Windows/Mac only: Apple today released a new beta version of its Safari web browser, boasting several new features including Cover Flow, full history search, a faster JavaScript engine (dubbed Nitro), and a slew of other new features. Eye candy aside, the most remarkable feature update is the Nitro engine, which claims to run faster than Chrome, Firefox 3.0 (and 3.1, for that matter).

We haven't had a chance to vet any of these claims yet, but we'll let you know once we do. The rest of Safari's new features seem less like new features and more like a quick game of catch-up. For example, Safari's Top Sites feature smells eerily similar to Google Chrome's homepage, listing "your favourite web sites at a glance." Likewise, the new tabs on top feature puts tabs along the very top edge of the window—also very familiar to Chrome users. On the other side of the fence, Firefox users may find the new, smarter address bar familiar as well. As an added bonus—as you can see in the first screenshot—Safari actually looks like it belongs on Windows now.

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Still, none of that copying really matters. We're happy to see the browser market borrow a good feature or two here and there if it means the competition continues. Safari 4 Beta is a free download, Windows and Mac OS X only. In the meantime, let's hear what you think of the shiny new Safari in the comments.

Story from Lifehacker Australia