John Carroll, ZDNet blogger and Microsoft employee, has “opted to download the recently released 3.1 version of Safari for Windows,” he reports. “Safari is a browser based on the open source Konqueror web browser that Apple developed as a way to make itself less dependent on the whims of a certain third-party software company by whom I am employed. These days, it is as identifiable with Mac computers as Internet Explorer is with Windows.”
“Firefox and Opera never really kept my interest for long enough to become tools I used regularly. I don’t find the Firefox UI all that exceptional, and I have always found the Opera interface downright ugly (tastes vary, clearly, so please take that as just my opinion). Therefore, I didn’t have high expectations when I installed Safari Friday evening. I had seen Safari on a Mac platform and thought that it was nice enough, but I didn’t expect them to try to bring the Mac UI experience to Windows,” Carroll reports.
“I was clearly wrong. Safari looks exactly like Safari on the Mac, from the scrollbars to the check boxes that appear on web pages. Exceptions are made to accommodate certain Windows UI conventions, such as the fact that menus travel with applications rather than affixing themselves to the top of the computer screen once an application is activated (as is the case on a Mac),” Carroll reports.
“Further, unlike my experience with Firefox or Opera, I find myself completely hooked by Safari for Windows, and used it in preference to IE every time I got on the web this weekend,” Carroll reports.
“Apple claims that the Safari browser is the fastest HTML-rendering browser around, and based on my limited experience, it certainly feels zippy. Though that’s certainly important, of greater note was the user interface. The UI has a certain Zen-like simplicity to it, and though I can’t quite put my finger on it, text on menus seems considerably easier to read (probably something to do with fonts, but whatever the case, it looks very nice),” Carroll reports.
“All things considered, I think it serves as a great alternative browser,” Carroll reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: All in all, a hilarious read; Safari looks better, it works better, its prefs have clarity, its text looks better… but, he can’t quite put his finger on why. The guy seems shocked at how much he likes Safari. Now, let’s wait and see if he gets the bright idea to extrapolate.
To quote John McClane: “Welcome to the party, pal!”
I hope John does not find himself a “former Microsoft” employee for heaping praise on Apple.
We are BORG …..You and your wallet will be assimilated
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…and you will like it!
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Safari for Windows, finds ‘a certain Zen-like simplicity’
Interestingly enough I always felt IE had a “ZUNE-like” simplicity. I guess hardware and software departments walk hand in hand. Tang, your thoughts?
He said “zippy”. Certainly, he meant “snappy”.
Thich Nhat Hanh: Smile, breathe, and go slowly.
Except with Safari it’s faster….
Nyuck nyuck.
FireFox is useable when you apply the Safari Skin to it. More of a sudo zen kind of feeling.
Regarding the MDN take. Once again MDN takes a favorable article and treats it with disdain. Can MDN never take a compliment without quibbling, sniping and finding fault? Being petty and reproachful is not the same as being clever and witty. And there is no fault in accepting kind words with grace and understanding.
I think he’s trying to get fired.
“Sex after 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope.”
-George Burns-
Falkirk,
MDN’s take is dead on – as usual.
That’s probably what you’re really upset about.
It’s not “zippy.” It’s snappy…get it straight!
I totally ditched my FireFox on Windows for Safari. I just wish there was a way to use my .Mac account to sync the bookmarks cross platform…….
ericdano,
You can access your bookmarks by clicking Bookmarks in the .Mac navigation bar or typing http://bookmarks.mac.com/ directly into your browser.
You can use your .Mac Bookmarks to visit your favorite sites and add bookmarks as you browse. When you sync your Mac with your .Mac account, a copy of your Safari bookmarks are automatically stored on the .Mac servers. You can access them from any computer, make changes, and even add new bookmarks, all by accessing the .Mac site.
Of course, if you use multiple Macs, you can keep your .Mac Bookmarks synchronized with all of them. On each Mac, open System Preferences, click .Mac, then click Sync and check Bookmarks on the list of data to be synchronized.
DIrect link (you’ll need to login to .Mac): http://www.mac.com/WebObjects/Bookmarks.woa/
You’ve got to give a little credit to Microsoft for letting their employees blog freely. I don’t think this would happen at Apple.
In any event, Safari is terrrific. I’m glad some people are noticing.
Where’s Zune Tang when you need him!?
@Jennifer, following your comment I decided to re-read the original article. I just cannot understand why MDN decided to derisively call it “hilarious”. It is a 100% favorable article. And it’s praise is all the more astonishing considering it’s source.
Why MDN feels compelled to attack an article like this is beyond me. But what the hey, I’ve been wrong before. Perhaps there is a part of the article that particularly offends. If you would be gracious enough to point it out to me, I would be grateful for your insights.
@Steve
“You’ve got to give a little credit to Microsoft for letting their employees blog freely. I don’t think this would happen at Apple.”
Of course, Microsoft gives their employees plenty to blog/complain about. Ain’t that right ZT?
Falkirk,
“All things considered, I think it serves as a great alternative browser,” Carroll reports.”
If Carroll had said “primary” browser, THEN it would have been a “100% favorable article”.
ericdano
you should be able to export the bookmarks from the Apple safari and then import them with the MS safari. try it out.
Safari is my preferred browser on both my Mac and Windows based PC. The ONE thing lacking in Safari is the ability to selectively block pop-up windows.
Falkirk:
Now the MDN comment isn’t an attack.
The guy lists a string of things that he likes about Safari, but refuses (or is unable) to put them all together.
That rates a snide retort in my book.
John Carroll is a Microsoft whore.
@Missy Pants: Point taken.
@Mr. Reese: Isn’t a favorable article on Safari from a Microsoft employee much like watching a pig dancing? We should not be critiquing the performance, but rather be amazed at the event itself!
Redmond, start your photocopier!
One thing I can’t stand about PCs is everything is so faint and teeny tiny and impossible to read, impossible to find, impossible to navigate. On a Mac everything is clear and big and bold and very easy to see. Easy to understand too. Easy to adjust, customize, easy everything. Zippy, snappy, fresh fun and EASY.
With the demographics of the USA heading toward gobs of old folk predominant, the Mac will win for sheer readability, elegance, simplicity, efficiency, and zen peace satisfaction.
“… You’ve got to give a little credit to Microsoft for letting their employees blog freely. I don’t think this would happen at Apple …. ]]
Microsoft is busy developing last years technology – nothing to hide. Plus, MS may not know about blogs yet
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In all fairness, I agree – Apple would not be down with that, nor would the Chinese government yo!
“All things considered, I think it serves as a great alternative browser”
Faster, better looking, easier to read, nicer to use, but just a “great alternative browser”. How does one reach that conclusion? What does IE do for him to maintain it as his primary browser? Obviously, John wants to keep his gig at MS.
Looks like Microsoft made him take it down. The link to his article no longer works.
To Quote John McClane: Yippie Ky Yay motha f****
GizmoDan: Looks like Microsoft made him take it down. The link to his article no longer works.
Nope. Still works for me.
I would be willing to bet that less than a dozen MS employees know what a LIGATURE is.
A professional graphic artist can tell you what a LIGATURE is!
This is why MS will never, ever get their minds around what makes a mac, a mac.
LIGATURES! This is just one of a million simple flaws in a copied product.
(Hint: look at the “ft in Microsoft)
Happy 7th bday OS X! I’ve got all your discs!
(Apple’s product) looks better, it works better, its prefs have clarity, its text looks better… but (the guy from MS) can’t quite put his finger on why.
Folks, things have been this way since at least 1981.
Some things never change!!!
You’ve got to give a little credit to Microsoft for letting their employees blog freely. I don’t think this would happen at Apple. —Steve
Unless the Microsoft employee in question is blogging about Microsoft matters that he is not authorized to comment on, it is none of Microsoft’s business what he says or where he says it.
I sincerely doubt that @Steve has any basis other than his obvious prejudice against Apple for hypothesizing that Apple’s policy is any more restrictive. All companies limit to some extent what their employees can say publicly about company business. In all other matters, a little thing called “freedom of speech” comes into play.
We’ll all be planning that route
We’re gonna switch real soon
We’re hippin’ with Steve Jobs
We can’t wait for the goon
We’ve had it with Explorer
We’re on <b>SAFARI to stay
Tell Ballmer we’re surfin’
Surfin’ Apple’s way!
</i>
@ dijonaise
The only way I know to get ligatures on WIndoze is to use TeX/LaTeX (for text anyway, all of Windoze embodies the old meaning of ‘ligature’). MikTeX is the best implementation on Windows — and it does a thing or two that I wished TeXShop would (like auto-finding and loading missing packages). That pretty well says it, though: after all this time MS Word on Windows (or Mac) does not understand ligatures.
It’s definitely a fast and fluid browser–load speeds are very quick–and the snapback feature is a good idea and well-implemented, but the fonts are blurry and practically unreadable on the Windows platform–they’re headache inducing, plain and simple. The transparency on the drop-down menus is overdone, also.
I don’t see what’s so incredible about the interface, either. It’s certainly minimalist, but hardly revolutionary vis a vis Firefox. I’m hoping Apple doesn’t think this will be some nail in M$’s coffin, because it’s not that special, even for a browser.
@ another IT guy
I thought ALL fonts were blurry and unreadable on the Windows platform?
Every time I pass a Windoze machine in a store, it looks like shit.
@Another IT Guy
The type on Windows browsers are horribly sharpened. It is thin and brittle looking, totally corrupting the font’s true shape. I call them anorexic fonts when I’m working on the Windows side. Safari features better antialiasing and maintains font shape fidelity. After looking at IE or Firefox, Safari looks different; some, like you say blurry or soft. I say Safari’s font rendering looks natural, and not sharpening to a pixelated mess like IE and Firefox. I HATE how my web sites’ typography looks on Windows browsers, excepting Safari.
@Falkirk:
100% correct. Why slam a MS employee who is saying great things about the Mac?
The responses from all the people here just proves that the IQ pool here seems to be dropping at an alarming rate.
@ Spark:
If you worked for Apple and praised RIM on something they did well, do you THINK you would still have your job? Let’s give this guy some credit. And duh, any browser that is not the same as the one you may currently use is an ‘alternative’. Please finish your schooling and graduate grade 8.
Hmmm…I’ll have to install Safari on my Windows XP Pro installation running in VMWare! IE is a PITA to use.