Asked out of nothing but curiosity. I’m a new Mac user, and a longtime Firefox users. I was surprised to find that there are some things I like about Safari more than Firefox (particularly the merge all windows/open tab in new window options). Then again, there are things about Firefox I like more (impeccable popup control, certain plugins).
So, where does your browser loyalty lie?
I use Safari, though Firefox is a close second. The things I like about each browser are similar to your own.
I use Firefox for the occasional thing that is made not to work with Safari, like my Windows Live Hotmail account, something Microsoft doesn’t tell you before sending you the link and the encouragement to upgrade upgrade upgrade! But I’ll change to Gmail shortly and that won’t matter. Also the webpage associated with one of my university courses crashes Safari frequently. I don’t know why, it uses the same software as all my other courses.
I have noticed that since I first started using Firefox, some features of it that I like have since appeared in Safari with updates. Which is nice 
.
I’m using Firefox. I switched from Safari during a period where Safari was having issues with Hotmail. I didn’t have the issue in Firefox. This happened about four years ago.
I’ve been using Firefox for so long I’ve taken the pop-up control for granted. And there are indeed some plugins I really like.
But that “open tab in new window” feature? Daaaayum! That might make the switch back to Safari worth it!
On preview, I see Buckler of Swashing reports that Safari still has issues with Hotmail. Arrgh! I hate the Microsoft thing of “We’ll kinda sorta be compatible with the Mac platform.” They discontinued Explorer for the Mac, but they won’t play nice with Safari.
I mostly use Safari, but do use Firefox about 20% of the time. The most significant difference to me is how each shows bookmarks. In Firefox bookmarks are in the Bookmark menu. In Safari the Bookmark menu is for managing bookmarks, but doesn’t show any. There is a bookmark page accessible from a button on the bookmark bar. I really can’t say which is better. It’s really a matter of what you’re used to using.
I do find that a small fraction of the sites work better in one or the other. Though this is becoming less of an issue with time.
Firefox. Safari’s fine, had no problems with it. It’s just not the browser I prefer.
Then again, I don’t use bookmarks or plug-ins, so it’s largely a matter of aesthetics for me.
Er, I’m not sure what you mean - bookmarks show up in the Bookmark menu in Safari (you mean ‘bookmarks’ on the menu bar, right?)
If Safari and Firefox would agree to use the same keystrokes to shift between tabs (I’m a ridiculously hyperactive browser), I’d be perfectly happy.
Actually, Safari’s bookmark menu is for both managing and showing your bookmarks. It shows folders, which you can use to keep your links organized, simply sliding your cursor over a folder will immediately cause the menu to show you the links therein. Or you can elect to have the menu simply show a big list of links with no folders.
When you add bookmarks in Safari you can choose add them to any or all of three places.
To the ‘bookmarks bar’ which sits just under your toolbar and above your tabs and in which you can keep your frequently used links
To one of the folders. These folders are those that appear in the drop down menu, when you hover your cursor on one it gives you those bookmarks that you have organized into that folder. You can add, delete and edit the folders and content by using the button you mention.
To your ‘bookmarks menu’. This adds the link directly to the dropdown menu, which sounds like what you are wanting to do.
These options appear whenever you click ‘Add Bookmark’. The dialogue box that appears has a field for naming the link, then directly below that a dropdown selection of places to add the link to. Whatever you’ve most recently selected remains the default until you choose something else.
So if you just want the bookmarks menu to be a dropdown list of all your links, you can just delete all the folders that Safari gives you and add all your links directly to the dropdown menu.
Not that I’m trying to talk you into changing, I think Firefox is a great app and you should use what you like, just letting you know .
Firefox, hands down. The plug-ins add so much functionality… my fav is the ability to select open tabs by number.
Oh, and FireBug is the greatest free web development tool since BBedit.
Safari almost exclusively. When I realize I’m missing content, I switch to Opera, but it’s only for a very short time, then back to Safari. I also love PithHelmet - it’s amazing how quickly you forget how intrusive ads are when you don’t see them any more.
freckafree - I agree. Totally annoying. And, before anyone jumps on me, it’s not that I don’t understand why Microsoft might not care so much about Apple users who want to use a free Microsoft product - that’s pretty much understandable. I may be a Mac person, but I don’t have the traditional anti-PC complex. It’s more that they must have known their update wasn’t going to work with Safari - and they could have mentioned that beforehand.
As it was, they sent you an email telling you about all the great stuff that you’d get if you upgraded without mentioning that there are platforms it won’t work on. It doesn’t even mention it’s incompatibility with Safari in the tech support and help pages. I had to go to the wikipedia entry for Windows Live to find that info. Microsoft should have been able to tell me that upgrading would mean my account would be inaccessible from certain browsers. Especially given that you apparently can’t downgrade.
Sorry, NinjaChick, : [/hijack]
Safari.
Though I always use Firefox on PCs at work, I found it much less snappy than Safari on the Mac. It didn’t really have Macness to it either when I tried it (several months back).
When I run into a page that exhibits annoying anti-Safari tendencies, I reach for Camino. That’s a Mozilla-based browser that is much more Mac-like than Firefox, but since it has the same internals, it behaves the same.
I go with Firefox. Agreed with those who say it is an aesthetic thing. The Hotmail stuff made me dance back and forth and of course I still have Safari loaded on the Mac.
Heck. On the laptop I just sold today ( sigh… ) I had I.E. for Mac. That is not even AVAILABLE on the Internet now…
Cartooniverse
I use Opera, though I have Safari on hand for compatibility and Firefox for compatibility testing.
Yeah, I’m way, way out on the far end of the distribution here.
I’d been using Firefox on my Mac, but when Apple pushed out Safari 3.1, I decided to try it.
I’ve also just started using Firefox 3 beta, and it’s much faster than FF2. Several of my plugins ceased to work, though (mostly dictionary-oriented ones, though also FireFTP and AdBlock Plus). FF3 has the Mac look now.
I’ll join you, 'boots. It’s Opera all the way for me. I like mouse gestures too much to use Safari, and Firefox has some kind of creeping instability that crashes it every couple of weeks or so. I leave my computer on all the time, often with many tabs open in the browser, and Firefox crashing just ruins my, well, 10 minutes. I’ve heard rumors of a memory leak.
Started out with Safari, then mostly switched to Firefox. There are a couple of sites I use pretty frequently that work better with Safari, but in general I have fewer problems with Firefox.
Safari over Firefox, because of a few nitpicky things (I prefer Firefox for PC):
I like the “close tab” button on the left
control+down is page down, instead of fn. I never seem to use fn for anything.
It was easier for me to figure out RSS feeds in Safari
From a subjective POV, it uses less memory when browsing lots of tabs
And it totally has a cuter icon!
I still use Firefox for a certain site that uses a java applet to determine logged-in status, and plays a noise when you get a message. Safari doesn’t play well with it and I don’t hear the noise when I get a message.
Firefox. I use two computers at work and two at home, and it’s nice to share bookmarks between all of them with the GMarks add-on.
Firefox. Used to use Safari, but it fell behind (as updates were tied to specific versions of OSX). Although I do still use Safari to run my Sirius online radio, and I’m lately a little alarmed by the fact that Firefox apparently is not color-managed, and often does screwed-up things to images if you’re not careful.
Safari. I have to access my own blog with Firefox for some reason.