- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows XP/Vista
- Date added: November 11, 2009
- Total Downloads: 595,145
- Downloads last week: 5,408
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 539 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: Seth Rosenblatt on June 09, 2009
Initially met with some skepticism, the Windows version of Apple's Safari browser has developed into a strong Web-surfing candidate. Previous versions felt unfinished, but Safari 4 can stand should to shoulder with the other major Windows Web browsers--depending on what kind of experience you want.
Safari lacks most customization features. Skins and other aesthetic tweaks exist in the Mac version, but not here. Just about the only thing you can alter is the font. However, the new version represents a radical departure in look and feel, and the changes are for the better. Safari now looks much more like Google Chrome, although the tabs are placed below the navigation bar, not above it. The status bar and menu bar do exist, but they're hidden by default. You can make toolbar changes and customizations by clicking on the gear icon--another similarity to Chrome.
Both browsers are built on the open-source Webkit rendering engine, although they use different JavaScript engines. Safari's Nitro is definitely fast, although Apple's claims that it's the fastest browser on the market might depend more on your hardware than anything else. In our testing, it ran a bit slowly after heavy tab and video playback, and still consumed more RAM in general than Firefox. You can also opt out of automatic updates when you install Safari.
Features unique to Safari 4 include Cover Flow, for visually searching your history and bookmarks, and Top Sites. This presents a "speed dial"-style list of favorites on blank tabs, melded with the visual flair of Cover Flow. There's a decent built-in roboform, too. Overall, this Safari is the best one yet, and graduates from mere Windows-based developers' tool to a reasonable choice for average users.
Watch the CNET video review of Apple Safari:
Publisher's description
From Apple :With a simple, elegant interface, the Safari browser gets out of your way and lets you enjoy the Web. Features include: fast performance; an elegant user interface, easy bookmarks, pop-up Blocking, inline find, tabbed browsing, SnapBack, automatic form filling, built-in RSS, resizable text fields, private browsing, and security.
What's new in this version:
- Improved JavaScript performance
- Improved Full History Search performance for users with a large number of history items
- Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins, the search field and Yahoo! Mail
More popular Web Browsers downloads
- 84,827 downloads 1. Mozilla Firefox
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- 26,048 downloads 5. Google Chrome
- See all Web Browsers downloads
User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.1 stars out of 539 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 21 user reviewsSee all 21 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Apple Safari 4.0.4
Pros: itis avery good broswer.
Cons: none that i can thing of.
Summary: get this browser now
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Version: Apple Safari 4.0.4
Pros: 1.It's speedy.
2.It's beautiful.
3.Easy to use.Cons: None! Well, maybe except for lack of features, but that's a minor issue!
Summary: This clearly beats IE. You should get this browser.
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Version: Apple Safari 4.0.4
"Faster than expected, it's a shame it's bloatware."
Pros: It performed much better than anticipated. I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised with it's speed.
Cons: It installed 3 programs. Coming from Apple, I wasn't shocked.
Summary: The browser was okay and I would've kept it if I wasn't irked that Apple dumped two extra programs onto my computer.
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Version: Apple Safari 4.0.4
Pros: Super fast browsing experience, elegant interface with TopSites and Cover-flow.
Cons: No extensions or add ons.
Summary: Safari is a great browser. Super fast browsing experience, thumbs up upon its elegant interface, especially it's Top Sites and history browsing with Cover Flow. However, SPEED is still the great feature of Safari, which based on Webkit web rendering... read more >>
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1 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Version: Apple Safari 4.0.4
Pros: none so far
Cons: Continually encounters problems, causing it to close. Utterly useless.
Summary: It simply doesn't work. I just downloaded it and have been trying to browse with it to no avail. Every time I open it and begin browsing, after 1-2 minutes, it encounters a problem and closes. I can't believe that IE is that much better than an A... read more >>
- See all 21 user reviews Write review
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