The headline features are a more complete HTML 5 implementation, better support for (non-flash) internet video, and better performance for web applications.  No, wait, scratch that.  Actually the real headline features are that tabs have moves slightly and you can now type tab names rather than working up a sweat moving the mouse.  But the good news is that they threw in all that other stuff for free.

I plan to put the Firefox 4 beta through its paces.  I am still running into slowdowns after about a week with Safari (on several computers, so I am pretty sure its not just a single system acting funky).  In fairness, Safari did better than Firefox 3, which could only last about a couple days of my internet usage (if that!).  But I’d like to get out of the habit of restarting Safari every 5 days or so just to keep it usable.

You see, for me, a web browser isn’t just a fancy newspaper.  Something I pick up once a day, read for a bit, and put down.  It’s a workspace.  I keep a couple dozen tabs open at any one time for the various projects I am involved in.  And when I have to shut down Safari and reload all of those tabs, there’s always the chance that something goes wrong.  I want a browser that I can keep using for a month or longer without restarting, just like I do with Mac OS X.

Maybe Firefox 4 will be my savior?  Only time will tell.

So I was a little surprised when someone suggested using Windows Live Mesh to replace Syncplicity as my synchronization solution. Two weeks ago I grudgingly installed the beta for Live Mesh and set up my first computer. Nothing seemed to break or disappear, so a couple of days later I set up my second computer and started synching.

Live Mesh and I didn’t get off on exactly the right foot because I turned synchronization on for the second computer from the website. That plopped the synched folder right on my desktop, not exactly where I wanted it. But after doing some quick internet research, I was able to delete the desktop folder and put the synched folder right where I wanted it by using the local Live Mesh application.

Two weeks later and I am pretty happy. Synching isn’t as fast as with Syncplicity. I don’t know exactly how fast it is, but it can take more than a couple minutes to get even small files from one place to another. I’ll probably run some tests to narrow that number down so I know how to plan my workflow on multiple computers.

Importantly, I haven’t lost any files that I am aware of. And I haven’t created any unnecessary duplicate files from hitting Save too often (something that was a problem with Syncplicity and may have been related to them pulling the Mac client).

In fact, I have had only one spotty problem. For a period of about 3 days, the Live Mesh client had trouble connecting. It looked like it was trying to synch, but instead of the new or modified files I expected, there would be 0Kb files with a different extension (which I can’t remember at the moment). I learned how to detect this problem, though, by looking at the Live Mesh menu extra. If it wasn’t connected properly, quitting Live Mesh and relaunching it 2-3 times would generally fix the problem. It’s been clear sailing for the last few days, though. So its possible the problem was on the back end and has been fixed.

If you’re in the market for a synchronization solution, I would suggest giving Live Mesh a look. It’s free, and you get 5GB of storage for your files.

So two days ago I uninstalled the Safari 4 Beta. The improvement was immediate and noticeable. After the restart (required by the install/uninstall), I could tell things were faster. I have been using Safari 3 for a couple days now and haven’t had a single issue with beachballing or experienced any slowness. I liked some of the new features of Safari 4, but I don’t care how much faster the Javascript performance is if it brings my whole system to its knees.

The second piece of news is the release of the Safari 4 beta. There are lots of changes in this release, including a new tabs paradigm and a new Top Sites page. I won’t say the “c” word (“copied”), but both features are very reminiscent of Google Chrome. I downloaded Safari 4 yesterday and have been using it ever since. Its fast, and I like the new Top Sites page (pretty and functional). I’m not sold on the new tabs, though. I like them in theory, but a few quirks keep me from being sold entirely. The small font size in the title bar is distracting. I have been using Mac OS X for a long time now and I am used to the title bar font being a particular size. The smaller size may be necessary to fit in the tab titles, but it puts me off.

My real problem, though, is how it’s now possible to accidentally switch tabs when switching windows. Before, I could click anywhere on the title bar to bring a Safari window to the front. Now, if I click on one of the other tabs, the window comes to the front but the tab changes. So the area I have to click on is smaller. It’s something of a small ergonomic disaster for me. Thankfully, this problem can be fixed without changing the tab paradigm. All Apple needs to do is put in an option allowing clicks on a background Safari window to no longer change tabs. Then I would be happy.

The best way I can describe Chrome is to say that it’s designed for web applications, in contrast with other browsers which were designed primarily for web pages. Because of its architecture (described in quite a bit of detail in the comic), Chrome should be more stable and responsive when one tab or window gets a bit unruly.

I have downloaded and installed Chrome – a process which was surprisingly quick – but haven’t had a chance to put it through its paces. The few sites I did visit loaded quickly and everything seemed quite crisp. I look forward to the Mac version of Chrome.

I like (and dislike) a variety of things about Lexis and Westlaw. During law school I primarily used Lexis because Westlaw has historically not played well with tabs. Westlaw’s frame interface throws a wrench into my use of tabs. Invariably, I would click on a Westlaw link in the current tab and nothing would happen – or so it would seem. What actually happened was that a page somewhere on one of my other tabs had been replaced because Westlaw decided that particular tab had the window the page should be loaded in.

One reason I do like running Westlaw on a Mac browser is that Westlaw prints and downloads work better. I am not sure if it’s a bug or a feature, but if I switch to another application while doing a Westlaw print in Internet Explorer (on Windows XP), the Westlaw popup window closes and the print stops. The same thing happens if I switch applications during a download. It’s irritating that Westlaw forces me to sit there and watch, unable to do any other work on the computer, while it’s building the pages. Westlaw doesn’t do this on any of the Mac browsers I tried. For some reason I haven’t tried Westlaw on Firefox for Windows. Does anyone know if Firefox for Windows has this “feature”?

One omission from the review is Firefox 3.0. The Firefox team recently released Firefox 3.0 Beta 4, and I haven’t encountered any problems with it (unlike with Beta 2). Firefox 3.0 is getting close enough to an “everyday browser” that it should probably have been included.

I briefly tested the mobile version of LinkedIn and it seems like a good first step, but it is missing a few features. Overall, the experience is a pleasant one. There are three tabs: Updates, Contacts, and Profile. Above the tabs are links for Search and Invite. Navigation was straightforward and pages loaded quickly (a nice contrast with the regular site which has become quite slow).

The first limitation I noticed is that you can’t update your profile. In fact, you can’t really do much of anything besides invite people. This makes sense to a certain degree given the medium – mobile phones with very slow data entry. It doesn’t really work, though, for a social networking site and turns the LinkedIn mobile website into a glorified address book.

Unfortunately, the LinkedIn mobile website doesn’t fill that role very well because the mobile profiles are missing a lot of the information you will find on the regular site. A few egregious examples – vcards, email addresses, and website links are nowhere to be found. For some strange reason, you also can’t view your contacts’ connections.

They will probably eventually get it right, but it’s really a wonder that they released it in this state. Calling it a Beta website is quite the misnomer. Beta software is supposed to be feature-complete (or nearly so). The LinkedIn mobile website feels more like a technology demonstration than something “ready to go except for the testing.” Thankfully, there is a feedback button at the bottom of each page. If you’re adept at the iPhone keyboard, I suggest sending LinkedIn a note or two to remind them what social networking is all about.

I tend to use a variety of browsers – some Safari, some OmniWeb, and a very, very little Firefox. I use Firefox on Windows because it’s not Internet Explorer. On the Mac, though, Firefox just didn’t feel right. That is, until now. One of the most noticeable new features of Firefox 3.0 beta 3 is that it sports a more Mac-like appearance. It’s like Safari, with curves.

Firefox 2

Firefox 3

Safari 3

Firefox 3.0 beta 3 sports much more than a new skin, though. There are tons of new features. A few of the most significant ones (to me) are:

Download Manager. There is a new download manager that supports resumable downloads. This could be a boon for people who do some downloading, but not enough to justify buying something like Speed Download. This is a case of Firefox playing feature catch-up with Safari.

Bookmark Management. You now save bookmarks using a star button in the location bar. One click adds a bookmark. Two clicks lets you file and tag the bookmark. I would happily show you a preview, but the word is that the interface is likely to change from now until the final version.

Auto-Complete. The location bar auto-complete feature now lets you type either part of a url, the title of a web page, or a bookmark tag to get a list of results.

Smart Places. A smart places folder lists your favorite sites, recently bookmarked sites, and recently tagged sites.

Of course, there is a lot more to Firefox 3.0 beta 3 than what I have listed here. Many of the features, like the security features and coding improvements (to improve reliability and lower memory usage) won’t be immediately obvious but are equally important in the long run. Don’t be embarrassed, though. I know you just want to use it for the robots.

Remember, Firefox 3.0 beta 3 is beta software. If you use Firefox for work, you might want to stick with version 2. Users have reported problems with a few sites, including some of the major email providers like Yahoo, Windows Live Mail, and Gmail. But if you’re like me and have to be on the cutting edge, take a look at Firefox 3.0 beta 3 to see where browsers are headed.