Better standards support with Safari on Acid

Since Apple opened up WebKit - the rendering foundation of the Safari browser - to open source, I've been hearing about all sorts of goodness in the works, particularly along the lines of improving Safari's support of web standards.

Until now, making use of any of these additions and improvements to WebKit (before they're released by Apple) involved getting your hands dirty with source repositories and building your own copies of this and that. Thanks to Boyd Waters, you can keep your hands clean with a downloadable package (called "Safari on Acid") that will open its own copy of Safari which will run a recent version of WebKit. Quit that copy when you're done and all is well - your regular copies of Safari and WebKit will remain unscathed.

Why the name "Safari on Acid" you ask? Well, there's a rather vigorous web standards test by the name of "Acid 2" that you can put any browser through. (It's just a quick, single page of content to display - see image.) Most browsers, including Safari and *ahem* even Internet Explorer, (surprise) couldn't pass the Acid 2 test if their lives depended on it. If you're at all interested in open web standards performance, you'll be happy to see Safari on Acid passes with flying colors - no pun intended.

[via decaffeinated]