14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes to web browsers, it's not like you don't have where to choose from? Safari is fast and sleek, Firefox is also fast and has more features, OmniWeb is packed with all the tricks, and there is also Camino, iCab and even Opera. With so many already out there, one has to wonder why developers would want to put out yet another browser. The answer? Because they can.
First impressions The first thing that struck me about Shiira is that it's fast... just as fast as Safari. And after using it I can safely describe it as a Safari with extra features.
For one thing it has skins, letting you change between Brushed Metal and Aqua, as well as a host of button alternatives. You can set it up to look exactly like Safari and, since it s just as responsive, the two start out on rather equal footing.
Also, since Shiira uses the KHTML rendering engine which is provided by Apple's Web Kit, which incidentally happens to be the exact same engine used in Safari, any website you load will look exactly the same in both browsers.
At the end of the day, when comparing Shiira to Safari, you have to look at what features found in Shiira are not in Safari, because the former has pretty much everything found in the latter.
The Drawer A big part of Shiira is the drawer. Bookmarks, the History, Downloads, and RSS feeds can all be viewed in the drawer, and interacted with. This approach is bound to please those who are not big fans of the many different windows that Safari often opens up over the course of using it. Of course, if you don't like drawers at all, you are going to hate it, in the end it all comes down to personal preference. This also applies to the sounds that the browser can play here and there when you perform certain actions. Personally I really dislike interface sounds, but I will say that the sounds are less horrible than those found in other applications.
The Drawer implementation is quite good actually, since it keeps quite a large amount of information in a relatively limited amount of screen real estate. The only thing I am not a fan of is the list view but I don't see it changing into a column one anytime soon.
Little details Some of the great things about this browser are not at all obvious, being hidden away in the preferences.
One of these is being able to set the duration for Page Loading Timeout, which is great if you have sites that are strained by traffic or are testing connections. Another is the option to create dated folders in which to place downloaded files. Also, it remembers the last tab you were at, so if you close the tab you are in, it can automatically take you to the one you were in before, unlike Safari which always takes you to the next tab to the right of the one that was closed (although Shiira can also behave this way should you wish it).
Those who often look at the innards of sites will like the option to color code the source to their liking, easily differentiating tags and comments. For those who just cannot live without Expose, Shiira delivers the option of displaying all the currently open tabs at the same time, in an Expose-like manner. Although being less attractive than Expose because of the precise, grid placement, and a lot more resource intensive than the Finder's Expose feature, it is still a great feature for those who have come to use Expose in everything.
Private Browsing One of the best features in Shiira is Private Browsing. This option basically puts you in discreet mode, meaning that nothing you do registers. Pages you visit will not be added to the history, Google searches will not be remembered and added to the search pop-up menu, downloads are automatically removed from the download list. This makes it perfect for computers that are used by several people, and is not exactly crippling in functionality since the back and forward buttons will work as long as the window remains open.
The Good This browser, although at a first glance redundant, offers many great little features that end up making a big difference in your browsing experience. There are too many little things to mention them all but they are there and it seems that more are on the way.
The Bad The program lacks any serious documentation and because of the different perspective on design, at times it is not exactly clear how to do certain things. There are forums, in which you can ask questions, but that is just not enough at times.
The Truth Just as good as Safari, but with many great feature that are not available in Apple's browser. Definitely worth trying out.
Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge:
