According to WebWare, Apple is releasing its browser, Safari, for the Windows platform.
The initial question from the community is: Why? (Though this may be the wrong question..!)
Clearly the region of the browser application space has been filled by Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and a handful of others.
Wouldn’t releasing Safari simply make the Windows environment more compelling to stay? This got me thinking…
What if multi-platform Safari wasn’t the point at all, but it was actually a proof of concept of something greater?
A while back, Apple made the stunning announcement that it had been secretly working on a way to take the same source code and produce a PowerPC version and a Intel (Mac) version, and have them look identical. Combined together, they make the Universal Binary, which is a program that can be run on either system architecture. This was no small feat of clever engineering.
What if the Top Secret feature is that they’ve added Windows as a target for the same source code? Already RealBASIC is doing it, but that’s BASIC, not the mixed language richness of XCode.
As a developer, if I can use Apple’s amazing environment to produce Windows code, I’m all for it.
As a business owner, if I can produce applications and have them work on Apple’s customers as well, I’m all for the additional marketspace.
And, …if I’m a home user… if I’m wanting to switch to Mac, but I’m tied to the Windows platform because of application lock-in, this is a breath of freedom if my applications and data work elsewhere.
Could it be that Apple has taken Safari and simply “recompiled” it? That this is merely the test run to give applications independence of Windows, allowing users to switch over to a kinder, friendlier environment?
I’d like to think so.
Well, I have to say after watching the Keynote today, I’m less excited. Steve Jobs indicated that browser share for Safari was 5%.
I think the point that Microsoft and Apple are missing is that it is not that someone has the fastest, prettiest, feature rich, browser… it’s the the normal, standard computer user is either lazy or ignorant about how to switch to another browser.
Firefox and Opera are far more capable than IE, and they’ve been around for a long while. Why does IE hold such great share? Simply because sometimes it’s just easier to click on any old browser than download and install a better one. IE is “good enough” for most average tasks, and the average user doesn’t know something else is there, nor is willing to expend the user to try it.
I’m convinced the same problem exists for Safari. It’s a great browser, but after installing Firefox, I rarely use it. Most Mac users most likely just click whatever’s there that gets them to the Internet and be done with it.
It isn’t the browser, it’s getting to the user’s task that’s important in the heat of the moment.
Google something… find a movie… buy a book… check the weather… who cares what browser is used.
Simply having market share for the sake of market share doesn’t make sense.
More speculation about the early release of Safari to Windows has surfaced, and I’m not sure that I believe it.
Apple disappointed crowds by announcing no SDK for the iPhone, and instead has given a web browser that can support AJAX.
Some believe this is actually an attempt to get the mass crowds to do quality control testing. I don’t buy that, given that Safari for Windows is beta, and by definition not ready for prime time. Additionally, it’s not sitting on top of Windows within the iPhone.
Forget cost, limited choice of carrier plans, and phone/data protocols… if I can’t write native apps, this just pushes off my iPhone purchase further.