This week Apple released the second public beta of Safari, the turbo web browser for Mac OSX. The release, along with improving the browser’s compatibility with the different standards used in designing and delivering web pages, offered several new features:

Japanese, French and German versions along with the English;
Importing Netscape and Mozilla bookmarks;

Improved AppleScript support;

Privacy Reset, where with one click you can clear Safari’s history, empty the cache, clear Downloads and Google search entries, and remove cookies, saved names, and passwords. This feature is especially useful where you might use a public machine in a store or library, and want to sanitize it of any personal information before you go.

AutoFill forms and Passwords. Safari can now automatically enter personal information like your name, address, email, etc. into online forms, using information from either your Address Book or what you entered in previous forms. Safari can also remember your web accounts and passwords, stored in the Mac OSX Keychain, and get you into your secure websites without asking you every time.

Tabbed browsing (my new favorite and very cool!). Let’s say you’re reading a web page that contains links to other pages. If you open one of those links, you’re either going to leave the page you’re on, or you can choose to have the new link open in another window. After a few links you’ve got a screen full of new windows. Not so with tabbed browsing, which lets you switch between multiple web pages in a single window. With a simple control-click of a link, selecting “Open Link In New Tab”, a tab (like a folder tab) is created at the top of the browser window, and that new page is loaded into the browser, ready to be displayed when you click on the tab. Want to go back to the old page? Click on its tab. If you have a folder full of bookmarks, you can select to Open in Tabs all of the bookmarks in the folder, and they all become tabs, loading in the background until you’re ready to view them. A real time saver for the serious surfer.

Coupled with the previously-raved-about-in-this-column SnapBack feature, pop-up advertising window blocker, and built-in Google search, Safari is a must-have for any Mac OSX user.

Keep those emails coming to petez@macmaineiac.com, and, as always, Semper Mac! Take care.

© 2003 Peter F. Zimowski