Home Safari Introduces Extensions with Version 5.0.1

Safari Introduces Extensions with Version 5.0.1

Apple announced today the release of its latest version of Web browser Safari. Version 5.0.1 introduces Safari extensions as well as an extensions gallery, bringing the browser into sync with other leading browsers such as Firefox and Chrome.

Extensions were initially added with the June release of Safari 5, but were primarily for developer testing. This latest release brings extensions to the forefront with the introduction of the the extensions gallery.

The new version of Safari debuts with extensions by Twitter, The New York Times, Amazon and Bing, among others. The extensions bring real-time functionality and integration to the Web browsing experience. The Twitter extension, for example, will notify you of mentions of the website you’re currently looking at and allow you to tweet about that site with an automatically created short link. The Bing extension adds search, translation and other functionalities directly to any page – simply highlight text and the extension goes from there.

According to the release, extensions are built with HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript and are “sandboxed,” or kept segregated from other parts of the user’s filesystem to ensure that “they can’t access information on a user’s system or communicate with websites aside from those specified by the developer.”

Last month, Chrome surpassed Safari in the U.S. to take over the number three spot in the browser market, putting Safari behind Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome. Safari had long held onto the number three spot in the U.S. but had already been relegated to the number four position worldwide. Will the introduction of extensibility, something the other top browsers already offered, bring Safari back into the race?

The latest version of Safari is available for both Mac and PC.

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