Most days I might use any one of 3 web browsers. My current workhorses are Firefox 3.5, Safari 4.0.2 and OmniWeb 5.9.2. I generally have at least 2 of them open at any one time. These days I have my email open in Firefox, and since it’s today’s default browser any links from email, Tweetie or NetNewsWire open in Firefox automatically.
One strength of OmniWeb is how easily it can pass itself off as a different browser.
This morning when I visited Xero to write up a client invoice they wouldn’t let me in because they didn’t like my browser of choice.
I know OmniWeb works perfectly well with Xero as I’ve used it many times. It so happens I’d cleared out the OmniWeb cache and settings from this machine last week, so OmniWeb had forgotten to pass itself off to Xero as one of the other browsers.
I went to the OmniWeb menu and chose Show Site Preferences. This area allows me to choose settings for specific sites. I might always block ads on one site, for example, while allowing them on others.
In this instance I wanted to tell OmniWeb to always pass itself off to Xero as Firefox.
After setting the Identify to web servers and scripts as drop-down menu to Firefox I tried again to access Xero. Success.
I went ahead and created the client invoice I’d set out to write up.
Next time I visit Xero with OmniWeb on this machine that setting will be remembered and I won’t have problems.
The Individual Site Settings in OmniWeb are very impressive. 5 tabs each offer half a dozen settings, while another area allows you to call up a list of images, scripts and other elements of the page you’re viewing.
OmniWeb remains a favourite browser dedicated to getting work done.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Sorry to make you have to jump through those hoops but it is just to expensive for us to test all the different browsers. Chrome, IE, Firefox and Safari keep us pretty busy.
Glad it worked out through.
Rod
That’s fine Rod.
OmniWeb hasn’t had a big market share and I’m not surprised sites like Xero don’t take it into account. I don’t hold that against Xero.
I just wanted to show how easy it is to get OmniWeb to pass itself off as another browser.
Miraz
I am trying OmniWeb again after reading your enthusing post but I find it crushingly slow to open pages. For instance, ‘out of the box’ and without tweaking any preferences, after clicking the link in Google Reader to open this (uncached) page, it took around 18 seconds to load and display against Firefox’s 7 seconds. Am I missing something basic? Both running on same late model iMac with plenty of resources.
Buzz
Hmmm, I don’t use Google Reader, though I have an account there that I set up some time ago for training purposes. I just visited with OmniWeb and it opened in a satisfactory amount of time for me.
Tried in Firefox and I guess it was a bit quicker. Not enough difference for me that it would bother me.
Still, if it doesn’t feel right to you then just ditch it.
Do try out the workspaces though before you abandon it.
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