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Apple Unveils Safari Browser

Apple today unveiled Safari, the fastest and easiest to use web browser ever created for the Mac. Safari’s highly-tuned rendering engine loads pages over three times faster than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for the Mac and runs Javascript over twice as fast. Safari’s innovative features include Google search capabilities integrated directly into the toolbar; SnapBack, a new way to instantly snap back up to search results or the top level of any website after browsing down one or more levels; a completely new way to name, organize and present bookmarks; and automatic “pop-up” ad blocking.

“Safari is the fastest browser on the Mac, and we predict that many will feel it is the best browser ever created,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We are bringing innovation back into this category with the first all new browser created in many years.”

Safari’s features include:

• Google search capabilities built into the user interface for convenient and quick searching on the web’s most popular search engine;
• SnapBack, Safari’s unique feature that instantly returns the viewer to Google’s search results or the top level of a website after navigating through a series of links from a Google search results page or the original entry page of any website;
• bookmark re-naming, which helps the user easily and quickly rename cumbersome website names to shorter names more suitable for bookmarks;
• the bookmark library, a powerful single-window interface similar to Apple’s popular iTunes™ and iPhoto applications that makes organizing and managing bookmarks extremely familiar and convenient;
• optional pop-up blocking to automatically block intrusive advertisements;
• Address Book integration, which automatically incorporates all websites listed in the user’s Address Book contact database, such as personal websites, into Safari’s bookmark library;
• extensive support of established industry standards to deliver proper rendering of web pages, such as HTML, XHTML 1.0, DOM, CSS, SSL, JavaScript and Netscape style plug-ins like QuickTime with MPEG-4, Flash, Shockwave and Real;
• a simplified download process with automatic handling of disk images, file decompression, MacBinary and BinHex conversion for easy download and installation of files and applications without extra files remaining on the desktop; and
• the industry’s best rendering engine based on KHTML, from KDE’s Konqueror open source project, to which Apple has made significant enhancements that will be contributed back to the open source community.

The Safari public beta is available immediately for free download at http://www.apple.com/safari, requires Mac OS X version 10.2 “Jaguar” and is optimized for Mac OS X v10.2.3. Safari is a compact 3MB download that occupies only 7.1MB of hard drive space. The final version of Safari will be made available later in 2003.

Mac OS X v10.2 “Jaguar” requires a minimum of 128MB of memory and is designed to run on the following Apple products: eMac, iMac, iBook, Power Macintosh G3, Power Mac G4 and any PowerBook introduced after May 1998.

Apple today introduced iLife, an integrated suite of Apple’s industry-leading digital lifestyle applications, featuring brand new versions of iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD, and the recently-released iTunes 3. iLife is the only integrated suite to include all of the four applications required for today’s “digital lifestyle”—digital music, photography, moviemaking and DVD creation—and is the first product to offer the benefits of seamlessly integrating them.

“iLife does for our digital lifestyle what Microsoft Office did for office productivity—all the applications you need are in one box, and they all work together,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Apple is far ahead of its PC competitors in offering the best-in-class applications for digital music, photography, moviemaking and DVD creation, and now they all work together seamlessly.”

iLife includes incredible new versions of iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD with dozens of advanced new features, all seamlessly integrated to allow users to easily access their digital music, photos and movies from within each application. For example, users can now select music from their iTunes library to use in their iPhoto slideshows, movies or DVD menus from directly within iPhoto 2, iMovie 3 or iDVD 3—without interrupting the creative process by having to switch back and forth between applications.

iPhoto 2 now includes one-click photo Enhance, which can dramatically improve less-than-perfect pictures; a new Retouch tool for removing scratches, hair, lens dirt, etc.; photo archiving to a CD or DVD to preserve and share your iPhoto library; and the ability to email photos with one click using Mac OS X Mail, Eudora, Entourage and AOL.

iMovie 3 features pro-quality special effects, including the new “Ken Burns” effect for adding emotionally powerful motion to still photos; powerful new audio editing tools and blockbuster sound effects from Skywalker Sound’s seven-time Academy Award winner Gary Rydstrom; pro-quality special video effects such as Aged Film, Letterbox and Earthquake; and the ability to add chapter markers to movies for DVD navigation and scene selection.

iDVD 3 includes 24 new pro-quality, Apple-designed, customizable DVD menu themes; automatically created DVD scene selection menus from iMovie chapter markers; and the ability to personalize iDVD 3 themes with personal photos, music and movies using iDVD Drop Zones.

The iLife applications will be included with all new Macintosh computers. On January 25, iPhoto 2 and iMovie 3 will be available for free download at www.apple.com. The iLife retail package with a single installer for all four applications will be available January 25 at the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $49 (US). An iLife Up-To-Date upgrade package is available to all customers who purchase a new Mac system with SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) on or after January 7 that does not include iLife. The iLife Up-To-Date package is available for a shipping and handling fee of $19.95 (US). iTunes 3 is currently available for free download at www.apple.com.

iLife requires Mac OS X version 10.1.5 or later and a Macintosh with a PowerPC G3 or G4 processor; 256MB RAM is recommended. A built-in USB port is required for importing photos to iPhoto from a digital camera and a built-in FireWire port is required to input digital video from a camcorder. DVD burning from iDVD requires a Macintosh equipped with an Apple SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) and DVD archiving from iPhoto requires Mac OS X version 10.2 “Jaguar” or later.

Apple today unveiled Keynote, a new generation of presentation software that brings the ability to create stunning, professional-quality presentations to everyone. Featuring Apple’s legendary ease of use, Keynote includes professionally designed themes, amazing typography, pro-quality image resizing, animated charts and tables that can be created in seconds, and cinematic-quality transitions. Available immediately for $99 (US), Keynote imports and exports PowerPoint, QuickTime® and PDF files to make creating and sharing presentations easier than ever.

“Using Keynote is like having a professional graphics department to create your slides,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “This is the application to use when your presentation really counts.”

Keynote includes 12 Apple-designed themes featuring coordinated backgrounds, fonts, colors, bullets, tables and charts. Users can change the theme of their presentation any number of times, modify an existing theme to their liking, or create custom themes to give their presentations a totally unique look.

Keynote takes advantage of the Mac OS X-only technology Quartz as well as OpenGL to create presentations with stunning, pro-quality graphic elements such as fully anti-aliased text, transparency, dynamic drop shadows and cinematic-quality transitions between slides. Users can easily drag-and-drop graphics, digital photos, QuickTime movies and audio into their slides. Keynote’s alignment guides and rulers ensure that all text and graphic elements are placed precisely where users want them.

Keynote makes it easy to create impressive charts and tables in seconds. Users can choose from eight flexible chart types, progressively disclose chart and table information, and create unique animations, shadows and labels on any chart or table. Chart and table data can be imported from applications such as Excel and AppleWorks® or organized directly in Keynote’s Chart Data Editor.

Keynote also makes managing large slide shows incredibly simple. The innovative slide Navigator gives users a quick visual overview of the whole slideshow at all times. Slide thumbnails can be grouped into sections that can be collapsed or expanded, making it easy to see and organize the big picture. For text-oriented presentations, Keynote provides a text outline view and speaker’s notes.

Keynote is immediately available through the Apple Store (http://www.apple.com), at Apple’s retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $99 (US). Minimum system requirements include Mac OS X version 10.2 “Jaguar” (Mac OS X v. 10.2.3 recommended), PowerPC G3 processor, 256MB RAM and 8MB video RAM.

Charles W. Moore

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