Mac browser mega-test. Time to ditch Safari?

Most Mac users tend to use the browser that came installed on their computer (Apple's Safari) just because it's there and it's made by Apple. But as a discerning Mac user, Safari isn't your only choice.

With this Group Test we're going to check out the alternatives, to see whether it's worth switching to something new.

Browsers used to be compared on the basis of compatibility, but these days the vast majority of sites work fine across all browsers. Speed, despite the claims of each browser manufacturer, also isn't a major consideration regarding which to use.

During testing, you'll typically find a new browser works faster than an old one, since it's not 'weighed down' with junk. In practice, you'll find few noticeable speed differences between browsers running on a clean Mac OS X install.

Today, features rule the roost, and this is our main consideration in this Group Test. How easy do these browsers make it to find information and to browse the web? How extensible are they? And can they block out annoyances?

Ease of use

Usability is of paramount importance when it comes to everyday tools, and browsers are no exception. Safari, perhaps unsurprisingly, takes the crown in terms of pick-up-and-play simplicity.

Its interface is streamlined and straightforward and its various options are logically housed in the browser's menus and preferences. A worthy rival is Camino, which offers a similarly honed-down interface and aesthetic, and preferences that don't betray its roots as a cousin of the comparatively complex Firefox.

Of the other browsers on test, Opera's been taking the most notes. Its interface, while still a little alien in feel, is far more Mac-like as of version 9.5, and although its preferences are more complex than Safari's, extended ones are shoved into an Advanced category that users can ignore.

Elsewhere, Firefox remains messy, but it's simple enough to use, while Flock's bewildering interface may make newcomers recoil in horror. OmniWeb sits in the middle ground, with a decent balance of usability and flexibility, but it pales alongside Safari and Camino.

Camino - 5/5
Firefox - 4/5
Flock - 3/5
OmniWeb - 4/5
Opera - 4/5
Safari - 5/5

Content searching

Finding content can be broken down into three areas: dredging up items from your history and bookmarks, web searches, and in-page searches.

For the first of those things, all browsers offer address bar auto-complete of varying quality, but Firefox 3 blows the competition away: its smart location bar adapts over time, matching items from keywords, URLs and user-definable tags.

For in-page incremental find-while- you-type searches, Firefox lags behind. The stars are Safari and Opera, which highlight all instances of a term. Opera also offers Quick Find, enabling access to pages based on their content via text strings typed into the address bar.

There's also variance with keyword searches (typing something like 'am apple' to search Amazon for 'apple') and each browser's search field. Gecko-based browsers – Flock, Firefox and Camino – provide a means for updating the built-in search engine field, as does Opera. Camino omits keyword searches entirely.

With Safari, it's Google and no keywords, but with OmniWeb, keyword searches form the basis for the search box at the top- right of each window – a nice touch.

Camino - 1/5
Firefox - 4/5
Flock - 3/5
OmniWeb - 3/5
Opera - 5/5
Safari - 2/5

Blocking content

Users typically want to block two types of content: advertising and phishing websites. All browsers offer basic pop-up blocking and the ability to disable scripts, but that's where Safari stops.