[SSteve]

I tried Safari 4 for a couple minutes, but even though it hasn't been actively developed in many a moon OmniWeb is still way ahead. The things I can't give up:

• Ad blocking: (Ok, I could duplicate that with Privoxy so it isn't a deal-breaker.)
• Shortcuts.
• Superior RSS reader.
• Site preferences w/browser spoofing.

Without these any other browser seems crippled. Safari 4 may process JavaScript four times faster than OW (according to SunSpider on my machine) but that doesn't make up for what it lacks.

[Handycam]

Ad blocking: (Ok, I could duplicate that with Privoxy so it isn't a deal-breaker.)
Shortcuts.

You can get both of these with GlimmerBlocker, much easier to use than Privoxy. Also Glims offers shortcuts.

Superior RSS reader.

I use Google Reader for all my RSS, and Safari 4 supports it

Site preferences w/browser spoofing.

You only need this in OW in the first place; most other browsers work on every site without any spoofing needed. If you need this for development, use firefox and a developer extension.

I am using Safari 4 and I love it, when coupled with GlimmerBlocker and Glims. I had been using WebKit nightlies before Safari 4 came out, and they are excellent as well. Superior tab handling, speed, compatibility, and a vastly improved web inspector.

[JKT]

Originally Posted by Handycam

You can get both of these with GlimmerBlocker, much easier to use than Privoxy. Also Glims offers shortcuts.

....and Glims, along with Growl, also caused problems for anyone who installed Safari 4 beta because it was incompatible. Sorry, but if you are going to use Safari, then you need to either be prepared to face headaches every single time it is updated, caused by all the hacks you have to use to make it more functional, or you don't use the hacks at all and suffer a limited and limiting browser experience. That is not my idea of a good time and I would rather use Firefox, in spite of all its drawbacks, or Opera if I had to switch away from OmniWeb.

[Handycam]

Actually, all I was using when Safari 4 came out was GlimmerBlocker. And of course it worked fine. I only added Glims when I noticed it came out yesterday, and so far I am happy with it. But I could live without it.

In fact, I just uninstalled it and went back to safaristand, which also works fine with 4.0.

Any plugins, including Firefox ones, are likely to break with an update. So if you're smart, disable Safari input managers before updating. I did, and it went without a hitch. Also, it might be worth noting I was using nightlies of WebKit for 6 months, and never did SafariStand fail me.

[Handycam]

Originally Posted by JKT

....and Glims, along with Growl, also caused problems for anyone who installed Safari 4 beta because it was incompatible.

I can see Glims, but Growl? Not quite. Never affected me. Also note a lot of people have done a lot of crap to their systems and then start whining when some new software breaks their unsupported mods. If you absolutely need to have add-ons, whether for Safari, Firefox, or even Photoshop, keep that in mind when updating stuff.

These addons are nice, but I like Safari 4 just fine, thanks. OW is old and outdated. I have lost nothing by leaving, I feel I have the same -- or better -- experience now. Sorry to say, since I really loved OW.

[JKT]

Growl was causing Mail to crash if you installed Safari 4 beta and this is the problem with all these hacks, especially the input managers (not Growl though, I know)... they bugger up other apps.

Btw, it is because you have to disable all these hacks to be on the safe side every time Safari is updated that makes them very unappealing to use and it is why I would go with Firefox or Opera if I had to - Firefox is sensible enough to disable any incompatible extensions for you and Opera's features are built-in. No dicking about in the OS with hacks that can cause problems in more than just Safari.

[Handycam]

Turned out it was GrowlMail, IIRC, not Growl itself. I have Growl running and had no problems.

And I have been conservative with "hacks" and have had no problems with any webkit nightlies, and I have updated immediately to every last one, for months now. As it turned out, my one hack had no problems with 4 either, I was just being cautious.

I do not like the look of FF. I prefer WebKit, either Safari or OW. I like native form controls and IMO the text looks better. I used to use OW for this very reason (to get WebKit with added features without hacks) but the age of its WebKit and speed (and that damn tab drawer) has pushed me to use Safari and the occasional "hack".

[MinutiaeMan]

I can't think of a more appropriate title. Omni's announcement couldn't have come at a worse time (that is, the same day that Safari 4.0b came out).

It's a testament to the number of features that OmniWeb offers that version 5 has lasted as long as it has. I started using it with the second beta of 5.0, and spent almost the entire time since then with it as my default browser. That's five whole years!

Over the past year or two, I've toyed with switching to Safari (which I use at work, and so keep up to date with). And there are a couple things that really tempt me; especially bookmark syncing via MobileMe. (That feature has never worked for me in OW, ever.)

When Safari 4 came out, I decided to switch over for a day or two and see what I thought, expecting that I'd end up back in OmniWeb soon enough — just like every time I'd tried the same thing before. But then came the announcement that OW isn't being developed. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.

I know it's not a cancellation. But considering how fast WebKit is being developed, considering how some new features are being added by various browsers (mostly Safari and Firefox; even if they're not all the features I want) — I don't think I can afford to wait forever for OmniWeb to rejoin the browser wars.

So I tallied up a list of features that I still love about OmniWeb:

• The browser drawer (I try not to call it "tabbed browsing")
• Site-specific preferences
• Useful ad blocking, especially combined with site-specific CSS
• Keyword shortcuts in the location bar
• Custom searches

I've spent the last four or five days using Safari 4 exclusively. I've been keeping an eye out for how many times it annoys me with stuff that's missing or different from OmniWeb. And I realized that I don't miss the features as much as I thought I would. Sure, I curse when I type "wiki iPod" and don't get taken directly to the Wikipedia entry on the iPod. But I think I can get used to it. Because at least Safari is in active development.

(Plus, I kinda dig the new "top sites" view, and the full-search history is killer. The tabs I understand, but they'll take getting used to.)

If and when OmniWeb 6 comes around, I'll jump on it faster than you can blink. But until then, I think I'll stick with Safari.

[Ken Case]

You might want to check out the 5.9.1 sneaky peek builds! We've already fixed some long-standing bugs (like the Amazon rating bug) and added new features (like swipe support on recent laptops to navigate through history and tabs).

We're also working on integrating the most recent version of WebKit.

[hardcoreUFO]

Originally Posted by SSteve

• Superior RSS reader.

Really?? I think OW's RSS handling is terrible. Its very awkward to manage feeds, there are no previews, and a few nagging bugs that Omni is yet to fix. For example, dragging feeds to the collections sidebar (which would be an excellent place to manage them) causes the feed to be renamed "News Feed", with no way of renaming it. Perplexingly, this bug has lingered around for ages with no fix.