Filed under: Internet, News, Windows, Macintosh, Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla
Safari browser to come to Windows?
Who knows. Right now it is only a hunch, a rumor, an idea up in the stratosphere. Interestingly enough, it might end up as part of Apple's strategy to infiltrate the golden kingdom of Microsoft. Safari coming to Windows would be a good move on Apple's part, and it would be great for users who like Safari and wish it was available for Windows. Will it ever happen? Oddly this idea comes to us via Mary Jo Foley, via the Mozilla wiki. Why would Mozilla even hint at this if they didn't have some sort of idea what might happen. I suppose all speculation and rumors are basically what could happen, but there has to be some ring of truth to them to at least become possibilities. This move for Apple certainly worked for iTunes and many other products that they are using to try to take over some of Microsoft's customers. So, why not? Safari on Windows just has a nice ring to it. Check out the whole deal over at Mary Jo Foley's blog and note the poll on the subject at the bottom of the page. What do you think about Safari on Windows? Good idea, bad idea?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mr Textbooks said 4:41PM on 1-13-2007
Seems bad for Firefox to me, they've been getting decent traction for a while. Not because Safari is good but just because I think Firefox does better 1 on 1 versus Explorer.
I use it on MacOS just because it's there, but I don't particularly like it. I use Explorer when I have to, Firefox for the rest, and I have little enough room for keyboard shortcuts as it is.
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EngadgetSucks said 4:42PM on 1-13-2007
Are you high? This makes utterly no sense. Opera, Firefox, and IE7 are all better than Safari, which is crap. Who in the world would use this? No one. It would have all the marketshare of Lynx.
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RG said 4:52PM on 1-13-2007
Ofcourse its fashionable to love Mac. But from my (admittedly limited) experience Safari ranks behind Firefox and IE7 in terms of usability. And as far security goes the end user can do a good job with IE7 and obviously Firefox.
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rassel said 4:52PM on 1-13-2007
thanks for this information
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Jon said 6:55PM on 1-15-2007
I just don't see that Safari provides much above and beyond what is available for Windows users. iTunes was successful because it was better, and provided a great experience to connect the iPod and iTunes and the store. But what advantage does Safari really offer over FireFox and IE7?
On the list of Apple's applications to port to Windows, Safari seems pretty low on the list. On the other hand, with the iPhone coming, I would suspect that they will have to do _something_ for Windows users, although I have wondered if they'll leave their best integration for Mac users.
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Mark said 4:53PM on 1-13-2007
Quite frankly, Safari has no chance. Most people that have iTunes installed, have it there as courtesy of the iPod. The iPod crowd most certainly lacks the sort of manic devotion to Apple that the Mac crowd has. Firefox is a far superior browser to Safari, and realistically even IE7 is better than Safari. The only people who are devoted enough to Apple are the ones who already have a Mac. Personally I think it's a complete waste of Apple's time if they are thinking of doing this.
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theafroguy said 4:53PM on 1-13-2007
I used Firefox on PC, but ever since I switched I much prefer using Safari - Firefox is hideously ugly in comparison (even with the aid of skins).
But if Safari was on PC, it would lose the battle of the looks, simply becuase Firefox was designed for Windows. Safari would look out of place.
If that makes sense.
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theafroguy said 4:45PM on 1-13-2007
Oh, come on. Why would Mozilla know? I saw this on Digg earlier, and it's such a non-story. Safari's only claim to fame is that it's so damn pretty, it wouldn't be a competitive browser on PC.
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T Man said 11:34PM on 1-13-2007
This is some pretty crazy speculation. I would totally dismiss it if it was not to come out of the mouth of Mary Jo Foley, who is respected, and probably wouldn't fill the typical Mac Rumor Mill.
If it would, I see two things about it. First, it would enter an already crowded race, with IE in the lead, Firefox second, and Opera still hanging on with some dedicated users. The only group that I could see that would really care about this would be hard core Mac users, but they are using Windows at all, it is probably through Boot Camp or Parallels, so it really is not necessary.
However, if this did come to pass, this would fuel further speculation that Apple is moving away, ever so slowly, from the Mac platform. See recent analysis by Paul Thurrott for more info, but let's look at some facts. At MacWorld, the Mac was barely mentioned. They changed their name to Apple, Inc, leaving that little bit about the computer off. The switch to Intel. And even with the continuous growth of Macs, the marketshare is still low. Vista coming out. Perhaps they see the writing on the wall.
But, who knows. On the face of it, this sounds pretty crazy, though.
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TM` said 6:08PM on 1-13-2007
forget having safari on windows what about legally allowing mac os X to run on windows boxes. I don't think that'll ever happen but it would be pretty dang sweet. Firefox is awesome and does a better job than safari ever will.
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Kenny said 7:47PM on 1-13-2007
If you do a Google search on Safari for windows you will find this rumour over some years. I doubt whether it is a distinctive enough product to make much impact in the windows market; especially against Firefox. I wonder what the Firefox impact is in the Mac market?
What I'd like to see Apple port is iTunes for Linux, but I guess I'm in the minority there.
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resource said 11:52PM on 1-13-2007
This is nonsense. It really makes no sense at all.
Does anyone know of a Photo Booth or FrontRow for Windows?
Those are programs I'd want brought over.
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pcguy said 11:39PM on 1-13-2007
Well Safari renders text and some css better than anything out there, also its incredibly easy to use under obj-c
http://www.zeldman.com/2006/11/27/safari-beats-firefox/
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jeremy liew said 11:40PM on 1-13-2007
I used to be GM of Netscape. What we found is that in the broader internet user base (not the early adopters) there is room for only two browser: whatever is default on their computer (almost always IE) and an alternative. It will be hard to displace Firefox as the alternative; Safari would find itslef competing more with Firefox than IE. I've blogged about it in more detail - click on my name to follow the link if you're interested
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Mark said 2:05AM on 1-14-2007
I would really like Safari to come out for Windows. Not because I would use it for web surfing, but for web developing.
I'd like to be able to see how my pages will look without having to switch to the Mac.
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vapiddreamer said 10:51AM on 1-14-2007
I have to say I agree with the overall assessment on I see posted. Safari sucks. And that's coming from a dedicated Mac user of the "Not on Windows-- never on Windows" camp. In no way superior to Firefox (little secret that's not: most mac users use Firefox over Safari every time) except for the way it renders a lot of little things. To think that they would subject themselves to a situation where they could end up ranked lower than Opera!?!? Shameful that Mac could even think to subject themselves to that.
It is pretty, though ;)
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whatever said 5:00PM on 1-14-2007
I can assure you that more mac users use safari than firefox. Firefox for osx is irritating and buggy, in my experience. But seriously, nobody on windows will use Safari. Nobody but the odd developer wanting to see what their site looks like on a mac.
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pimpzilla said 8:18PM on 1-14-2007
That's cool. Maybe next windows will get that awesome browser all the mac users actually use; you know, Firefox.
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Matt said 7:02PM on 1-15-2007
No thanks.
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balnu147 said 11:49AM on 1-16-2007
Safari can be hardly refer to as user friendly.. it just looks pretty n the guys who use windows care less about looks.. n those who care use skinning programs which can be personalized unlike the mac which is very thick...
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