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I've been considering installing Safari on my Windows machine for a while. Is it worth it? I normally use Opera, and fall back to Firefox, then to IE if I need extra compatibility (not very often) - would Safari add anything to that?

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Thanks very much for all the answers everyone. I think I'll stick to what I've got for the moment then! – Ant Jul 15 '09 at 12:24
Funny that the obvious answer wasn't mentioned: install and try it out for a bit, and if you like it (more than the other browsers), then by all means use it :) Safari 4 does have some nice new features, so I can see why some might prefer it over Opera, IE and Firefox. – Jonik Aug 10 '09 at 20:39
I think I did try the last version and couldn't get used to it. As some have mentioned, I found it a bit to mac-y for my preference. I'll probably try it again at some point, but not just yet :) – Ant Aug 11 '09 at 9:57

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5 Answers

up vote 13 down vote accepted

Well, Webkit (the rendering engine behind Safari) is really fast and supports the latest standards. I would use Google Chrome though as it shares a large part of its codebase (including Webkit) with Safari but it is more suitable for Windows. Safari looks really out of place in a Windows environment in my opinion.

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I agree. Safari feels more at home on OS X, and Google Chrome would be a better alternative to Safari because of the shared codebase. – Bryson McFeeley Jul 15 '09 at 9:50
Safari 4 is much better since it was developed as a Windows app and not an OSX app. I prefer it over any of the others and honestly find it faster then both IE and Firefox. However there is the normal issues when running in a heavily Microsoft environment and a lot of sites still complain about compatibility. On MacOSX Safari is the only browser I use. – Diago Jul 15 '09 at 10:16
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Diago: alignedstrategy.com/images/safari4windows.JPG - dunno, that still doesn't really look like a Windows app for me. I mean, it's a great browser and stuff but all the widgets and colors just feel wrong on windows. – Tamas Czinege Jul 15 '09 at 11:37
DrJokepu, that's a screenshot of Safari 3 for Windows, despite the file name. – eyelidlessness Sep 20 '09 at 21:02
This is Safari 4 on XP: greginthedesert.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/… Note, though, that the cap is of the beta, and top tabs were removed in the final version (sadly). – eyelidlessness Sep 20 '09 at 21:05
up vote 2 down vote

One reason why I prefer Safari over Chrome in Windows is because it syncs my bookmarks over MobileMe.

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You can also use Xmarks, it's a plug-in for firefox it's really cool to sync bookmarks – bAN Aug 24 '09 at 19:36
up vote 1 down vote

Safari will not provide any compatibility gains next to Firefox or IE. It is also far less stable than either of those Windows systems. Personally I see no reason to use Safari on Windows, except where you may prefer its interface.

Ehtyar.

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Safari certainly has web standards support well beyond IE on most metrics, (and somewhat beyond Firefox on some metrics). – eyelidlessness Sep 20 '09 at 21:06
up vote 1 down vote

I certainly didn't like it at all. One of the main reasons is that, it really doesn't fit. This might be because I use Mac OS and Windows and it just feels awkward. Furthermore, the performance, I'd dare to compare it to IE but of course, a li'l better (I hate IE).

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up vote 1 down vote

I use Safari on Windows about 30-40% of the time (the rest being Firefox). Safari has Apple's font rendering which makes the text look better and more correct from the typography's point of view. See, for example Joel's article on the subject. I find it being significantly easier on the eyes, and I choose Safari for lengthy articles.

On Mac on the other hand, I find myself using Firefox almost exclusively since it's got all the GreaseMonkey goodies and it takes much less CPU than Firefox, which translates to cooler and quieter notebook.

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Oh interesting - I find the Microsoft font rendering to be easier to read. Bet that's a small nightmare for usability experts :) – Ant Aug 25 '09 at 8:29
When you look at the text as a whole, and not a collection of standalone letters, the dynamics of the text (i.e. ratio between its weight and spacing) and consistency of the page become important factors. Different people perceive it differently, no question about it. My eyes tolerate working with text rendered using Apple's method much better than working with text rendered by default Windows method. I measure it by the amount of strain and pain after hours of work. – Rom Aug 26 '09 at 18:54

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