YouTipSafari Browser
In January 2003, Steve Jobs announced that Apple was developing its own browser: Safari.
Before this, Mac systems used Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer as their default browser.
The first official ("out-of-beta") version of Safari was released in June 2003. In April 2005, Safari became the default browser for Mac systems.
Like many of Apple's products, Safari is known for its ease of use and clean design. Safari supports both Mac and Windows systems.
Safari Statistics
The following table shows details about Safari usage from browser statistics:
| 2014 | Total | S 7 | S 6 | S 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | 3.8% | 3.0% | 0.7% | 0.3% | |
| April | 4.0% | 2.8% | 0.8% | 0.4% | |
| March | 3.9% | 2.5% | 0.9% | 0.5% | |
| February | 4.0% | 2.5% | 1.0% | 0.5% | |
| January | 3.9% | 2.3% | 1.1% | 0.5% | |
| 2013 | Total | S 7 | S 6 | S 5 | S 4 |
| December | 3.8% | 2.2% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| November | 4.0% | 2.0% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| October | 3.8% | 1.0% | 2.1% | 0.7% | 0.0% |
| September | 3.9% | 3.1% | 0.8% | 0.0% | |
| August | 3.9% | 3.0% | 0.9% | 0.0% | |
| July | 3.6% | 2.8% | 0.8% | 0.0% | |
| June | 3.9% | 3.0% | 0.9% | 0.0% | |
| May | 4.0% | 2.9% | 1.0% | 0.0% | |
| April | 4.0% | 2.8% | 1.1% | 0.0% | |
| March | 4.1% | 2.8% | 1.2% | 0.1% | |
| February | 4.1% | 2.7% | 1.3% | 0.1% | |
| January | 4.2% | 2.7% | 1.4% | 0.1% | |
| 2012 | Total | S 6 | S 5 | S 4 | |
| December | 4.2% | 2.6% | 1.5% | 0.1% | |
| November | 4.4% | 2.6% | 1.7% | 0.1% | |
| October | 4.3% | 2.3% | 1.9% | 0.1% | |
| September | 4.2% | 1.9% | 2.2% | 0.1% | |
| August | 4.0% | 1.4% | 2.5% | 0.1% | |
| July | 3.9% | 0.2% | 3.6% | 0.1% | |
| June | 4.1% | 4.0% | 0.1% | ||
| May | 4.3% | 4.2% | 0.1% | ||
| April | 4.5% | 4.4% | 0.1% | ||
| March | 4.4% | 4.3% | 0.1% | ||
| February | 4.5% | 4.4% | 0.1% | ||
| January | 4.3% | 4.2% | 0.1% | ||
| 2011 | Total | S 5 | S 4 | S 3 | |
| December | 4.2% | 4.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | |
| November | 4.2% | 4.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | |
| October | 4.2% | 4.0% | 0.2% | 0.0% | |
| September | 4.0% | 3.8% | 0.2% | 0.0% | |
| August | 3.8% | 3.6% | 0.2% | 0.0% | |
| July | 3.6% | 3.4% | 0.2% | 0.0% | |
| June | 3.7% | 3.5% | 0.2% | 0.0% | |
| May | 4.0% | 3.6% | 0.3% | 0.1% | |
| April | 4.1% | 3.7% | 0.3% | 0.1% | |
| March | 4.0% | 3.6% | 0.3% | 0.1% | |
| February | 4.1% | 3.6% | 0.4% | 0.1% | |
| January | 4.0% | 3.5% | 0.4% | 0.1% | |
| 2010 | Total | S 5 | S 4 | S 3 | |
| December | 3.8% | 3.2% | 0.5% | 0.1% | |
| November | 4.0% | 3.1% | 0.7% | 0.2% | |
| October | 3.9% | 3.1% | 0.7% | 0.1% | |
| September | 3.7% | 2.9% | 0.7% | 0.1% | |
| August | 3.5% | 2.6% | 0.8% | 0.1% | |
| July | 3.4% | 2.3% | 1.0% | 0.1% | |
| June | 3.6% | 1.4% | 2.1% | 0.1% | |
| May | 3.5% | 3.3% | 0.2% | ||
| April | 3.7% | 3.5% | 0.2% | ||
| March | 3.7% | 3.5% | 0.2% | ||
| February | 3.8% | 3.5% | 0.3% | ||
| January | 3.7% | 3.4% | 0.3% | ||
| 2009 | Total | S 4 | S 3 | ||
| December | 3.6% | 3.3% | 0.3% | ||
| November | 3.8% | 3.4% | 0.4% | ||
| October | 3.8% | 3.3% | 0.5% | ||
| September | 3.6% | 3.0% | 0.6% | ||
| August | 3.3% | 2.6% | 0.7% | ||
| July | 3.3% | 2.4% | 0.9% | ||
| June | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1.4% | ||
| May | 3.0% | 0.9% | 2.1% | ||
| April | 3.0% | 0.9% | 2.1% | ||
| March | 3.1% | 1.0% | 2.1% | ||
| February | 3.0% | 0.2% | 2.8% | ||
| January | 3.0% | 0.1% | 2.9% | ||
| 2008 | Total | S 3 | |||
| December | 2.7% | 2.7% | |||
| November | 2.7% | 2.7% | |||
| October | 2.8% | 2.8% | |||
| September | 2.7% | 2.7% | |||
| August | 2.6% | 2.6% | |||
| July | 2.5% | 2.5% | |||
| June | 2.6% | 2.6% | |||
| May | 2.4% | 2.4% |
The above statistical data is based on users of the tutorial website.
Safari 7
Safari 7/6.1 was released on June 10, 2013.
Safari 7 (for OS X Mavericks) and Safari 6.1 (for Lion and Mountain Lion) were released with OS X Mavericks on October 22, 2013.
New features:
- Improved JavaScript performance and memory usage
- New look for Top Sites and sidebar
- iCloud Keychain - Stores/generates random passwords for online use. Can also securely store your credit card information
- Link sharing functionality - Collects all sharing links
- Power saving feature - Pauses plugins when not in use
Safari 6
Safari 6 was released on July 25, 2012.
Apple stated: "Safari 6 can run on Mountain Lion and Lion. Safari 5 can continue to run on Windows."
New features:
- iCloud Tabs
- Web audio API - Allows users to create audio effects in interactive web applications
- Support for CSS filters
- Better HTML5 support - Timed text tracks, media synchronization
- Improved JavaScript support - ECMA 262 version 5.1
- Browsing permission detection
- Redesigned Web inspector
- Custom reading
Safari 6 is integrated into OS X Mountain Lion - it cannot be downloaded from Apple's website or other resource sites.
Apple released Safari 6 for OS X Lion users through Software Update. Apple no longer releases versions prior to Lion for OS X or Windows versions.
Safari 5
Safari 5 was released on June 7, 2010.
Safari 5 can run on both Mac and Windows.
New features:
- Nitro JavaScript Engine - The Mac version of Safari 5 is powered by the Nitro JavaScript engine, executing JavaScript 30% faster than Safari 4.
- Use DNS prefetching to accelerate page loading - Like Google's Chrome browser, it uses DNS (Domain Name System) pre-fetching functionality to improve the speed of loading new web pages, while also improving historical page caching to make responses faster when returning to these pages.
- Safari Reader - Presents articles through a new scrollable interface, excluding extraneous content and cluttered information, making both single-page and multi-page articles easier to read. When Safari 5 detects an article, users can click the reader icon in the smart address bar to display the entire article, obtaining a clear, continuous reading interface that can be zoomed in, printed, or sent via email.
- HTML5 features - Added more than ten powerful HTML5 features, such as fullscreen playback of HTML5 video and support for closed captions, allowing web developers to create rich media experiences. Other HTML5 features added in Safari 5 include HTML5 geolocation, HTML5 sectioning elements, HTML5 drag-and-drop attributes, HTML5 form validation, HTML5 Ruby, HTML5 AJAX history, EventSource, and WebSocket.
- Security extensions - The new free Safari Developer Program allows developers to use extension tools based on standard web technologies (such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript) to customize and enhance Safari 5. The new Extension Builder in Safari 5 simplifies the development, installation, and packaging of extension tools. To enhance security and stability, Safari's extension tools run in a sandbox, are signed with Apple's digital certificates, and only operate within the browser.
- Built-in Bing search - Choose Google, Yahoo! or Bing as the search service for Safari's search bar.
Older Safari Versions
Safari 4 (for Mac and Windows) - Released in June 2009.
Safari 3 (for Mac and Windows) - Released in October 2007.
Safari 2 (for Mac) - Released in April 2005.
Safari 1 (for Mac) - Released in June 2003.