Adding spotlight like features to Safari was one of our top 10 ways to enhance your Safari browsing experience. The plugin that allows us to do just that, Inquisitor, has just joined the Yahoo family!

Of course with the new owner comes a new default search engine set for the Inquisitor plugin. For all new downloads of Inquisitor Yahoo will power your search requests from the Safari search bar, but the ability to set it to a different search engine is still included with the plugin.

Thankfully Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo feel apart! just imagine how awkward it would be having MSN live search as the default search engine powering the Safari browser. That really wouldn’t have helped Inquisitors potential.

If you’re already an Inquisitor user, installing the latest update will leave the default search engine what you had set previously but new users will be set with Yahoo.

To change to another search engine:

1. Open Safari and Click Safari on the Menu Bar and then Preferences
2. Select Search
3. Pick the engine you’d like to use from the Search Engine drop down

If you haven’t already picked up Inquisitor, it is worth a try!

The thing that makes Safari great is the combination of fast and sleek capabilities as well as the significant number of features that makes the browser unique when compared to others available.

In previous articles we’ve discussed a number of unique features that help you enhance your Safari experience. Additionally, Safari syncs great with Apple mobile devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch by sharing your favorite bookmarks.

While Firefox has the capabilities to restore a browsing session, it lacks the capability of re-opening websites on browser windows that you’ve just closed.

Safari on the other hand makes this is. In fact, Safari allows you to open the last window closed as well as all the windows from your last browsing session.

Both options are located under History on the menu bar. Select History, and then either “Reopen Last Closed Window” or “Reopen All Windows From Last Session”

I often utilize these features when I jump around within Safari windows. I close windows to often only to realize later there was more information I needed to gather from the website I was viewing. These Safari features make my browsing experience that more enjoyable.

Like all web browsers, Safari keeps track of the websites you’ve visited and when you went to them. This can be very helpful if you’re trying to track down websites you’ve been to but can’t seem to find again.

Clearing Safari History

Although seeing where you’ve been and what sites you’ve looked at can be helpful, it also takes away from some of your privacy. To clear your history you can select History from your menu bar and then click Clear History. Additionally, you can clear your Safari browsing history by selecting Safari on the menu bar and then clicking Reset Safari (This method also allows you to clear all personal data Safari may have stored on your system).

Restoring Safari History

If for some reason after you’ve cleared your Safari history you discover you can’t find a website you know you visited 3 weeks ago, Time Machine is there to help.

To Restore your Safari Browsing History:

1. Close Safari and Open Finder
2. Select your user account under Places (There will be a Home icon next to it)
3. Open the Library folder, and then Safari folder
4. Open Time Machine - Time Machine will open displaying the Safari folder in Safari you’ve navigated to
5. Select the date you’d like to restore your browsing history from
6. Select the History.plist file and click restore - A dialog box will open asking you if you want to proceed - Click REPLACE
7. Open Safari and click History on the menu bar

If the restore was successful, you should see today’s history plus the date you restored from below it. Navigate down to the Date and the history of sites you visited on that date will be displayed.

Exclude Safari History From Time Machine Backups

Now that we’ve showed how easy it is to restore your browsing history… you may want to keep that information as private as possible.

To keep Time Machine from backing up Safari History:

1. Command Click (right click) on Time Machine in the Dock and select Time Machine Preferences…
2. Click Options
3. Click the + button
4. Navigate to your User folder, Library, and then Safari
5. Select History.plist and click the Exclude Button (To keep everything in Safari Private, select the Safari Folder and click exclude)

This should add history.plist or all your Browsing personal information out of Time Machine backups. This, combined with Safari’s Private Browsing feature will allow you to browse the web without anyone being able to trace your steps.

There have been a number of recent articles describing the way that consumers user their iPhone. Interestingly enough, compared to normal smartphone users iPhone users talk less and browse the web more then their counterparts.

In fact:

“iPhone owners spend the time they use their iPhones engaged in voice calls (that number is 71.7 percent for BlackBerry owners). Also, iPhone owners in the US claim to spend 12.1 percent of their iPhone time on the net (compare that to 2.4 percent for all other mobile phones on average)”

- TUAW

Sync Safari Bookmarks From Your Mac to Your iPhone & iPod Touch

If you find yourself using your iPhone and iPod Touch to browse the web more and more each day then be sure to setup your iPhone/iPod Touch to sync your Safari Bookmarks.

1. Open iTunes and connect your iPhone/iPod Touch
2. Select the iPhone/iPod Touch in iTunes
3. Select the info Tab
4. Scroll Down to Web Browser and check the box next to Sync Safari Bookmarks
5. Click Sync and check your iPhone/iPod Touch for the updated Bookmark list

Discover interesting sites while on the go and able to check back on them when you return to the larger screen comfort of your Mac. Taking your bookmarks with you has never been easier.

With the update to the Safari browser yesterday Apple has improved its browser to give it more of a fighting chance in the web browsing market.

The addition of developer tools, increased speed, and some user interface improvements puts Safari in a position where it can help pull back the OS X Firefox users and catch a few additional Windows users.

But Safari was a great browser before the update. Safari, like most applications, requires a user to really become comfortable with software before you can full appreciate it. With that in mind, here are 10 ways to help you enhance your Safari web browsing experience.

1. Learn Safari’s keyboard shortcuts - The keyboard shortcuts in Safari will allow you to quickly move throughout the web without needing to navigate using the mouse. Switching tabs, opening new windows, and accessing your bookmarks are just a few keystrokes away.
2. Let Safari do the reading for you - If you often find yourself trying to do to much at once this feature is perfect for you. I often have Safari read back to me cooking recipes or some of the RSS feeds I subscribe to while I accomplish other tasks. Just be sure you can get use to the computer voice on your Mac.
3. Put the web on your dashboard - With the ability in Leopard to make dashboard widgets out of your favorite websites Safari adds a capability you can’t get from any other browser. Pull the web from the browser and stick it on your dashboard.
4. Add plugins! - While Firefox has become famous for the large number of plugins created for the browser, many forget that Safari supports plugins to… While it does lack a large developer community there are plugins to help make Safari all you want it to be. Pimpmysafari.com provides a number of safari plugins.
5. Add spotlight like features to your Safari searches - While this works through a plugin, the ability to get additional information on search terms while you’re still typing them out gives this Safari enhancement its own recognition.
6. Browse in Private - Often we have the need to keep our history, downloads, or any web activity private from others that may use the computer. Safari allows Private Browsing which is perfect for paying bills, looking at bank accounts, and any other web pages you might want to keep private
7. Customize The Toolbar - Many people love the how simple the user interface in Safari is but there are others (myself included) that want just a bit more on the toolbar. Add the home button, autofill, or other buttons and arrange them in the order you feel most comfortable with. A customized web browser is a happy web browser.
8. Use Tabs - Tabbed browsing is one of the greatest additions to all web browsers. It allows you to keep all of the different websites you’re surfing in one window so your desktop stays clear of window clutter. If you find yourself in old habits and are being over run by Safari browser windows, Safari lets you merge them all back into one window with multiple tabs. Stay organized for your own safety.
9. Learn the Track pad - It is true that Apple included additional track pad control for browsing Safari on their new Macbook Air and Macbook Pro computers, but two finger scrolling and “right” click with two fingers has made browsing without a mouse that much more tolerable. If you have a Macbook Air or a new Macbook Pro, three finger swipes moves you forward and back in Safari effortlessly… well, with just a bit of effort from your fingers.
10. Get the latest updates! - Apple often releases updates to all their software line. We saw yesterday how significant these updates can be. Don’t miss out on Safari’s updates or you could miss out on features like web developer tools, or the all might new tab double click. Even if an update just addresses a security issue, without the update your Safari Browsing experience could end very very badly.

What else do you do to make Safari more enjoyable? Leave a comment and let us know!