Comments on: Safari or Firefox on OS X, which should you be using?

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:49:07 +0000

my Imac delivers garbled audio wheneveri watch videos online. Help

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:52:17 +0000

@jws223264, maybe you should take that up with NetFlix, though I just enable the pop up blocker in Safari, and have never had an issue.

By: jws223264

jws223264 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:49:44 +0000

I don’t use Safari for one reason: Netflix popunder ads.

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:29:51 +0000

@darby, in FireFox, go to the file menu, and down to import, it will list Safari as an option, click continue, you can now pick off what you want to import, give it a few moments, and you should be all set.

By: darby

darby — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:19:20 +0000

how do you import your safari address book into firefox?

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:23:00 +0000

@holiday, make a new account in OS X, login to that account, do your problems become solved?

By: holiday

holiday — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:13:41 +0000

i’m having some similar problems as some other users here, (i try to click some buttons, like on ebay, and it doesn’t do ANYTHING), but i also have loads of problems with sites like myspace where it doesn’t even try to load the music player anymore, it just shows an empty space. i have an older version of safari, 1.3.2 (v312.6), which i can’t upgrade without also upgrading my operating system, mac os x 10.3.9. but since i apparently don’t have enough memory on this ibook g4 to run ‘leopard’ i’m a bit stuck. i’ve been looking forever on how to fix these bugs, like deleting quicktime preferences to keep safari from crashing unpredictably all the time, to also trying to upgrade java, etc. does anybody here have any advice beyond buying a new computer, something i might not have tried yet? thank you for reading.

By: Kendrick

Kendrick — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:17:26 +0000

I can’t get that bookmarklet thingee to work. Can you make a Little Smokie on how to DL youtube vids in mp4 format? Thanks.

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:37:33 +0000

@Kendrick, I also like to use the Activity Window to scrape stuff. Advance release mp3 from myspace being one. You can also use a bookmarklet to get right at the mp4 files in youtube. It is even officially supported by google.

By: Kendrick

Kendrick — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:55:27 +0000

Two things I like Safari for:
1. Copy-pasting web pages into text documents. When I want to copy not just the information, but the fonts and sizes and general page layout, using Safari is perfect, whereas copying from Firefox just pastes the default text in TextEdit.
2. Downloading youtube videos using the Safari feature Activity. Hope you mention this to users. And anyone wanting to then convert the .flv to a friendlier format can do it free here:
http://mediaconverter.org/

By: Mark Merton

Mark Merton — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:00:57 +0000

I would LOVE to use Safari, but cannot get past the bookmarks problems. It seems that very little attention has been given to this very important aspect of any browser.
I have a LOT of bookmarks. In Safari, it seems I can’t even sort them, into alphabetical order or any other. It makes wading through them all a real task to find anything. I can’t access them without going full screen about it. In Firefox, I have a drop down menu of bookmarks from the top menu. Doesn’t that just make sense?
These bookmark inconveniences, and the dead boring appearance of it, make me very unwilling to use Safari. Shame, because I love using Apple products in general.

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:31:55 +0000

@manimaran uninstall mega upload toolbar.

By: manimaran

manimaran — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:08:26 +0000

While loading my firefox it indicates me that u are loading a non local uri….after closing that i can load my firefox….how to solve this problem

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Tue, 20 May 2008 05:07:03 +0000

@Jerry, yes, 1Password uses the Mac OS X Keychain to store passwords, it just stores a separate keychain. Safari uses your master keychain. In both cases they are encrypted.

1Password will give you convenient access to multiple items per form, so you can manage unlimited users and password per each web form.

FireFox offers this out of the box, but in a slightly less secure way. You need to weigh what is important. For me, I do not use a laptop, and trust the users in my home. I use 1Password for its advanced password management and auto form filling features.

it is however, an input manager for Safari, which can and does at times, cause some problems. All in all, I feel the utility is outweighed by any downside.

There is a free demo, try it out. FireFox is also a great alternative to all this for a totally free method.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:02:57 +0000

If I understand correctly, the passwords that Safari uses are encrypted (just like 1Password’s are), but the ones on Firefox are not. So if someone steals my computer, they might not be able to login (my login is password protected), but they could just hook up the drive to another computer, and then find the Firefox password storage location and get all of my website password. Do I have that right?

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:46:20 +0000

@Jerry, yes, Safari falls short on username/password remembering. I use 1Password to deal with it, which is perhaps the most full fledged password manager I have ever used. Well worth the money once you learn how to use the application.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:40:32 +0000

Well, I just tried Safari (again), and I was disappointed (again). Here is the problem: I have more than one email address (one for family, one for work, one for “public” accounts that takes all the spam). When using Firefox I simply click on the “username” text field and select my username from the dropdown list. The correct password automatically is populated. When I try the same in Safari, only the last username/password combo is remembered. Aamof, Safari even asks me if I want to override my password every time I use the username other than the last entry. Is there a way to get around this? Even so, Firefox is smart enough out of the box on this one.

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:57:48 +0000

I own a MacBook and i was using the latest version of firefox for a while because everyone told me it worked great… it was a piece of crap! it kept closing unexpectedly and took too long to display pages… i used it on a pc and it definitely works better than internet explorer but Safari is the best browser. at least for Macs, idk whether it works as good on pcs because i hate using pcs and never want to have to use one again so long as i live. if you’re a mac user keep safari, if you’re a pc user, get safari or firefox but do not use IE… using internet explorer is like telling your computer to eat shit and die! get Safari 3!!!

By: Stephen R

Stephen R — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:27:50 +0000

Wait… did you just say that most Windows users use Firefox??? Not even close. Wishful thinking.

Beyond that — you appear to be placing Safari above Firefox on a purely aesthetic basis, which is odd (and not useful). Firefox has these things called “Themes”, you know….

I use both Firefox and Safari. On Windows i use Firefox with the IETab extension installed for that occasional “IE-only” site.

On my Mac, I use Safari when I want speed. That difference comes mainly from the fact that my Firefox is laden with plugins, which add usability but slow things down. But those plugins are the reason i use Firefox instead of Safari in the first place. Can’t do without my “Nuke Anything” when printing!

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:43:55 +0000

@akc, I wholly agree with you on the matte screens, I hate the gloss, people like it as it ads more contrast and makes things look richer. It is fake richness, and not true to the real image. Too bad they charge more for it.

Do not get too bummed, sometimes a restart does indeed fix things. Programs can have memory leaks, restarting clears them, it is just part of how complex applications are these days, there are always small bugs.

Leopard is a really nice update, it will run marginally faster than 10.4 for you as well. Most of what we cover here will be pretty universal and still be helpful to you, however, I do think you will be a lot happier in the land of the Leopard.

Thanks for writing in.

By: akc

akc — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:38:57 +0000

I should have mentioned that I bought this iMac through Apple online. According to the packing slip, it’s a: Refurb iMac 24/2.16/1G/250/SD/ASYST.
While I loved the look of the new ones, I learned that the matte screen of the previous generation was better for photography work. Which I will be starting on as soon as I get more comfortable with this thing!
Since I bought it through Apple, that’s why I called their tech support but wasn’t really happy with their answer. They seemed to think that since it’s all fine after a restart, it’s all fine.
I also realize now this system has 10.4.11 (Tiger?) so some of the Leopard features you mention are not on it but for the most part, your tutorials are so helpful.I’ll think about the Leopard upgrade. Thanks.

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:04:14 +0000

@akc, I seriosujly doubt that Safari would interfere with the Apple menu. I would even wager a bet on it

What iMac do you have?

In general, if you buy a used machine, the very first thing you should do, is wipe the drive and start over with a new OS install.

If you are not on 10.5 Leopard, I would suggest you buy it, and install that. Anyone should be able to install it, it is very simple.

Make sure you backup any data you may need before you do the install, and perform what is called a “clean installation”.

Used machines have all sorts of other peoples applications and crud on them, it will never work how it should until you start from scratch.

By: akc

akc — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:44:00 +0000

Hi – I’m a switcher, I just bought a refurb iMac and have had it for a little less than a month. I find I’m overwhelmed with trying to figure it out since I’ve become comfortable with PCs from 10 years in the workforce and bugging tech support at work every time something came up.
One of the first things I did when I started up my iMac was check my Gmail account in Safari but found I couldn’t just click on addresses in the “to” field. V annoying. So I downloaded Firefox and problem solved. Except that downloading Acrobat Reader through FF wasn’t working right, so back to Safari for that one. And FF would do some weird things to web pages when refreshing or surfing.
At some point in all this, my Apple menu stopped working so the only thing I could do was put the computer to sleep. Apple tech support had me turn the computer off and back on via the power button and it seemed problem solved. They seemed to think the Firefox issues could have messed that up. Anyways, I’m now reading this site in Safari.
Sorry this post seems to be going on too long, but I wanted to ask: could the browser issue have affected the Apple menu?
Also, why don’t the “home” and “end” keys take me to the start and end of text in places like this little box I’m writing in (like they do in Windows)? If that’s not their purpose, then what is?
Thanks for this site, I’m so glad to have stumbled upon it. I’m sure I’ll have more questions as I become comfortable with the iMac.

By: S.Z. Beer

S.Z. Beer — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:56:53 +0000

Thanks Scott—Perhaps someone out there can rescue me by sending me a copy of Safari for OS X 10.3.9.
Incidentally, I add that the trouble I had was an inability for Safari to connect me to the server of any URL that I typed in, yet I could do it with Firefox (?)

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:47:18 +0000

@S.Z. I am not sure you can just download Safari, you may have to install it from the CD’s again, or easiest, may be to find a kind person on 10.3.9 to send you a copy.