Guess what, another post about browsers! After hearing a lot of good stories about Camino, I decided to give it a 5-day test drive. The outcome: A mixed feeling…
Posted on 25/04/2008 under Reviews, 5 comments
Positive
Application speed/stability
Camino is quick to launch (certainly compared to Firefox), and never seems to slow down. I haven’t checked the RAM-usage, but I guess it wasn’t as much as Safari might eat.
Pagetitle in the URL-list
This is something you’ll also find in Firefox. When you start typing a URL in the addressbar, the menu that proposes you matching results has the titles of those pages in it. Really handy when you want to go to a certain photoset of a Flickr-user.
It keeps you logged in
I have a lot of respect for Safari, but if there’s one thing that bugs me, it’s the fact that it “forgets” you were logged in at certain sites. This happens every 2 to 5 days, and is incredible frustrating. So the 5 days I tested Camino where like a fresh breeze. This almost convinced me to keep using it as my default browser.
Negative
Page-loading speed
I don’t think the loading of pages takes longer in Camino then in Safari, but the problem is the visual “clues” you do not get. When you click a link, there doesn’t seem to be any immediate action. Only the status bar at the bottom hints that there’s a page being loaded. If you’re used to Safari’s huge progressbar (that doubles as an address bar), it’s just not enough.
No Inquisitor :-(
Title says it all…
Bookmark bar
Bookmarks displayed in the bookmark bar all get a little label/flag/tag next to them. After you’ve visited a bookmark, the ugly label/flag/tag (what the hell is this?) gets replaced by a favicon. This means this bar gets cluttered very quickly.
Attention to detail
Ok, this is the spoiled Mac-user speaking again, but: Why do the tabs look so cramped? It doesn’t hurt to put like 2 or 3 pixels of spacing above them. This also gives the impression that there’s a very small clickable area.
I made a little mockup of the current situation, and how it could be improved:
Top is the current implementation, bottom is my proposition.
Conclusion
Camino is a nice browser, but just not nice enough to use as default. Safari still has more benefits (for me). For now, the main reason to switch to Camino would be the cookie issues (?) Safari is going through.
I advise giving it a try. Maybe it’ll suit you better then it did me…
Comments on this post (Write new)
Jason Cale said 89 days ago:
I’m day 2 into using Camino, because like you the cookie issue started to drive me mad.
So far its ok, the novelty of a new browser to use is one thing, but whether it can ultimately out do my beloved safari I’m not sure.
If I could get firebug for camino I might be love – but alas it looks like i can’t.
As usual, v. nice write up Tim.
Max said 89 days ago:
Nice post!
Am I the only one thinking that the main drawback of Camino is that the tabs aren’t moveable?
Until then, I’ll stick with FF3 (even with the slow boot up), can’t stand on Safari logging me out (plus I love google gears)!
Geof Harries said 89 days ago:
There is plenty to love about Camino, especially 1.6, but the attention to detail always drives me away from keeping it as my default browser. Tiny idiosyncrasies like inconsistent sizing of form field elements (drop-down menus and submit buttons in particular) annoy me throughout a day of usage. Even FF3 is light-years better than Camino in this regard.
Elliot Jay Stocks said 88 days ago:
I think there’s an inherent ‘ugliness’ with Camino, and it’s this (shallow?) fact that keeps Safari as my favourite browser. Camino’s nicer looking than Firefox, sure, but there’s something about Safari’s classy look that just keeps me coming back.
Lode Vanhove said 79 days ago:
I took a stab at changing the interface too:
http://flickr.com/photos/lode/2464635989/