So if you haven't heard, Apple released Safari 3 beta for XP and Vista today. I can't say that I'm all that stoked about it because, for one, I think Safari is a crummy browser. Aside from rendering stuff really fast, I've never heard anyone talk about how good it is at rendering things properly. All the CSS and Javascript guru's at ROKKAN have nothing but ill feelings towards the browser. But of course, the two mac users, think its the best thing since sliced bread. The reasons for this are obvious, and I won't get into them because it will, and it always does, turn into a big shouting match.

At any rate, I downloaded and installed the browser immediately so that I could give it a whirl. Naturally, since I'm a Flash developer, I checked out all the recent Flash sites I've worked on to see how they faired. The first one being one on an internal development server in which we use .htaccess password protection on...CRASH! Apparently it doesn't like .htaccess. That immediately bummed me out. But an even bigger issue for me was that SWFAddress does not work properly. Apparently, from my first observations, whenever the hash variable is updated via SWFAddress the browser clears the hash variable and reloads the entire page. Total bummer! On the upside, the Flash Player was prepackaged and I didn't have to install anything.

I was really excited to be able to test on Safari without having to get out my chair, but now my big question is, are we going to have another browser to account for? I certainly don't imagine many PC users will convert to Safari in large numbers, but who the heck knows.

Oh, and two other things. 1) I really hate programs that don't use the default chrome because now UltraMon util buttons don't appear! 2) When I put Safari on my 2nd monitor and try to maximize it, it disappears!