“On June 11, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs stepped up his assault on [Microsoft]. In a speech before Apple developers, Jobs, clad in his traditional uniform of black turtleneck and jeans, announced new versions of Apple’s Safari Web browser for the ubiquitous Windows operating system. That gives PC users a no-risk way to sample Apple software (Safari is free), and possibly an incentive to switch to a Mac computer or buy an iPhone. And to make sure there are enough programs for interested buyers, Jobs also offered Safari’s underlying Web technologies to outside software developers so they could write programs for Apple products, including the iPhone, the company’s latest potential blockbuster product that goes on sale June 29,” Aaron Ricadela writes for BusinessWeek.
“Taken together, the moves could sway more companies to enter Apple’s orbit and potentially reignite a browser war that’s been dormant for several years,” Ricadela writes.
The battle isn’t just about browser market share. Windows users already have downloaded Apple’s iTunes music software more than 500 million times, according to Jobs. A fast-running Windows version of Safari could give Windows users a better taste of the company’s design aesthetic and technical chops, helping to reinvigorate sales of Apple computers,” Ricadela writes.
“Promoting Safari as the way for programmers to develop for the iPhone, and for Mac and Windows users to explore the Internet, could help Apple compete in a computer industry in which software is increasingly distributed online,” Ricadela writes. “Adam Gross, vice-president of developer marketing at Salesforce, says the software maker plans to create an iPhone version of the company’s lead management software for sales reps. Apple’s approach could make it simpler to extend the software for the iPhone compared with other mobile devices. ‘It’s going to be a lot easier to create apps for the iPhone than for other mobile platforms,’ says Gross.”
Ricadela writes, “If [Apple’s] plan gains adherents, it could intensify competition for Web browsers. And that could give Jobs yet another weapon to use against Microsoft, as both companies try to extend their influence beyond the desktop.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
@ Exploit Counter
What part of .. “ITS A BETA” .. dont you understand ?
Ron, >their self-proclaimed thrown is a real threat.>
Were they thrown off their throne? Or was it just a zune circling the toilet bowl?
Exploit Counter
You still with the MS MBU?
Safari on Windows :
1) Allow “iPhone” apps to run everywhere while developped only for safari.
2) Goes after firefox/others not after IE. Look at what part of the marketshare pie chart got eaten up by safari.
3) Most of th code probably already written inside iTunes anyhow for the music store window, Safari.exe probably just a separate container for the existing technology.
Doesn’t Apple make money by offering Google search? If you use Google through Safari, doesn’t Apple make some ad revenue through Google? I think they might. Maybe thats the reason they decided to develop and release Safari for Windows.
Wasn’t he wearing a maroon turtleneck or something? Not black, I’m pretty sure…judging from the Engadget pictures.
To quote a (modified) classic phrase:”Get close to your friends. Get closer to your enemies.”
Why just try to fight an empire (MIcrosoft) from the outside? Why not also “infiltrate” it, and destabilize it from the inside? That’s Jobs’ brilliant strategy. Quicktime, iTunes (and iPods), and now Safari for Windows.
And that too just days after the so-called “love fest” in the joint appearance with Bill Gates. Simply brilliant!
We really have to remember that the iTunes software is a modified Safari that connects to a WebObject based Web service with more than 500 Million downloads. Kick Ass!
Stop being so gay. Who gives a shit what kind of shirt Jobs is wearing at any given moment. A bunch of little girls. It’s embarrassing at times being a Mac user.
Safari on Windows is a great idea and the motives are two-fold for sure. I put the beta on a Windows box and it crashed on me once but after that it’ s been really good for a feature-complete beta release.
@g3m4nn
“Gay” is not a pejorative, and should not be used as such.
Other than that I agreed with your post.
mw “moral” as in the “moral majority” is neither.
“@ Exploit Counter
What part of .. “ITS A BETA” .. dont you understand ?”
Ah yes. Apoligize for Apple. Lame excuse.
What version of crack is this site smoking? Does anyone think that this security hole laden software is really any competition to anyone? Safari proves just how lost and confused Apple is about security. How on earth could Apple release such a brain dead product on the unsuspecting population? When will Apple be brought up on charges of national security for opening up so many security holes?
This proves without a doubt that OSX is the security hole master of the universe. The only reason that there are so few problems now is that up to now no one used these stupid computers. Now that Apple correctly switched to the only microprocessor worth using, more people are starting to look at their pretty (and very expensive) computers. Virus and malware developers are salivating at seeing how stupid Apple is at producing quality software and cannot wait to take over every Mac on the planet.
At least there is the hope of most people upgrading to Vista (which has an awesome security model) which will stem some of the virus attacks. With the pseudo engineering that went into Safari I can hardly wait to see what the iPhone is. Can’t wait to see what the hackers do with that horribly overpriced telephone.
Virus and malware developers are salivating at seeing how stupid Apple is at producing quality software and cannot wait to take over every Mac on the planet.
What a ridiculous jackass. Really. You should be ashamed to be that stupid.
Ballmer
Whoa….now every malicious hacker out there will also target Safari. The hunt begins…….
That’s bad
No, that’s good. The ridiculous dickwads gloating over the holes in Safari seem incapable of realising that the discovery of exploits makes a browser more, not less secure. Safari doesn’t run Active-X, and for that reason alone most of these exploits will never be more than proof of concept. And one by one, they will get fixed. And it won’t take almost two decades for Apple to fix them, unlike a certain illegal monopoly.
“They may accelerate the Windows switcher campaign “
I presume you mean increase the number of Mac OS X users who will switch to Windows now they can get their favorite browser on the platform.
“No, that’s good. The ridiculous dickwads gloating over the holes in Safari seem incapable of realising that the discovery of exploits makes a browser more, not less secure. “
So it would be that the ridiculous dickwads (like yourself) gloating over the holes in Windows are performing the same service.
If Microsoft released such a piece of crap as the Safari Beta, we’d never hear the end of it.
If Microsoft released such a piece of crap as the Safari Beta, we’d never hear the end of it.
They DID release a such a piece of crap! It was called Windows 95/2000/XP! NO OTHER PLATFORM was EVER full of the exploits holes and ridiculous extensions and software and NO OTHER OS EVER shipped with the tools for widespread malicious coding BUILT INTO THE OS!
It took MS more than a DECADE to do anything substantial about the open ports, Active X and NetBIOS b_llsh_t that made everyday internet use on Windows a complete hell.
NOTHING that is currently wrong with Safari will ever approach the complete and utter disregard for consumers displayed by Microsoft for years. And just to drive that point home, looky, looky, a Safari update already with the early exploits fixed.
HA!