OS X users are blessed ( or is it cursed ? ) with a plethora of pick for our connection browsing needs . Safari , of course , is the dominant web browser app , followed byFirefox , and then any of a numeral of others , includingOmniWeb , Camino , Opera , and the venerableiCab(not heel in any sort of edict ) .
In the course of my job over the last few days , I ’ve had the opportunity to employ all of these browsers , and many more — too many to count , in fact . While they are all excellent browsers , over time I ’ve descend on Firefox as my personal favorite ( with Safari as a close mo ) .
However , when people would require me why I preferred Firefox to Safari , I never really had a serious solution . The openhanded plain reasonableness is Firefox ’s support foradd - onsthat can greatly extend the browser app ’s top executive , and that ’s certainly something .
Firefox (top) and Safari (bottom) have very different URL completion methods
On the other paw , using Firefox means put up with a fairly non - Mac - corresponding drug user experience — everything from button to fonts to menu behavior is just a bit unlike than in most any other Mac app . make I could have a utterly Mac - like user experience by just shift to Safari , why have n’t I done just that ?
I used to imagine it was the MBD - ons that keep on me on Firefox , but while tackle an climb toGeeklog(the content railway locomotive that powersMac OS X Hints ) that reqiured testing multiple pages in many browsers , I realise just why I prefer Firefox : URL handling .
More specifically , it ’s how Firefox manage partial URLs typed into the URL entry Browning automatic rifle . As I ’ve noted in previous posts here , I ’m a keyboard addict ; if I could get off with not touch the computer mouse all sidereal day , I ’d be a very glad Mac substance abuser . When using a web browser app , that means I ’m more likely to typewrite a URL into the URL entry bar than I am to use a bookmark to contact that same land site , as that would require using the mouse ( or alotof typing to activate and navigate through the Bookmarks computer menu ) .
While both Safari and Firefox will auto - complete “ recognize ” URL as you typewrite them , they go about things very differently — and for my work flow , Firefox does it in a much more powerful way .
Firefox ( top ) and Safari ( bottom ) have very unlike URL completion method
To prove the differences , regard the Mac OS X Hints web log page here on Macworld.com , which I get at many time each 24-hour interval . In Firefox , I can load this varlet by simply typewrite a portion of any Holy Scripture in the uniform resource locator — weblogs , for example . As soon as I go typing , Firefox starts presenting match based on my browse history ; I can then easy choose the right uniform resource locator using the arrow keys and then pressing Return to launch the take URL .
Safari , on the other deal , does n’t show anything when I typeweblogs , as seen in the mental image at right . Instead , to use uniform resource locator windup in Safari , I have to begin by type the root of the situation ( macworld , in this model ) . I ’ll then see a list of Page I ’ve visited before , and can select one using the arrow keys and the Return key . If I only ever access that one pageboy here at Macworld , this would n’t be a big rough-and-tumble . But that ’s not the grammatical case ; I also call in the recap , iPhone apps , iPhone , Mac 911 , and Mac Gems pages , amongst others .
In Safari , I must access each of those by typingmacworld , then either looking at the listing , or using the forward pointer to move to the end of the URL and type the next bit of the track . In Firefox , I simply type part of the URL ( reviewsfor the Reviews page , macgemfor Mac Gems , etc . ) , and then press the down arrow and the Return key fruit to start the right page .
It ’s a little thing , but over the course of a day , this trick saves me a ton of typing , and makes Firefox feel notably fast than Safari . I know there are way ( via hype - ins ) to add keyword - based shortcut to Safari , but then I ’d still have to go through the worry of create and remembering a shortcut for those Page I visit often . With Firefox , I do n’t have to remember anything other than some portion of the URL .
Firefox is n’t for everyone , but finally , I can at least clearly distinguish the main reason I prefer it to Safari . That does n’t mean Safari ’s a sorry web browser app , of course of instruction — it ’s really an astonishing ware . But for the way I utilise the Web , Firefox ’s URL handling ( along with its attention deficit disorder - ons ) create it my preferred browser app .
