Apple, Safari, and Keyword Searches

One of the things I've gotten used to in browser-land is the ability to do keyword searches in a browser's address field. For instance, opening Firefox and typing g XKCD would search Google for XKCD. I know every browser by now has a little search bar right next to the address bar, but this is just something that makes my life a bit faster, and I've grown used to it.

For some reason, though, Apple has decided not to include this capability in Safari. Firefox has it natively. Opera has it natively. I don't know about Chrome. Safari does not.

Now, I recently got back into Safari after Apple released the beta of Safari 4. I downloaded it. It's nice. I could get used to using it, but first I had to solve the keyword search problem for it to be a browser I could use.

After much searching of the Tubes, I came across GLIMS. This is special in that it actually worked with the Safari 4 beta immediately; no waiting for the software community to catch up. It made me happy.

So, if you, like me, require keyword searches, go pick it up.

Opera 10 Beta

I don't really consider myself a fan-boy of any particular browser. I use Safari and Firefox for different things. The only major feeling I have about any browser is that I hate IE. Firefox has some really nice configuration options, and a whole lot of nice plug-ins. Safari is built-in to OS X, and also has a few nice options. I prefer Firefox over Safari.

Discussions recently about Firefox Greasemonkey hacks and others combined with seeing a bit about Opera releasing a 10 beta made me decide that I should download and play with it. Some people are really big fans of Opera to the exclusion of other browsers. My prior experiences with Opera left me wanting.

After playing with it and learning the slightly different ways to make it do the things I'm used to in Firefox and Safari, I have to say I like it. The interface is very nice, and a diversion from the standard browser layout. The toolbox icon in the upper left hand corner allows for quick access to bookmarks and other gems without requiring that they are shown at all times. Opera also has a feature called Speed Dial, which is effectively a tab that allows you to quickly load any of nine of your favorite pages after configuring them. As I am largely a creature of habit, this is pretty useful for me. After discovering this feature, I learned that Firefox has a plug-in to do the same thing. It's also really fast. I'm relatively sure it loads pages faster than Firefox and Safari, but this is just a feeling as I haven't done any time tests.

There are one or two things I'd prefer to be able to configure that don't seem to be configurable, however. To open a tab in the background (remember, I'm on a Macbook and therefore have no middle click), I have to use Command+Shift+click instead of the usual Command+click. This can't be configured. Also, there seems to be no way to replace the current tab with Speed Dial. Seemingly the only way to use Speed Dial is with a new tab. That's a minor inconvenience, but it would be nice to have a button that would replace the current page with Speed Dial. Those, so far, are the only problems I have, and they're not really problems. Overall, I like it, and I plan to hang onto it for a while.

Update: After searching briefly online (i.e., after determine the correct search terms), I found this page, which showed me that buttons can be added to Opera with hyperlinks! How cool is that?! Anyway, on that page was a button to replace the current tab with Speed Dial, which is one of the features I mentioned I would like. Now if I could just find a fix for the mouse button thing...