Safari 4 is 3 times faster than Firefox... Apparently.

According to the new Web Browser's creators, Safari 4 has been clocked at around 3 times the speed of Firefox, our favourite web browser right now. And according to the statistics, it is.

However, we all know that the tests new pieces of software goes through is nothing compared to a real life test, so I decided to download the browser and tell you my honest opinion of the program.

The first thing I noticed was that it has had a make over, not only does it work on XP and Vista, but it also looks like it should now. This is great because let's face it, no matter how much you prefer Leopard, it's never nice for things not to match.

Secondly, I noticed it's layout is highly similar to Google Chrome, which I guess is a good thing, seeing as I am quite the fan of Chromes appearance. The tabs are at the top of the screen and there is a page, very much like Chromes listing websites you visit often, including images.

As for performance, I'm not quite convinced Apple have beaten Firefox here. Although it is fast, it does seem to have a few points where you find yourself waiting impatiently. It is fast on some sites, but others - It's not so consistent. Another downfall would be the enormous amount of RAM it takes up on your computer. Here I am, with 2 GB, and it's taking 30 seconds just to load up the task manager. Definitely something Apple need to work on.

I'm not going to give a full opinion on Safari 4 just yet, as it is still only in BETA, and I've used it for a small 3 hours so far. My advice is to test it for yourself, and see if you like.