Brief Hands-On Report--Apple Safari 3.0.2 Beta

We had problems with several widgets (Air Traffic Control, Gas Prices and Package Tracker) that we use frequently when we tried out the original Safari 3 Beta Web browser. While we had no other problems, we uninstalled it. Since then, Apple has released Safari 3.0.1 Beta for Windows and now Safari 3.0.2 Beta for both Mac OS X and Windows. Safari 3.0.2 Beta is available as a stand-alone installer and uninstaller from this Apple Web page.

According to Apple, the changes in Safari 3.0.2 for Mac OS X beta include:

• Latest security updates (noted in the article above)
  
• Improved stability
  
• Improved WebKit support for Mail, iChat and Dashboard
  

Apple also divulged what's coming soon to Safari 3:

• Support for International users
  
• International text input methods
  
• Advanced text (contextual forms, international scripts)
  
• Localized menus and help
  
• NTLM support
  
• PAC file auto-detection
  
• FTP directory listings
  
• Link to proxy settings from Safari (Safari respects the proxy settings in the Windows Internet control panel)
  
• Cookie management
  
• LiveConnect support
  
• Tooltips
  
• Spell checking
  
• Printing page numbers, titles, margins

We downloaded and installed Safari 3.0.2 Beta with no problems. All three widgets that did not work with version 3.0 now work fine. We encountered no problems with Mail or iChat. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]