macrumors newbie
Apr 13, 2013
6
0
Zwolle, Holland.
Used Safari in the beginning, then found out there were other browsers for mac too, haha.
I used Chrome for a while with 2 GB RAM, worked fine, then put 8 GB in there, and Chrome started being really slow, switched to Firefox and it's great. :apple:
 

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
Tinfoil hat.

Do you really think they log keystrokes, that is highly illegal.

They do log everything you type into the URL bar by default unless you go into the settings and turn it off. They certainly don't log all keystrokes, but it's not too far out to assume some companies might do, look at CarrerIQ for example.

Anyway, if you're worried about privacy with Chrome just use Chromium instead.
 

justperry

macrumors G5
Aug 10, 2007
12,627
9,933
I'm a rolling stone.
They do log everything you type into the URL bar by default unless you go into the settings and turn it off. They certainly don't log all keystrokes, but it's not too far out to assume some companies might do, look at CarrerIQ for example.

Anyway, if you're worried about privacy with Chrome just use Chromium instead.

What can I say, sigh, that is to be expected, nobody is going to fill out sensitive data there, and I can switch this off, at least in Safari.(Screenshot)
 

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Nate392

macrumors member
Dec 28, 2012
61
0
Tinfoil hat.

Do you really think they log keystrokes, that is highly illegal.

They do. Google logs any keystroke put in the Omnibox. They got in trouble before, then stopped for awhile, and then put the "feature" back in...
 

MLinneer

macrumors regular
Mar 18, 2013
154
23
Sherman, TX
I've been fooling around with all 3 and just ran the benchmarks for comparison. I generally default to Safari for it's better integration with OS X, builtin Facebook and Twitter, and iCloud syncing. I don't open a slew of tabs or windows, and i use minimal plugins... Flash, Java, QT, and Reader. I haven't had a crash from either of them in a long time but I have a few niggles with each of them.

Firefox 'feels' the slowest and I've run into a few rendering errors and page hangs. I also don't like it's print dialog... no preview and it prints smaller than the others. Java will spike the CPU to 100% and hover at 65%, and the only crashes I've had were on Java sites. I've also had RAM usage creep up to 1Gb over extended use. The WebGL Aquarium test brought it to it's knees and it didn't display the Peacekeeper WebGL test properly. It supports trackpad swipes for back pages but not zoom.

Chrome is fast but the cost of that is increased battery drain and warmer CPU. The multiple process Chrome uses may be more crash proof but it uses more computer power than Safari or Firefox. It supports swipes and zoom gestures but not as smoothly as Safari. I like that swipe back loads the page almost instantly without the refresh pause Safari exhibits. The WebGL Aquarium struggled and took CPU temp up to 105c within minutes and the fan ran full speed until I went to another page, but cooled right off. Running Activity Monitor, you can actually see Chrome use and release RAM as you move from page to page, so it's probably the most memory efficient of the three.

Safari has been consistently the most solid in my experience. There are a few rendering issues I've run across but nothing that totally disables a page or makes it unreadable. I've turned on WebGL and have had no issues, running the Aquarium at 60fps, CPU steady at 95c for an hour. The only thing I really hate is the page reload when going back, and I have a habit of hovering my fingers on the trackpad and the forward/back swipe is pretty sensitive so I accidentally flip back a page.
 

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NismoG

macrumors newbie
May 4, 2013
2
0
I just purchased my non-retina MacBook Pro last summer for a graphic design program at school and love it. I've been a long time PC user using Firefox and so I have been using Firefox on my MBP ever since. However, I recently created a Google+ account and I keep receiving this "unresponsive script warning" message. Ever since I've been trying to use Chrome but am very annoyed that it doesn't have a simple feature that Firefox has: a Bookmarks Toolbar folder. Instead, all of my toolbar bookmarks are just cluttering up my Bookmarks menu. If this were fixed I feel that I could use it over Firefox. It does feel faster as well.

If anyone knows a solution to this then please help. I just want a simple folder where all of my toolbar links can sit in (btw I took off all of the names for the toolbar links to make it neater).
 

johnnnw

macrumors 65816
Feb 7, 2013
1,214
21
I've always liked Safari. Being a cpu hog with flash lately though.

Chrome seems to be working better, and I hate going back to Chrome after starting to like Safari but I have no choice.

Damn Flash...
 

Hakiroto

macrumors 6502a
Jul 8, 2011
641
221
I don't mind Safari and I like how well it's tied in to the OS and iOS but, as a web developer, I primarily use Chrome. The developer tools are much superior in my opinion.
 

MLinneer

macrumors regular
Mar 18, 2013
154
23
Sherman, TX
More Benchmarks

More benchmarks... from a strictly hardware/software perspective, Chrome is faster but you pay the price with higher CPU usage, temp, and battery drain. Especially the HTML5 Fish Tank... Chrome runs it at max 60fps but after 5 minutes I could feel my MBA cooking. Apple must be keeping some GPU API's to themselves since Chrome has to work the GPU so hard but Safari will sometimes even outperform it but at a lower hardware hit.
 

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InfinitiG

macrumors 6502
Jun 22, 2010
403
0
safari is the best

it is coded specifically for our hardware by the same people that make our hardware

safari may not have the best addons or extensions or themes, but its the fastest and most reliable browser
 

mslide

macrumors 6502a
Sep 17, 2007
707
2
I don't mind Safari and I like how well it's tied in to the OS and iOS but, as a web developer, I primarily use Chrome. The developer tools are much superior in my opinion.

Pretty much this. I prefer Safari but for web development it's Chrome. I really wish Apple would improve their web development tools. They kind of suck.
 

ianwuk

macrumors regular
Dec 2, 2010
161
0
I used to swear by Safari but for some reason I moved to FireFox instead and use that.
 

Hakiroto

macrumors 6502a
Jul 8, 2011
641
221
Pretty much this. I prefer Safari but for web development it's Chrome. I really wish Apple would improve their web development tools. They kind of suck.

Haha, yeah. I've tried using the dev tools in Safari and I end up going crazy after 30 seconds. I used to be a big Firebug user but I was having problems with some recent versions so I forced myself to get used to the Chrome tools. It didn't take long before I was converted. :)
 
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