Surf on the Edge With a WebKit Nightly Build
If you like being so far out on the bleeding edge such that using a newly released beta isn’t high risk enough for you, the Web geniuses behind Apple’s Safari program offer nightly builds of the WebKit engine that acts as the underlying foundation for Safari, Dashboard, Mail and many other OS X applications. Now, with the recently announced Safari 3 beta for both Windows and Mac users, Safari fans on both operating systems can get a sneak peek at new features before they hit the street.
For example, yesterday evening, Dave Hyatt announced the addition of keyboard and mouse shortcuts for the Windows version of Safari, available only on the nightly builds of the browser, not yet part of the general release. In fact, the “Surfin’ Safari” site often offers good hints of what is to come next. If we had only been paying attention, we could have gotten early hints that Safari and WebKit were to be a big part of WWDC.
Upgrading your WebKit won’t necessarily mean an upgraded Safari version number. Safari simply references your underlying WebKit foundation, and utilizes what’s there. So if you upgrade your WebKit to a nightly build, don’t look for a new Safari app, but you just might see some new features.
Of course, be sure to exercise caution and install at your own risk…
#1 Ian Van Ness says:Nightshift is a great option on the Mac to easily get the latest Webkit builds!
#2 Charles says:I haven’t tried the nightly builds in a while, but with the newest developments in Safari, this seemed like a good time to try it again. But the latest build doesn’t run for me, on launch it bounces in the dock and then quits. Oh well. Maybe a future build will run OK.