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The development team announced last month it would be delaying the launch of version 3.1 in order to add additional features, as a reaction to the launch of Google Chrome. The new privacy mode will emerge in the second Beta of version 3.1, which is due for release in November.

The feature was first suggested in June 2004 in a bug report issued by Firefox developer Matthias Himber. "In the next version of OS X, Safari will have a "Private Browsing" mode which, basically,

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disables writing to cache, URL history, etc. I think this is a good idea, and it's small and useful enough that it should go into the browser, not an extension," he suggested at the time.

Private browsing modes have cropped up in Internet Explorer, Safari and Google's Chrome browsers, and when activated allow the user to surf the web without any information being recorded or logged. The feature has been informally dubbed "porn mode" by some.

Another privacy update due in the second Beta will allow users to delete personal history logs from certain time periods only, such as the last browsing session, or the last day, explains another bug report.

The first beta will also see some new features, such as support for the video HTML tag. Developers are also "considering reviewed, solid, tested patches for some other small improvements," such as a Speed Dial set of icons showing recently visited pages when a new tab is created.

However, the development schedule will not be held up for these low-priority additions, say the meeting minutes.