In a release that had been hinted at in late May, Apple has released Safari 5 to the world, for both Mac and Windows users.
Performance of the updated browser has seen Apple’s Nitro JavaScript engine speed increase by 30% over its predecessor. Safari 5 new DNS pre-fetching and improved caching which helps web pages load faster.
HTML5 support has also been improved, with support for over 17 new HTML5 tags and features. HTML video now supports full-screen and closed captions.
Perhaps the most impressive feature of Safari 5 is the new Safari Reader. This nifty feature removes ads and other distractions from online articles. Safari 5 automatically detects when you are reading an article, and can be activated by clicking the new reader button which will appear in the address bar.
Most pleasing to current add-on and extension users is that Safari 5 will now support user generated extensions, which are expected to launch in an online Apple gallery in the coming weeks.
Apple’s Safari 5 can be downloaded from the Safari website for both Mac and Windows.
Alex wrote on June 8, 2010 at 11:49 pm
Panic, the developers of the popular Coda and Transmit software for Mac, have shown a preview of one of the first extensions for Safari 5. You can check it out here – http://www.panic.com/blog/2010/06/coda-notes-previe/
Tiago Sá wrote on June 9, 2010 at 6:42 am
Good stuff, good stuff. The reader seems interesting enough. It’s good to see Apple innovating on the browser front. I don’t know how much this will be an improvement in terms of market share, but I think Safari is more about making sure Mac users feel at home than providing a spanking browsing experience…