Apple Launches Safari 5

Just then, Apple launched the release of Safari 5. What does this mean for us? well for starters a browser that load Java Script 25% faster than its previous version which already loaded web pages much faster than some commonly know browsers on the market (not naming any names cough… cough… Internet Explorer) It has also released a developer tools range similar to that found in my choice of a bowser as a web developer, FireFox due to the almost necessity for the Web Developer Tool Bar and Fire Bug add-ons.

So lets run through new features of Safari 5.

Speed, Apple are claiming that Safari 5 runs 50% faster than Firefox. True, I ran some tests and it was upward of 50%, especially Java Script heavy sites as Safari 5 got a 30% increase in the time it takes the browser to read it. I alway thought that Safari was faster, just limited as it didn’t have the add-on capabilities I require for the work I do.

This brings me to my next point. add-ons, developer tool, Apple has incorporated some new features into the Develop menu item which still needs to activated form the preferences. It also has some new features in the Web Inspector. After playing around with it for a while it is still nothing compared toFirefox’s Add-On Fire Bug.

Some new features have been added to accessibility, one that I would like to mention is the Full-Page Zoom were images and graphics scale up while the text remains razor sharp, keeping the web page layout consistent as you zoom.

The incorporation of new advanced web technologies has been a great addition, CSS Animation, CSS Effects, CSS3 Web Fonts, CSS Canvas, HTML5 Media Support, HTML5 Offline Support witch allows us to create applications that can be used even when your not connected to the net.

That’s about all that caught my attention testing it earlier today. For more information see the Apple official release document.