Shiira
From Mac Guides
Shiira is an open source web browser that uses the WebKit framework.
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Requirements
The latest version of Shiira works on Mac OS X 10.3.9 and later. Previously, version 1.0 only worked on Tiger, while versions 0.9.4 and 0.9.5 were designed only to work in Panther.
History
The first public release of Shiira, version 0.9, was released on April 11 2004. It offered many advantages over Safari, but had a number of limitations and was not considered a serious competitor. A number of minor updates followed, up to version 0.9.5.
Shiira 1.0 was released on April 29 2005, and worked only in Tiger. However, Shiira 1.1, which was released on July 14 2005, now works in Mac OS X 10.3.9 and later. On December 20 2005, version 1.2 was released, adding RSS support and an improved sidebar. Several other major features have been added since the first version, such as Tab Exposé (see below).
Features
- Tab Exposé, which shows all open tabs of the front window in a similar way to Exposé. However, Tab Exposé is much slower than Exposé and is not as flexible (eg it can't be controlled with the keyboard).
- A search field, which can search multiple search engines such as Google and Dictionary.com. Additional search engines can be added by the user.
- A highly customizable interface, with the option of an aqua or brushed metal appearance as well as a choice of seven built in icon themes. Several extra icon themes can also be downloaded from the Shiira website.
- Tabbed browsing. It's support for tabbed browsing is arguably superior to that of Safari, with additions such as being able to rearrange tabs by dragging them.
- Shiira automatically reads Safari's bookmark file and creates a bookmarks bar.
- RSS support
Comparison with Safari
As it is based on the WebKit framework, Shiira shares many common features with Safari and renders websites in the same way. However, there are still a large number of differences.
Interface
Most noticeably, Shiira has a much more customizable interface than Safari, with a number of themes built in, as well as support for third party themes. Tabbed browsing is more flexible, with rearrangable tabs.
Instead of displaying bookmarks and history in the main window as does Safari, Shiira displays them in a sidebar along with its download manager. It could be argued either way which method is better, although it is mostly a matter of personal preference.
In terms of the text in the interface, Shiira suffers from poor translation in places. For example the pane in the preferences where you can choose themes and change favicon options is peculiarly named "Icon".
Documentation
Unlike Safari, Shiira currently lacks documentation. However, it does have support forums on its website where users can ask questions.
System Requirements
The latest version of Shiira supports Mac OS X 10.3.9 and later, while Safari RSS requires Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). On the other hand, no versions of Shiira will work in Jaguar, while the first versions of Safari did.
Other
Although Safari and Shiira both support spell check, it is more accessible in Safari. In Shiira, spell check options can only be accessed using a contextual menu (accessed by control-clicking), while in Safari (and most other Cocoa applications) they can also be accessed through the Edit menu.
Shiira's unique features such as Tab Exposé and optional page transition effect put it a step ahead of Safari in terms of eye candy, although these effects can only be truely enjoyed with Core Image, else they are extremely slow. Features such as customizable search field engines also work in Shiira's favour.
