Apple launches Safari web browser for Windows

What do you get when you bring a web browser, the popularity of which is soaring day by day, only limited by the operating system it comes bundled with, and release it on another platform which is being used by hundreds of millions of computer users all over the world. The answer is instant success!

11th June, 2007 saw the world of Windows open its arms to the Mac-limited (not anymore) web browser, Safari, developed by Apple Inc. Safari is Apple’s indigenously developed browser which was built exclusively to cater to the Mac users.

The Safari begins

When Apple started shipping out computers, the then popular Netscape Navigator browser was included as a default application with them. This led to the subsequent deal between Apple and Microsoft, which paved way for inclusion of the Microsoft Internet Explorer for Mac as Mac’s web browser, although Navigator continued to be packaged. Thus, Navigator soon came to be recognized as the ‘Mac Web Browser’. However, it was developed by a third party and not an in house product. This led to the development of the Safari web browser by Apple software architects themselves.
Safari was unveiled on January 7, 2003 for the first time and has not looked back ever since. Not only is the web browser hugely popular with the Macintosh users but has attracted attention of the entire web community.

As of May 2007, Safari has a market share of close to 5%, or a little over 18.2 million users. Firefox has a 15% share while the market leader continues to be Microsoft’s Internet Explorer with a 78% share.

Windows gets the Apple

Due to interoperability issues, Windows and Mac software were often not compatible on the other manufacturer’s machine. Apple broke this deadlock by introducing iTunes, its music managing software for Windows, following the success of its iPod device. Apple realized that with millions of iPods having been sold, not all users would have a Mac at their disposal and thus needed to increase its compatibility area.
After the huge success of iTunes, not only as a music exporter for iPods but also as a media player replacement on Windows, Apple is going a step further and has introduced the Safari web browser (Beta) for Windows. The product comes from the stables of the now popular Windows Experience Development Team, which caters to development of Mac products on Windows platforms.

Apple Inc has acted really fast and wisely. They know they cannot expect the hundreds of millions of Windows users to migrate to Macs, so they are taking their software to Windows. This however, cannot be termed as a cheap move, rather a very well calculated smart move.

Reactions

The internet community has been lukewarm in the reception of Safari on Windows. Firstly, the release that has been touted as a public Beta is being considered as a hurried up pre-release alpha due to the large number of bugs that need to be fixed. Secondly, Safari does not offer anything newer than what Internet Explorer or Firefox users are already experiencing on their browsers. It does have some features unique to it like SnapBack and tab dragging. Also highlighted are the faster access speeds over the internet using Safari as the web browser.

Outlook

Asking or expecting consumers to make a switch just because of the brand name, especially when they are highly accustomed to something else, hasn’t ever worked in the computer industry. Of course users are tempted to experiment and maybe switch over too. But this churn would not be too large in volume. I feel with the myriad of software already available on the versatile Windows platform, users will not really migrate to this new browser in the real sense of the term. Of course the recent frenzy surrounding Apple products would want them to see what it’s all about, but ultimately will settle for their older browsers for their Internet experience.
Useful Links

Below are listed the top 4 web browsers, in accordance with their popularity (Market Share). Click on the desired name to download the software.
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera Web Browser
Note: You will be re-directed to another site. Downloaded components are hosted on the respective manufacturer’s websites. CueBlocks doesn not host any softwares for downloads.