Wow, it really is a wonderful life. A new version of Shiira was released today, 1.2, with a ton of great new features. I had all but switched to Shiira a while back, when Firefox was too slow and Safari too annoying. But Shiira began to lag in the features department (particularly RSS support) and I had to drop it. Since the browser is based on Webkit, it makes sense to see some stuff now added: Universal Access support, Private browsing... And there are some unique features of Shiira, like the page transitions (sorta pointless, but fun to show PC lovers), and the incredibly handy Tab Exposé, which allows you to show all tabbed windows with a keystroke (why doesn't Safari have this?). One thing I really like about Shiira, however, is the ability to automatically use Safari bookmarks without importing, and it supports Firefox bookmarks. And don't forget the Shiira mini-browser.

With the new RSS support, I can actually see using a browser as a feed reader. Maybe I was doing it wrong before, but the sidebar in Shiira makes a perfect companion to browsing. One nice little window on the side shows me new, unread stories as I surf. The less clicking, the better. The sidebar is really what got me to switch to Shiira to begin with, I just like having it available. It's a little redesigned in this version, and actually works better. Oh and did I mention Shiira supports themes?