Why I Switched Back to Chrome from Safari 5

I just spent a month using Safari 5.1 on OS X Lion as my default browser. This morning I decided to switch back to Chrome 14 beta. Here are the things in Safari that pushed me away:

  • The URL completion in the address bar is too aggressive, to the point that it completes URLs that I often don’t want, instead of just completing the next rational segment.
  • I have to run FastScripts to get CMD+[number] tab switching, which I use extensively in many of my most-used apps, including TextMate, Adium, Propane, Terminal and Twitter.
  • Closing tabs is a very slow process, where I have to wait for the browser to finish closing each tab before I can close the next. If I’m doing this with the mouse, the tabs also move and further frustrate an already non-ideal situation.
  • Keyword-based search shortcuts in the URL bar (provided by Glims) aren’t as nice as Chrome’s, which appear as you’re typing so you know which search you’ve triggered
  • Favicons on tabs, again via Glims, only work sometimes.
  • The page animation/reveal on double-finger swipe (for Back/Forward) is cute the first few times, but annoying and error-prone thereafter, especially when horizontally scrolling in a text field within the page.
  • Safari will actually unload the content of background tabs if Lion deems your usage too heavy, leading to an excruciating (and often broken) experience when re-focusing a tab that’s been unloaded.
  • Pressing ESC after hitting Return in the address bar resets the value of the address bar, making it impossible to just correct typos without retyping the whole thing.
  • The search box in the browser chrome is completely unremovable. I prefer to search using keyword shortcuts from within the URL bar.

And here are the things in Chrome 14 beta that are less than ideal, but not enough to make me switch away:

  • 1Password integration is not as nice as Safari’s.
  • In Chrome 14 beta, advanced CSS animations/transitions support isn’t quite as up-to-date as it is in Safari’s release version.
  • The dev channel tends to have better features, but is too crashy to stick with (understandably).
  • Chrome doesn’t have Safari’s “Reader” feature, which works exceptionally well. The Readability extension does alright, though.
  • Lion’s autocorrect doesn’t appear to work in Chrome’s text fields.