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Thursday, March 11, 2010, 07:45 pm
Apple releases Safari 4.0.5 with performance, stability improvements
Apple Thursday evening released a new update to Safari for Mac and Windows, with the latest browser version improving its performance, stability and security.The update, available directly from Apple, weighs in at 30.52MB for Snow Leopard Users, 38.59MB for Leopard, 26,78MB for Tiger, and 30.18 for Windows Vista, XP and 7.
The update addresses a number of issues related to the browser, WebKit, ColorSync, ImageIO and more. Apple noted the following changes for the browser in Safari 4.0.5:
- Performance improvements for Top Sites
- Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins
- Stability improvements for websites with online forms and Scalable Vector Graphics
- Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from changing settings on some Linksys routers
AppleInsider first reported on Safari 4.0.5 last Friday, noting that the browser update offers improved HTML5 video playback, faster JavaScript performance, better performance loading YouTube, and an overall reduced memory footprint. Additionally, the release was also said to include a much improved plugin manager aimed at reducing the number of crashes caused by plugins, including Adobe Flash.
The last update to Safari, version 4.0.4, came last November, when Apple addressed a vulnerability that could allow an image file to exploit Macs with older software.
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Previous Comments View All
it looks like it opens and closes faster than before, something Chrome has had over Safari. Visual History seems faster, too.
it looks like it opens and closes faster than before, something Chrome has had over Safari. Visual History seems faster, too.
Considering WebKit Nightly is over 50 builds ahead of this one you can expect a vast improvement for the next major release of Safari [5.0] compared to this branch.
Sure hope this helps.
Helps what? Whether you like it or not Safari is currently the fastest released browser on the Mac and has less crashes than any other. This is just a minor tweak and not really even worth writing the article about. You make it sound like there is some kind of massive "problem" with it that you hope is fixed now. It's not true.
Considering WebKit Nightly is over 50 builds ahead of this one you can expect a vast improvement for the next major release of Safari [5.0] compared to this branch.
It's always that way. I checked out the Sublime video since the "latest nightlies" allow for full-screen playback. Whatever has been added to those WebKit builds is not part of Safari 4.0.5.
Apple is so concerned about Safari's speed when they instead should be looking at what Firefox and even Chrome are doing to make web browsing a much more enjoyable experience.
I got Morning Coffee, one button click loads my favorite websites assigned for that particular day.
Instead of just Google in the search bar, I got Wikipedia, Amazon, eBay, Answers and anything other site too.
I got Flagfox which tells me the location of the sites I visit, another verifies the sites, Adblock, bug blockers, script blockers and best of all a nice blue sky theme with a image of Yosemite instead of that boring grey in Safari.
I got FasterFox which preloads the next Google search results and adds it to the bottom of the previous page, so I just keep all scrolling through instead of the lame click and load method.
I got NoSquint, which remembers the zoom level for each site. Firefox zoom includes the whole site, not just the type!
I could go on and on... I don't even remember the last time I launched Safari...
Apple is so concerned about Safari's speed when they instead should be looking at what Firefox and even Chrome are doing to make web browsing a much more enjoyable experience.
Then you're set, but don't think that what is an "enjoyable experience" for you would be the same for others. I can assure you it isn't. In fact, all that crap you mentioned means nothing to most users, even the ones using Chrome and Firefox which allows plugins.
You seem to be looking it as if Apple employees are sitting around scratching their heads wondering how to mimic Firefox, but you should be looking at what Apple is doing with their browsers.
No noticeable difference in anything after installing 4.0.5. I suppose that's a good thing......
Top Sites is better. Feels faster. Plus I changed my DNS server to the fastest one near me, and it seems to help quite a bit (using Namebench.)
Helps what? Whether you like it or not Safari is currently the fastest released browser on the Mac and has less crashes than any other. This is just a minor tweak and not really even worth writing the article about. You make it sound like there is some kind of massive "problem" with it that you hope is fixed now. It's not true.
I've had massive problems with Top Sites taking ages to load and then the websites too when you click on them, plus I've had video errors with strange patterns appearing when using Top Sites and creating a new tab. Top Sites have been so bad it has caused my whole computer to slow down when I've got a lot of tabs open (plus other applications). This isn't a lack of RAM and I've noticed no problems since turning Top Sites off. I hope this update solves the problem and makes Top Sites usable again.
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Sure hope this helps.