14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has released Safari 5, the latest version of its standard web browser for Mac OS X. Also available on Windows platforms, the new browser adds a feature called Safari Reader, which enables the user to read single and multipage articles on the web in scrollable view without any additional content or clutter such as ads.
Just before WWDC10, a French website claimed to have obtained the actual release notes not only for Safari 5, but also for Mac OS X 10.6.4, the fourth incremental update to Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system. While the latter hasn’t been released yet, Safari 5 was officially released hours after the event. All the rumored features are now confirmed as available in the browser. Among other key additions mentioned by Apple is the ability to choose Google, Yahoo and now Bing, as the search service powering Safari’s search field.
Safari 5 on the Mac runs JavaScript 30 percent faster than Safari 4, Apple claims. That’s three percent faster than Chrome 5.0, and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6, according to Apple’s benchmarking. It loads new webpages faster using Domain Name System (DNS) prefetching, and improves the caching of previously viewed pages to return to them more quickly, an immediately visible change for those who’ve downloaded and used the new version.
Adding over a dozen powerful HTML5 features, Safari 5 allows web developers to create new, media-rich experiences, including full-screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video. Apple has a nifty demo of these new features on its website, as reported a while back.
Finally, Cupertino mentions the new Safari Developer Program. Devs can sign up for free and start customizing and enhancing Safari 5 with extensions based on standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript, Apple claims. Also new on the developer front is the Extension Builder, which simplifies the development, installation and packaging of extensions. Security and stability have also been reinforced through sandboxing.
“Safari continues to lead the pack in performance, innovation and standards support,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said. “Safari now runs on over 200 million devices worldwide and its open source WebKit engine runs on over 500 million devices.”