RSSLatest WebKit build gives Safari a 100% score on Acid3
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published September 26, 2008, 6:23 PM
BetaNews has verified through its own testing that the latest build of the open source WebKit rendering engine, version r36882, makes Apple's Safari for Windows pass the Acid3 rendering test from the Web Standards project: 100%.
Our tests involved a virtual Windows XP Home SP3 machine running on Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1. First, we installed a fresh copy of Apple's Safari for Windows version 3.1.2. From there, we ran the latest Acid3 tests prior to installing the latest WebKit build. By itself, Safari 3.1.2 for Windows only scored a 75% -- better than some of its competition, although Opera 9.6 for Windows scored an 85% on the same test.
With nightly builds of WebKit, there's a batch file which automatically searches for the installation location of Safari, and writes the necessary libraries and associated files on top of the existing ones. (That routine would not work similarly for Google Chrome, which also uses WebKit as its rendering engine; recent builds of Chrome actually use older builds of WebKit, which score more poorly in standards tests.)
Immediately after running the batch file, Safari launches itself. When we ran the test a second time, in a mere few seconds, we were greeted with a perfect score.
In celebrating the news late yesterday, WebKit's developers noted that the rendering time took only a third of a second on a 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro. In our tests, the rendering was substantially slower, but that was because we were running on a virtual machine. Still, 1.77 seconds is respectable time for rendering under these conditions.
Safari still displays HTML tables wrong on many sites. What a POS.
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|A Hollywood_ I can see you've learned a new skill lately:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DBuk91phkI
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|What a shallow shallow little man.
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|Really? I've never come across that. If you have some examples I'd like to check them when I get home. I've got Safari, Camino and Firefox on my Macbook and honestly want to see if there's a discernable difference with browsing between the three. (So far, I haven't noticed anything.)
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|The funny thing is, ........... I can do that.
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|OK - so how do you get the Safari browser to START UP with those nightly builds in place?
In the WEBKIT folder I run this:
run-nightly-webkit.cmd
It does a bunch of file stuff and then auto-opens Safari and in that scenario, Safari is getting 100/100 on my system.
However, if I close Safari and later start it up and try the Acid Test, it goes back to 75.
So, if someone would be so helpful as to tell me how to start Safari so that these nightly build files are active and in place, I would appreciate it.
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|If you're on a Mac (and you should be) just go to your Applications folder and look for Webkit. But if you're using Windows (and you shouldn't be) go to All programs I believe it is and you should see Webkit there after installing the nightly builds.
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|Had an iMac 24" LCD with 10.4. I no longer own a Mac, and am glad to be back on a single platform.
That said, I still cannot seem to find the modified Webkit installation where I can execute the updated Safari application.
I would have thought that all updates would be directly in the original Safari installation folder, but that does not appear to be the case.
Is there some sort of command line argument needed to activate the Webkit enabled version?
I guess I shall keep looking.
Thank you.
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|Too bad the browser's interface sucks.
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|On Windoze maybe but it's gorgeous on a Mac. :)
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|They're kinda the same, so nigplz.
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|ROFL...ignorance is bliss.
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|He has a point... on Mac it's the same UI as the rest of the Mac. Looks great. On Windows it's a Mac program on Windows like iTunes - the UI just doesn't match up.
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|It is only meaningful if other browsers follow the suit. Acid2 didn't get 100% compatibilty till recently across 3 major browsers, which is totally absurd that it has taken that long. More importantly, legacy browsers get phased out. As a web developer, I am still battling with IE6 given majority of our clients are still using IE6 for business. Acid3 only has its true meaning of values when 99% of the browsers heed to the standard.
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|Correct. Even IE7 has its foibles when it comes to Acid2 which means parts of the standard can't be used (unless you serve different code to IE).
IE6 will hopefully drop off the radar quite sharply after 13th July 2010 when support is (currently) slated to end. Unfortunately I think that date will be extended as XP is being used by so many people still.
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|acid 3 is not equaling to web standard, opera does 150% better on standards than webkit and firefox.
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|Correct (though quoting figures isn't wise as some pedantic twat will look like they're on top if your numbers are slightly out, even though they haven't proved their point anyway), and one of the only people to have commented on this article that knows what the heck they're talking about.
Congratulations!
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|Yeap, true that!
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|This shouldn't surprise anyone. Safari is the world's best browser developed by the world's best company which is led by the world's best CEO.
Duh.
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|Safari sucks.. Firefox any day of the week....
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|Safari works great with my .mac email account.. I love it so much I got 2 of them for $99 each.. so there google with your free email..
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|Safari LOOKS nice, but Firefox's Extensions are almost installed by default when i switch to a different computer. Just regular browsing w/o ad-block on safari (or ie) makes me switch back faster than the next page loads.
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|And arnt you just sad.
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|Even if the first point were correct, the 2nd and 3rd are absolutely incorrect.
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|You are talking just like kids
My super hero is best all others sucks just because I like it :P
Opera and Firefox both are much great browsers than Safari
Specially the set of features that Opera contains, no other browser have it and performance of Firefox is great :)
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|2 is correct in terms of web standards, which this article is about. Not in features of the web browser (I can't quite decipher which he was driving at).
3 is incorrect.
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|2 is that Apple is the world's best company....
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|Duh indeed.
Safari is a mere wrapper. Without WebKit, Apple's browser is an empty shell with a crappy GUI. If you want a decent WebKit-browser, forget Safari or Chrome and look for Origyn.
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|In profit making terms, probably.
In speed of designing new equipment, probably.
In marketing goods to people, probably.
In customer satisfaction, not so.
People keep coming back thanks to the third statement.
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|Best browser ? Best company ? Best CEO ?
you must be high !
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|Its called Sarcasm.
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|Are you kidding me?! Safari is hideous...
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|LOL. I took a look at it and Origyn is horrible. The only good thing about that POS is that it uses Webkit, the same engine that powers Safari, the world's most beautiful and elegant browser.
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|You're obviously either looking for attention or your head is too far shoved up your a** if you think Safari's UI is anything but gorgeous.
http://img.photobucket.c...1/head_up_your_ass2.jpg
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|Lol maybe you need to get an anal cranial extraction from Apple's a** and then maybe you too could see that it is hideous.
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|LOL YES!!!! internetworld7 finally stuck his head up his butt. Smart move!
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|Now try again in English? :p
Perhaps you need to be specific on the features Opera contains that no other browser does: I tried to move to Opera from FF and found it strangely lacking in features.
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|internetworld7, I don't understand why you insist on posting this stuff. Surely you can't believe all of this is true!
Safari does nothing to protect users from being exploited by malicious websites.
Unless perhaps you profit from these exploits, is that what you are trying to say here?
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|Safari is for losers.
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|Don't forget lemmings ..........
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|He repeatedly does this to get you guys all riled up over nothing. Apple is the most important thing in his life, which makes him pathetic.
I don't get mad, I pity people like that.
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|I am sorry if i am writing wrong English :(
Well I think you haven't explored Opera properly. It contains many features that other browsers don't have and others provide it as an add-on
First of all check the feature list on official Opera's website:
http://www.opera.com/sup.../coolfeatures/index.dml
1) Let me tell you that Opera is the first browser that introduced tab browsing that you see today in modern browsers :)
2) Second cool thing I like about Opera is that it follows W3C standards strictly which make web developers like easier. Of course this is not a feature. I am just telling you
3) Speed dial in Opera is a great feature that allow you to save your favourite web links with a little preview. E.g. if I add
http://mail.live.com
in Speed Dial at link number 3, then by pressing Ctrl+3 on any tab in any window will take me to Windows Live Mail :)
Read more about Speed Dial here:
http://www.opera.com/products/desktop/
it's the same feature that Google copied in Chrome. The Chrome shows recent sites with little previews just like Speed Dial in Opera
Google thinks that their company is most innovative on the web but i think this time they disappointed me because they also copied the user interface from Opera. Just compare yourself the user interfaces of Opera and Chrome. The only benefit I see in Chrome is its size and launching speed :P
4) Opera contains built-in torrent download support. You don't need to install extra torrent software like uTorrent or any other
5) Check out Opera's widgets which are just like Gadgets in Windows Vista's sidebar. Just like Sidebar gadgets, you download more from Opera's official site
6) Opera contains built-in Notes utility which all other browsers provide as an add-on
7) Opera's Transfer panel not only supports torrent downloads, but also supports resume transfer in normal downloading from http or ftp links
8) Opera also contains Kiosk mode just like the browsers running on airports which completely lock they system except browsing
9) It contains Info panel which shows each n every bit of information related to the opened page e.g. URL, Encoding, MIME type, Size of page, Num of inline elements, Last Modified, Security used, links of external Style Sheets used with the page, links to external javascript files Scripts running in the pagem inline frames, n many more...oh GOD!!!
10) Search panel is another great thing in Opera. It's different than the search dropdown list which is present to the right of address bar in IE, and FF. Opera also contains that dropdown list but this panel is different than that. It contains list of buttons labeled with great search engines like Google, Ask, Yahoo, Amazon, Wikipedia and many more. User can perform search with any search engine in just 2 steps. First clicking the button to select required search engine and then types the search query and hit enter
11) Specially check this one. The Mouse Gestures. You can set mouse movements to perform specific actions. E.g. Hold right click and move your mouse down will open a new tab. Really impressive :)
My friend there are lots of other features as well in Opera. I can't write and explain all of them here. Check yourself:
http://www.opera.com/sup.../coolfeatures/index.dml
http://www.opera.com/products/desktop/
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|Install Safari and get QT, iTunes, MobileMe all for free.. woohoo.. I will switch all computers over to it.. How well does it work with ActiveX?
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|ActiveX? LOL. You better check your crappy PC for virus and spyware infections. ^__^
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|Without ActiveX no exchange web mail.. Sorry.. I stopped using the internet to infect my computer years ago.
Just stop clicking on the free laptop popup offer..
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|You don't need Active X for Exchange on safari, I use it on Exchange 2003 and have no Major Problems.
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|You are indeed clueless?
ActiveX?!?!?!?! Are you kidding? You would be hard pressed to pick a more fatally flawed component in all of the history of IT.
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|Woah!!! did Safari just claim King of the Hill for standards based compliance?
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|No.
King of the hill was decided (and shared) way back in June.
This is remarkably old news (that Safari can pass Acid3).
Safari and Opera both released builds that passed 100% within an hour of each other way back in June (possibly earlier). I can but only presume that was webkit too.
Safari's engineers found a bug with the test, and that made Opera's version only a 99/100. Opera haven't bothered releasing a build fixing the last thing to the public. Safari did once the bug had been fixed (in June).
Installing a nightly build of webkit is exactly the same as installing a beta version of Opera.
What the heck this 'news' has to do with anything, I have no idea.
I'm pretty sure BetaNews even wrote about that one.
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|Hey Paul,
Instead of making yourself look like a complete idiot, take the time to read the whole article. If you did you would have seen that Safari, the world's best browser, was the first browser to COMPLETELY pass the Acid3 test.
There's more to passing Acid3 than just web standards.
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|LOL....best browser....funniest thing I've heard all day.
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|Read to the end of my comment before telling me to read to the end of the article.
I didn't say Opera was the first to completely pass, I didn't even say which was first to pass with or without the bug (I believe that was Safari anyway).
I said that this is old news, and that BetaNews itself wrote an article about it at the time.
I have no clue what this article is meant to be about.
"There's more to passing Acid3 than just web standards."
That statement is the wrong way around. There is more to web standards than the Acid3 test.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...parison_of_web_browsers
Let me look now, which is the only browser to support Web Forms 2.0? Which is the only browser to support Voice+XML? Which is the only browser to support WML?
DO NOT talk to me about web standards. I'm the one that's done the dissertation on it.
And no, I didn't use Wikipedia as my sources.
You ignorant ****.
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|I know IE supports WML since I've made WML cards.
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|Fully.
Most browsers support WML in spirit.
Sorry about not making that one clear :)
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|............... And Safari still displays simple HTML tables wrong on many sites.
Yay Apple!!
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|Whoopie! Still doesn't make me want to use Safari any more than before.
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|Too bad. You're missing out on the very browser that Steve Jobs uses. When Safari 4 is released which will have the new Squirrelfish Extreme technology which is up to 38% faster than Google Chrome, you will want to make the switch.
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|I'm going to start calling you Apple Troll Boy from this day forward.
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|Please don't, my feelings will be hurt. :)
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|That would just be tragic...
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|I use Safari 4 in my laptop but still keep Firefox and Opera and use them daily too. There is more to a browser than passing Acid3 test. I keep using FF because of all the add-ons that I find useful to my daily browsing.
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