Apple's Safari Updated to Version 5.0.1 with New Extensions

Soon after launching a new line of Mac Pros, Apple (News - Alert) has released Safari 5.0.1Apple introduced extensions support to Safari 5, so developers could begin creating extensions with HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript web standards. The Safari Extensions Gallery is accessible from the Safari menu or at extensions.apple.com. with flexibility to add third-party extensions to the browser from a developer’s site or via Safari Extensions Gallery. With Safari Extensions Gallery, users can now easily add powerful new features to Safari from toolbars that display live Web feeds to sophisticated programs that filter Web content. In June,

For those concerned with privacy, Apple said it digitally signs all third-party Safari extensions to prevent tampering. And, thereby, ensures that extension updates come from the original third-party developer. Plus, all extensions will be sandboxed. Thus, preventing extensions from accessing your computer system. Safari extensions also won't be able to communicate directly with websites, except for those sites specified by the developer.

Although, extensions are not new, Apple has been successful in adding some well known names to Safari. High profile companies now capable of adding functionalities via extensions to Safari include Twitter, Microsoft, MLB.com, New York Times, eBay (News - Alert), and Amazon.

In a statement, Brian Croll, Apple's vice president of OS X, stated, "Safari 5 has been a big hit, and user response to the innovative new Safari Reader has been fantastic." "We're thrilled to see so many leading developers creating great extensions and think our users are going to love being able to customize Safari," he added.

According to Gianna Puerini, vice president of Worldwide Design and Community at Amazon.com (News - Alert), "Millions of our customers already use Amazon Wish Lists to store items they want to buy for themselves or receive as gifts" "With Safari 5, we were able to quickly build the Add to Amazon Wish List extension that lets customers add items from any website to their Amazon Wish List with the click of a button," noted Puerini.

With reference to Microsoft’s (News - Alert) web search engine Bing, Jeff Henshaw, general manager of Bing User Experience, commented, "We're excited to continue working closely with Apple to bring visually compelling Bing experiences to Safari." "The Bing Extension for Safari brings Bing search intelligence to everyday browsing with Safari. When a user selects text in Safari, Bing instantly recognizes what they might need and pops up helpful, informative tips, from real time maps and driving directions to real time translations to direct web search results."

Likewise, "Using web standard technologies and Safari's extension builder, we developed an MLB.com extension to give fans another way to consume up-to-the-moment baseball content, including live look-ins to games, right from the Safari toolbar," said Noah Garden, executive vice president, Commerce and Sponsorship at MLB.com.

Safari 5 is available for both Mac OS X and Windows as a free download at www.apple.com/safari. Safari 5 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8 or Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.2 or later. While Safari 5 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista or Windows 7, a minimum 256 MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel (News - Alert) Pentium processor.