Safari 4 Beta Executes JavaScript Faster Than You Can Blink
Apple has just released a major new beta version of their web browser, Safari 4. It’s available for Mac OS X and Windows, and you can download it at the official Safari site.
So, what’s new? Well, it’s fast. Apple claims that the new JavaScript engine, Nitro, runs JavaScript 4.2 times faster than Safari 3, and up to 30 times faster than IE 7. I’ve tried it out, and there’s definitely some truth to those claims; Safari was blazing fast on every site we’ve tried, second perhaps only to Chrome in some cases.
It’s also the best browser as far as saving precious screen real estate goes. Similarly to Chrome, it uses the actual title part of the window for tabs, but the tab bar is a bit narrower. However, it still doesn’t care much for keyboard shortcuts with relation to other browsers; Ctrl+H, for example, won’t bring up browsing history like in Firefox, IE and Chrome. It’s a big deal; it makes it harder for users of other browsers to switch to Safari. Same goes for tab close buttons, which are located on the left side of the tab, not on the right like in most other browsers.
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