Version 5 of Apple’s Safari browser is now available online at www.apple.com/safari for Windows and Mac OS.
One of the major changes is the addition of Reader, designed to make Web sites more reader-friendly. Additionally, according to some sources, designers have made the browser 30 percent faster and included support for the new HTML 5 web standard.
The new Reader displays articles in a separate scrollable screen. Advertisements and other information on the Web site are excluded, meaning fewer distractions for the reader.
To get this special window, users have to click the Reader symbol in Safari 5’s Smart Address field. The symbol then enhances the browser whenever it comes across a part of a Web site it identifies as an article.
Apple says the enhanced speed of its new browser should be obvious the first time anyone uses it to pull up a new Web site. Previously viewed Web sites should also be processed faster, thanks to improved methods for storing data.
Supporting HTML 5 should appeal to both programmers and users. It should allow embedded videos to play at full screen size and with subtitles while allowing developers to come up with their own expansions for the browser.