Safari (web browser)
Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Computer, Inc. for its Mac OS X operating system. It is the standard browser for Mac OS X versions 10.3 (Panther) and later.
- Developer: Apple Computer
- License: Proprietary (no charge)
- Operating system: Mac OS X
Overview
Safari utilizes Apple's brushed metal user interface, a bookmark management scheme that functions like the iTunes jukebox software, is integrated with Apple's QuickTime multimedia technology and features a tabbed-browsing interface similar to that of Mozilla. A Google search box is a standard component of the Safari interface, as are software services which automatically fill out Web forms and which spellcheck entries into web page text fields.
The code for rendering web pages is based on Konqueror's KHTML engine. As a result, Safari's internal HTML engine is free software and is released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License. Improvements to the KHTML code are merged with the Konqueror project. Apple also released additional code (known as WebCore) under an open source 2-clause BSD-like license. The source code for the rest of the browser, including Apple's external GUI, however, has not been released.
Until 1997, Apple Macintosh computers had been shipped with Netscape Navigator. Microsoft's Internet Explorer was included as the default web browser since then. In June 2003, Microsoft announced it would discontinue development of Internet Explorer for Macintosh. Internet Explorer is included with OS X 10.3, but is no longer the default browser.
The next version of Safari, to be included with Mac OS X 10.4 will include a built in RSS and Atom reader. Other features will include private browsing (which does not record any information of your web visit), the ability to archive and e-mail webpages, and the ability to search bookmarks.
Version history
- Beta 1: January 7, 2003 Macworld conference.
- Beta 2: May 15, 2003.
- 1.0 (v85): June 23, 2003 — for Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) and 10.3 (Panther).
- 1.1 (v100): October 24, 2003 — included with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.
- 1.2 (v125): February 2004 — download manager features, bug fixes, performance improvements. [1]
- 1.2.1 (v125.1): March 2004.
- 1.2.2 (v125.7): May 2004.
- 1.2.2 (v125.8): June 2004.
- 1.2.3 (v125.9): August 2004.
Other Mac OS web browsers
- Amaya
- Cyberdog (earlier Apple web browser)
- Camino
- iCab
- Internet Explorer
- Links
- Lynx
- Mozilla
- Mozilla Firefox
- Netscape Navigator
- OmniWeb
- Opera
- Shiira
See also
External links
- Apple: Safari
- Tiger Safari
- KDE weblog "The Dot" announcement about Safari
- VersionTracker: Safari
- Surfin' Safari - Weblog by Dave Hyatt, a Safari developer