Apple's update to Safari for OS X will tie the browser more closely to OS X Keychain, and include refreshed Top Sites, tweaks to article reading, and much-improved memory management -- but no big changes to the browser. June 10, 2013 10:49 AM PDT New Top Sites in the upcoming version of Safari. (Credit: James Martin/CNET) SAN FRANCISCO -- Once again, Apple's changes its Safari browser on OS X represent keeping up with the competition instead of forging new ground. At the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday, the company unveiled the next version of Safari, which Apple says will have significantly faster page rendering, better security, and make it easier to read multiple articles on the same site. The Safari 7 update introduces to the browser stronger connections to OS X's password-management tool called Keychain. Leveraging the iCloud browser syncing that debuted in last year's Safari, iCloud Keychain is an encrypted password creation tool that suggests new passwords automatically. In addition to Web site logins, iCloud Keychain stores credit card numbers, account info, and Wi-Fi passwords, said Apple's head of Mac software engineering, Craig Federighi. Safari 7 will change the Top Sites home page, so that it includes bookmarks, Reading List, and "shared links". The update to Reading List lets you keep scrolling when you reach the end of one article, seamlessly loading the next one. The browser's Nitro engine will get Just-In-Time rendering for JavaScript, making it faster; and Apple has split browser tab processes so that when one tab crashes, the rest of the browser doesn't. Other optimization improvements include shared memory rescue cache, background tab optimization, and better per-tab power management. This is a developing story that will be expanded shortly. Follow CNET's WWDC live blog for the latest breaking Apple news, and check out our complete WWDC coverage so far.
Apple's update to Safari for OS X will tie the browser more closely to OS X Keychain, and include refreshed Top Sites, tweaks to article reading, and much-improved memory management -- but no big changes to the browser.
New Top Sites in the upcoming version of Safari.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
SAN FRANCISCO -- Once again, Apple's changes its Safari browser on OS X represent keeping up with the competition instead of forging new ground. At the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday, the company unveiled the next version of Safari, which Apple says will have significantly faster page rendering, better security, and make it easier to read multiple articles on the same site.
The Safari 7 update introduces to the browser stronger connections to OS X's password-management tool called Keychain. Leveraging the iCloud browser syncing that debuted in last year's Safari, iCloud Keychain is an encrypted password creation tool that suggests new passwords automatically. In addition to Web site logins, iCloud Keychain stores credit card numbers, account info, and Wi-Fi passwords, said Apple's head of Mac software engineering, Craig Federighi.
Safari 7 will change the Top Sites home page, so that it includes bookmarks, Reading List, and "shared links". The update to Reading List lets you keep scrolling when you reach the end of one article, seamlessly loading the next one.
The browser's Nitro engine will get Just-In-Time rendering for JavaScript, making it faster; and Apple has split browser tab processes so that when one tab crashes, the rest of the browser doesn't. Other optimization improvements include shared memory rescue cache, background tab optimization, and better per-tab power management.
This is a developing story that will be expanded shortly. Follow CNET's WWDC live blog for the latest breaking Apple news, and check out our complete WWDC coverage so far.
