With WWDC later today that will hopefully see Steve Jobs presenting the new iPhone 4G, rumours are also circulating that a new Safari 5.0 browser will also be launched together with Mac OS 10.6.4. Although nothing can be confirmed Safari 5.0 is expected to contain a number of new features which may include the following.
- Safari Reader: Click on the new Reader icon to view articles on the web in a single clutter-free page.
- Improved Performance: Safari 5 executes Javascript up to 25% faster than Safari 4. Better page caching and DNS prefetching speed up browsing.
- Bing Search Option: New Bing search option for Safari’s Search Field, in addition to Google and Yahoo.
- Improved HTML5 support: Safari supports over a dozen new HTML5 features including Geolocation, full screen for HTML5 video, closed caption for HTML5 video, new sectioning elements (article, aside footer, header, hgroup, nav and section), HTML5, AJAX History, EventSource, WebSocket, HTML 5 draggable attribute, HTML 5 forms validation, and HTML 5 Ruby.
- Safari Developer Tools: A new Timeline Panel in the Web Inspector shows how Safari interacts with a web site and identifies areas for optimization. New keyboard shortcuts make it aster to switch between panels.
- Smarter Address Field: The Smart Address Field can now match text against the titles of web pages in History and Bookmarks, as well as any part of their URL.
- Tab Settings: Automatically open new webpages in tabs instead of in separate windows.
- Hardware Acceleration for Windows: Use the power of the computer’s graphics processor to smoothly display media and effects on PC, as well as Mac.
- Search History with Date: A new date indicator in Full History Search shows when web pages were viewed.
- Top Sites/History Button: Switch easily between Top Sites and Full History Search with a new button that appears at the top of each view.
- Private Browsing Icon: A “Private” icon appears in the Smart Address Field when Private Browsing is on. Click on the icon to turn off Private Browsing.
- DNS Prefetching: Safari looks at the addresses of links on web pages and can load those pages faster.
- Improved Page Caching: Safari can add additional types of web pages to the cache so they load quickly.
- XSS Auditor: Safari can filter potentially malicious scripts used in cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
- Improved JavaScript Support: Safari allows web applications that use JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) to run faster and more securely.
Via Cruch Gear