Uh Oh, Bill
Apple has just released a version of its Safari web browser that will run on Windows platforms (XP or Vista only, however). Analysts say they are doing so to expose Windows users to their superior products. The program (it is a beta, be aware of that) is available for free and can be downloaded from the Apple site.
"Safari is another Trojan horse that introduces an innovation of Apple to the Windows community and entices them to the Mac platform," said Tim Bajarin, an industry analyst at Creative Strategies, a technology consultancy.
The free program is the latest move by Apple to expand its reach beyond its Macintosh computers and, at the same time, attract new converts to its products. The upcoming iPhone seeks to be another draw.
In fact, Apple said Monday it would run a full version of Safari on the iPhone, thus allowing developers to create Web-based applications for the hybrid smartphone-iPod. That new opportunity for third-party applications on the iPhone veered a bit from Apple's earlier stance, when it said it wouldn't support programs from outside developers due to security concerns.
Apple's fortunes have surged in recent years as it has opened up its products to non-Mac users. Previously, Apple made its iPod media player and iTunes Store compatible with Windows, introducing Apple's touch to millions of Microsoft Windows users.
The slickness of its gadget designs notwithstanding, the key to Apple's success and reputation for ease of use is its software and how well it integrates with its hardware.
"There are a lot of connections between our products and here's one more," Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller said of the Windows version of Safari. "And the more people who like our applications, the more it might mean they'll buy other products from us."
The strategy is apparently paying off. Mac sales have grown significantly over the past two years, pushing its slice of the PC market in the United States from 3.5 percent in 2004 to 4.9 percent in 2006, according to IDC, a market research firm.
About half of the Macs sold today in Apple's retail stores are to people new to the Mac platform.
If Safari wins over more users of Windows-based machines, the iPhone — a combination cell phone, iPod and wireless Web-enabled mobile device — could also ultimately become more appealing.
Well, I can vouch for the fact that it downloads and installs very quickly, but I have not tried using it yet. But it does not run on Linux - Apple may be missing an opportunity there. Both Firefox and Opera run perfectly on Linux (Firefox is pre-installed on Ubuntu, in fact). And sadly, older operating systems are right out of luck on this. I'll be interested to see how Safari operates.
Geek Stuff | Gaius Monday, 11 June , 2007
By Purple Avenger, Monday, 11 June , 2007 @ 8:50 pm
I’m still running W2K, as are many corporations who saw no particular value add in XP or Vista.
By Gaius, Monday, 11 June , 2007 @ 8:55 pm
I have Windows 98 on my son’s laptop and I have a copy of Windows ME that currently isn’t installed anywhere (that computer died an ugly death. Smoke was involved.)
By chuck, Monday, 11 June , 2007 @ 11:37 pm
Safari is based on khtml, a component of the KDE desktop used in Linux (and FreeBSD, etc.). They chose it in 2003 after looking at Gecko and other options because khtml was in C++, well designed, lightweight, and available under the GPL. Apple has complied with the license and contributed its fixes and improvements back to khtml to the benfit of the community and Konqueror, the current KDE browser. So it isn’t like Apple has had no impact on Linux.
By Gaius, Tuesday, 12 June , 2007 @ 6:10 am
Thanks for pointing that out, Chuck. I was not aware of that.