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Safari inferior to chrome?

Abazigal

Abazigal

Contributor
Original poster
Jul 18, 2011
20,621
24,598
Singapore
Is it just me, or does Safari seem to have more than its fair share of limitations compared to Chrome?

For one, I noticed that quite a number of websites seem to have alignment issues in Safari (but otherwise render perfectly in chrome). Also, google docs doesn't work at all (keeps crashing), and it takes an extension to auto-resize any webpage I visit (even then, it is far from instantaneous), compared with Chrome, which remembers all these settings.

Safari is also noticeably slower and laggier than chrome. The only benefits seem to be the wider array of shortcuts like open new tab in background.

I am taking a break from chrome and it seems I may end up going back soon. What am I overlooking? :confused:
 
I used Safari and Chrome side by side for a while after updating to Mountain Lion and have since ditched Chrome all together. I don't have a lot of plugins or extensions attached to my browsers so it was really just a "stock" comparison. I found Safari performed very well and I really enjoy the gesture controls for navigating through tabs. Safari 6 won me over but I don't really have a browser loyalty. I'd jump back in a heart beat if I felt Chrome would provide me a better experience again.
 
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Safari forever. Never really tried anything else. I use FireFox on occasion just to use a specialized plugin maybe.

Safari's never been broke for me. Whatever quirks it may have I've always been able to circumvent those by just ignoring them. :D
 
Chrome for a few days than back to Safari again. Just my take, but Safari was just a bit better experience over Chrome. Had Chrome on my Windows computer for a good while, like it, but when I migrated to the MacMini and Safari for the first time, it just seem better for me. Mileage will vary for others
 
I find Chrome’s user interface, nonstandard dialog boxes, etc. annoying.

Camino is still nice, if on its deathbed.
 
The only big thing that bothers me with Safari is how it refreshes the page when I go back. It's especially annoying with discussion boards because I lose my place when I want to go back and continue skimming the board.
 
SR45 - you have been reading my mind! Same here, I've been a Mac user since ML was released and Safari 6 does all that I need. If I was on a Windows machine I'd still be on Chrome right now but I switched to OS X with a "when in Rome" attitude and so far it's Safari all the way for me
 
tried to like safari again but couldnt.

does not keep its zoom in place
extensions are limited and dont have the ones i want.
right click "new link in tab" is the 2nd on the right click menu
cant get rid of reader button


the only thing i like is the tab expose or whatever feature and even then the keyboard shortcut is dumb.
 
Really wanted to like Safari but I ended up clicking Chrome always.

1. Combined search and URL bar lags - I keep accidentally entering a Google search page because the suggestions hadn't loaded yet.
2. Tab management is not as good... I need to press a button to see what's not shown in the tab bar.
3. No Ctrl-Enter now that it doesn't automatically resolve the URL
 
I love how well safari integrates with osx. I couldn't bring myself to use some third-party web browser like chrome.
 
I was a staunch Chrome user on Lion and previous OSs (Safari 5 and prior)--I found that Safari just wasn't as stable as Chrome, and had trouble displaying certain sites.

However, with ML and Safari 6, I've converted back, and haven't used Chrome since. I find Safari is equal in speed to Chrome, rock solid, and has a much better UI, especially the tab browser, downloads progress, tap-to-zoom, Reader, etc. I hate the non-standard Preferences/Extensions/Settings interface on Chrome, and the horrible Chrome-specific print interface that replaces the system print dialog box.

There are a couple of things that still piss me off about Safari, mainly the infuriating reloading of the page when you hit the back button, and that it doesn't support the CTRL-Enter combo to add .com when typing in an address, but I'm willing to live with that for now........
 
I'm disappointed with Safari 6 not rendering all sites correctly. In particular it has trouble with forums based on MyBB. Using Safari on all my iDevices certainly has its benefits, but if it doesn't render pages correctly it's not worth the bother...
 
I have both installed but primarily use Safari because of the tab syncing and things like that. Chrome is still nice though.
 
I like the new safari but, It's kinda slow on Lion. Probably very snappy on ML so i might switch back to Safari once I upgrade. I also like the fat tabs, much easier to click on what you want and the tab viewer is cool as well, only ML feature though.

Would be even more alluring if Apple had like a Expose/Mission control style for viewing tabs. So you can see them all at once. Hopefully will see that in Safari 7.
 
I was always a chrome user until Mountain Lion. Safari just feels too seamless to ignore these days.
 
I've used FireFox since the first version, not tried Chrome as I'm still on a PPC but will give it a go when i get my new iMac.
 
Also primarily a Chrome user but went back to Safari but 2 issues keep me coming back to Chrome then I go back to Safari...

- Does anyone else find the tabs to be just too dark in grey? wish I could lighten them up a bit

- Google is my search engine and in Safari I dont get offered the option on the left to do a localised search in South Africa for example, have to include my local search in the search all the time.... irritating

Love the way in integrates into ML though

If anyone could sort my 2 issues I would be so chuffed..
 
Depends what you consider important.

Safari sometimes has rendering bugs for me in v6.

However, what matters to me is the gestures, the feedback when swiping, cover-flow bookmarks/history and the fact that it is already installed.

Rendering pages a few ms quicker, or running a javascript a few ms quicker isn't important to me. Safari is close enough/fast enough that the other benefits are more important to me.
 
I personally prefer Chrome, but I also have a crappy white MacBook from early 2008 (I just ordered my RMBP). I am thinking of switching to Safari when I get my new MacBook because the gestures in Chrome IMHO are crap. What bugs me the most is the way that pinch to zoom is handled. Chrome does this in steps so that way it isn't smooth and fluid like it is in Safari. Thats just my personal pet peeve though.
 
I can use some browsers with this forum and some browsers I cannot, such as Firefox at the moment due to a server prefetch issue that I cannot overcome. Safari works fine, their are bugs sadly but.. Chrome is not integrated and this gives it a advantage in terms of avoiding bugs that can cause Safari to crash.
 
Abazigal said:
Is it just me, or does Safari seem to have more than its fair share of limitations compared to Chrome?

For one, I noticed that quite a number of websites seem to have alignment issues in Safari (but otherwise render perfectly in chrome). Also, google docs doesn't work at all (keeps crashing), and it takes an extension to auto-resize any webpage I visit (even then, it is far from instantaneous), compared with Chrome, which remembers all these settings.

Safari is also noticeably slower and laggier than chrome. The only benefits seem to be the wider array of shortcuts like open new tab in background.

I am taking a break from chrome and it seems I may end up going back soon. What am I overlooking? :confused:
Click to expand...

I feel safari is a little slower but it is very fluid and has very nice gestures and navigation (and double tap zoom).
Can't live without it anymore :p
 
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