Safari 5.1 Released: Full Screen Mode, Gestures, Reading List And More

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The list of products flying out of Cupertino today continues to grow. Safari 5.1 is now available to download and introduces full screen mode, new multi-touch gestures, Reading List, and a whole lot more.

The download is available via Software Update on your Mac or from Apple’s website, and is compatible with Macs running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and above, and Windows PCs running XP, Vista or Windows 7. It’s been available to developers for some time, so those of you running the Lion beta before its release may already be familiar with its new features.

The update introduces Reading List, Apple’s Instapaper-like service that allows you to save articles, videos, and links to a list that you can access later. The service will also sync with iOS devices with the introduction of iOS 5 this fall.

Safari 5.1 also packs Safari Reader, which allows you to read websites and articles in a “clean, uncluttered space free from blinking, annoying ads.”

Multi-touch gestures allow you to control Safari by simply swiping, tapping and pinching your Magic Trackpad. Swipe forward and backwards to switch back and forth between pages, and double-tap with two fingers or pinch to zoom in and out.

Full screen web browsing allows you to browse your favorite websites without distractions from other applications:

Web pages take up every inch of your display so there’s nothing to distract you from what’s onscreen. You can open many web pages full screen — dedicate one page for Twitter feeds, one for video, and another for browsing, for example — and swipe back and forth between them. Or open just one web page full screen while other open pages stay the original Safari window size. And it’s just as easy to switch from full-screen browsing back to your desktop.

Resume automatically restores the open windows and tabs from your last browsing session every time you open up Safari, the Downloads Popover replaces the downloads window with a less obtrusive popover menu, and there are better search options.

There are also some new privacy and security features that allow you to remove the data left by the websites you visit, and a feature called ‘Sandboxing’ that stops websites accessing your system using exploits.

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