Safari 6.1 is out, brings Shared Links, Power Saver, Sidebar and more to Mountain Lion

Safari 6.1 update prompt

In addition to a host of updates to its various iOS apps, Apple following today’s iPad keynote has released the Safari 6.1 update, bringing some of the features that are part of the free OS X Mavericks update to Mountain Lion Macs. These include the Shared Links feature, the new Sidebar and Power Saver which improves battery performance when browsing plug-in heavy web pages on notebook systems…

In addition to one-click bookmarking available via the plus sign to the left of the address bar, default third-party cookie blocking and built-in Yandex search engine support, the particular standout feature is Safari Power Saver which improves battery performance by only playing the plug-in content you want to see.

The full Safari 6.1 changelog:

• Shared Links. See links shared by people you follow on Twitter.
• Sidebar. See your Bookmarks, Reading List, and Shared Links in one convenient place.
• One-click bookmarking. Just click the (+) button to the left of the Smart Search Field to add a webpage to your Reading List. Click and hold to add it to the Favorites Bar or to your Bookmarks.
• Safari Power Saver. Increase energy efficiency by playing only the plug-in content you want to see.
• Third-party data blocking. By default, Safari blocks third-party websites from leaving cookies and other types of data that could be used to track your browsing.
• Built-in Yandex Search. Leading Russian search engine Yandex is now an option for Russian users.

To find out more about the new features in Safari for OS X Mavericks, visit Apple’s Safari web page. To update your existing installation of Safari through the Mac App Store, choose the Software Update… option from the Finder’s Mac menu.

Speaking of upgrades, Apple has made it clear today that the days of paid operating system upgrades are gone for good. Putting its money where its mouth is, the company has posted the free OS X Mavericks upgrade through the Mac App Store, no strings attached.

Additionally, Apple has updated the iWork suite for the Mac so you can download these updates via the Mac App Store as well.