Safari 4 Public Beta first impressions

I've been playing with the new Public Beta of Safari 4 on both Leopard and Windows 7 for the past few hours.  Here are my first impressions:

1. It is a bit slower on Windows overall.  I am not sure if this will be the case in the final version but it is noticeable.  

2. The biggest difference you'll notice is that tabs have been moved to the top.  I'm not used to it yet but I don't think it will take too long.  This definitely takes cues from Opera and Chrome.  I wonder if each tab will be its own process like Chrome.

3. The Windows version actually looks like a Windows app...not like you dragged Safari over from a Mac onto a Windows desktop in Safari 3 and pasted some windows buttons on top.

4. The installation went fine for me but there are reports on the Internet that some are having issues.  It might have to do with installed third party plugins.  If this is an issue for you, try removing the Safari plugins and reinstall.

5. The Coverflow is a neat trick but it takes a lot of CPU power to use and consequently is pretty slow to load.  I'm also not sure I need to see the full pages of my bookmarks.  Favicons are usually enough if they've been designed properly.

6. TopSites.  I like the look but I'd rather have the option of seeing a 2D quicker view like in Opera and Firefox.   Once you delete one, it is gone forever - I think - unless it comes back up again after browsing there many times.  I'm hoping to see more functionality in this area.  These are also slow to load the first time.

7. The blue progress bar is gone for loading pages.  Also the refresh button has moved into the URL bar just like on the iPhone OS.  

8.  It is fast but not blindingly faster than other browsers.  On a very complex Gmail page, I see minor speed improvements over Firefox.  It isn't enough to make me move from Firefox full time but any improvement in speed is still great to see.

9. New CSS animations work.  To see what I am talking about click here in Safari 4.  Those leaves falling are all done in CSS.  Also here to see some other tricks.

10. Smart Address Field is largely a catch up to Firefox but great to have.  I may like Safari's better at first glance

11. Google Gears doesn't work yet.  No word yet on if/when it will of if Google will use the other offline capabilities built into Safari.

12. Overall I think the upgrade is very nice.  I say this almost for what it doesn't do more than what it does do.  You can pretty much get going right away and operate just like you normally do.  Those 150 new features don't get in the way of doing your normal work.  However, if you want to take advantage of them, they are right where you'd expect them to be.

For all 150 new features, check Apple's Safari Page.

The Browser Wars are in full swing!