Apple’s Safari for Vista doomed to fail
By Jonathan Schlaffer
Most users familiar with Windows are most likely using a version of Internet Explorer or Firefox. These are comfortable, familiar browsers that have been with us for years and then Apple decides to release Safari to the millions of Windows hordes around the globe. The current version of Safari is a beta but predictions are pouring in that Apple is doomed to fail on the “browser wars” front.
PC Advisor says the problems arose after Apple began touting the more secure nature of Safari, which was true for Macs but had no less than 18 security holes in the Windows port found not 24 hours after it released. Apple’s response was to update Safari within 36 hours to fix most of the problems. Not a bad response time but not great either.
Now we come to the UI (user interface) of Safari, Windows users don’t like it. They don’t like it because it is “too Apple” for Windows. Instead of doing things the Windows way, Apple did things the Apple way and didn’t bother to ask anyone before doing so.
Safari for Windows uses Mac OSX anti-aliasing instead of Windows cleartype and all fonts look blurry and bold, all the time. This is true even on Vista. If that isn’t bad enough, Safari uses its own, non-standard shortcut commands.
Then there is the issue of only being able to resize the Safari window from the bottom right corner only, all windows in OSX operate like that but Windows users like to be able to resize a Window from all corners or sides.
Being both a PC and Mac user, I have to say what works on OSX works on OSX and what works on Windows works on Windows. The features are neither interchangeable nor transportable. This is what Apple tried to do and it seems to have backfired.
Safari is also causing headaches, it likes to crash on Windows, a lot. Sometimes it crashes for no reason at all, sometimes because you opened a few too many tabs and sometimes when you?re entering information into a field.
If Apple wants to compete in the browser wars then it will have to address the major issues in the short term and in the long term fix the functionality problems. Safari is a beta, sure enough, and it has to be one of the worst most unstable betas in the history of beta software.
In my opinion, it’s little more than an early alpha. My advice to PC users and Mac users alike is to just avoid Safari. There is enough hate for Safari on both sides to warrant ignoring it completely.
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Stumble It!
June 19th, 2007
I think your crazy! What you just wrote about Safari is pretty much the same as what I read not only about the iPod, but about Apple itself. As we all know, Apple has been happily going out of business for the past 25 years!
It is still yet to be seen what will become of Safari, but like Microsoft, it will just keep plugging away until Safari makes inroads into the Windows world.
Remember, Firefox had pretty much the same things written about it too and look where it is. Betting against Apple has proven to be a very risky business. Come next year, you just may look a little silly!
June 19th, 2007
“These are comfortable, familiar browsers that have been with us for years” - so was Netscape. Now it’s as good as gone. And just a couple years ago, very few people were using Firefox.
“Windows users don’t like it.” I like it when I use it on a Mac, and I like it on Windows now too.
“This is what Apple tried to do and it seems to have backfired.” - I’m not sure how this has backfired for Apple. I suppose if they lose a lot of money with Safari on Windows, then it may backfire. But it’s a free browser so trying to track its impact on the company may be difficult.
“There is enough hate for Safari on both sides to warrant ignoring it completely.” - There’s enough hate for Windows on both sides to warrant the same thing. In the end, people use what they want to (or are forced to) use.
June 19th, 2007
Little bit of hyperbole, eh? What is it with Windows users? I don’t care what product Apple puts out Windows users say it the worst thing the have ever seen. Meanwhile they use an OS being held together by crappy code & bailing wire, with no issues at all. MS office breaks plenty of Mac conventions. Blurry type…Clear type Sucks. Can’t you adjust the the type to make it appear crisper on a PC? You can in OSX. Why not Windows. Yes. it probably is more secure than IE, but that isn’t saying much.
June 19th, 2007
You’ve missed the point, I think. Safari for Windows is about the iPhone and ap development. If Safari picks up a few crumbs of market share, hey, two birds, one stone, right?
On the other hand, IE isn’t even available for the Mac anymore and Firefox is doing okay, so what has Apple to lose? Not much.
June 19th, 2007
I can’t agree more.
June 19th, 2007
As a user of Safari on Mac for some years I can tell you this assessment is quite the opposite of my experience.
Great rendering, fast, brilliant RSS, easy page search in 3, practical tabs, and not once the need to divert to any other browser, what’s not to love?
Safari rocks. And just watch what happens. You will be surprised as much as I won’t be.
June 19th, 2007
Excuse me, what research did you perform to make all the general claims in this article?
None. It’s just all your own opinion. That’s fine, you’re welcome to it.
Mine is that Safari runs great on my PC. Doesn’t crash much more than IE and this is just beta. Looks a lot nicer than Firefox, and comes from a real company planning to support it.
I think it is a great beta and can’t wait for the final product. Since I only asked me, I guess that means that 100% of the people I researched love Safari on Windows and plan to make it their primary browser when the final release ships
Oh yeah last important point - IT IS FREE !!!!!!!!!!!!! (so get off your high horse)
June 19th, 2007
The writer of this article is uninformed and inexperienced.
June 19th, 2007
Safari is free… so is Firefox, so is Opera, so is Netscape…
Those three browsers are not like Safari, give up? They don’t crash…
Reaserch… I install Safari on a Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac computers. Safari was designed for Mac so no real complaints there…
Safari was NOT designed for Windows, it just does its own thing… it works too much like the OSX version to be of real use on Windows. The OSX way of doing things doesn’t fit in on Windows. As I said, what works for windows and what works for OSX are not interportable.
It’s fast on Windows, when it works and if it would stop crashing three or four times an hour, it just might be useful. iTunes… crashes just as much but at least I can restore iTunes, sometimes Safari doesn’t want to start back up.
I don’t expect Apple to release a top grade application for Windows users but it should be better than it is.
If it were Safari 3 Alpha, I’d be more forgiving. iTunes 7 should prove Apple will not improve on Safari much for Windows… and honestly, does anyone expect them to?
June 19th, 2007
Mr. Schlaffer,
So let me get this straight… Safari on OSX= Safe and secure. Safari on Windows=Not safe, not secure. Don’t you see the brilliance of this release? If anything, it will make a few Windows users look at Mac. It will also make a few Windows users look at the iPhone. It will drive home the point that Apple has tried to make all along..nothing is safe on Windows! If they fix these holes in a timely fashion, then it shows that Apple is more attentive to security than Microsoft. Can’t you see this? If not, quit writing drivel and go play with your Zune.
June 19th, 2007
[...] Full article here: Source [...]
June 19th, 2007
This has to be the worst piece of “journalism” i have ever seen i tech biz. Writing “safari” as if it was supposed to be ready and it’s reviewed: crap.
IF the the sign on this page http://www.apple.com/safari/ aint enough to make see that this clearly states safari 3 as a public beta and as such a work in progress then might wanna lay of the internet all together.
One cant help to get the feeling that you are not really out to review a safari 3 beta… but out to talk crap about safari in general. you might wanna change the engaging and compelling blogs that entertain and inform “slogan” to dont know what i’m talking about but that doesnt matter…
June 19th, 2007
I’ve used several Beta programs in the past and none of them crashed as much or were as unresponsive as Safari 3 beta on Windows.
As a matter of fact, it wasn’t secure, Apple had to release an update not 36 hours after the initial release to address security problems on Windows. There are probably some unpatched holes too but Windows is full of security holes already so who’s going to notice?
The point is, it’s a beta, I accept that but being a beta it should be MORE stable and MORE usable than it is. Change Beta to Alpha… then… I won’t have a problem. It crashes far too much and has far too many problems to be a Beta.
June 19th, 2007
I’ve used plenty of beta products as well. Win 98, Win ME, Win XP, and I was surprised at how often they crashed until they came up with releases. They were called Service Packs, but I knew they meant Release. I didn’t get my panties in a bunch when Microsoft didn’t call these products beta from the start, so why the big hate-on for not having Safari called alpha?
June 19th, 2007
I never had those XP. 98 and ME are another story but at least they worked… MOST of the time, I’d be hard pressed to make that claim for Safari.
June 19th, 2007
As Richard says, Safari isn’t about “winning the browser wars.” Jonathan, you really need to open your eyes before your mouth. Sorry to put it so bluntly.
Read: http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/0427AEDC-D07F-4450-9C93-F49BD185F010.html. And the subsequent articles by Daniel.
Safari is about the iPhone. The iPhone is not going to be restricted to Mac users.
Yours sincerely,
John Davis
June 19th, 2007
And another good article to read is:
http://www.applegazette.com/safari/apple-didnt-pick-a-fight-w-safari-on-windowsthink-about-it/
Yours sincerely,
John Davis
June 20th, 2007
You forgot to mention why PC people might want to use Safari - better photo’s on the web!
Safari is the only browser on the Windows platform today that has proper colour correction built in. So if you are a photographer, you really have no choice but to go with Safari. FireFox promises to have such capabilities later in the year.
Until now only Macs had this, now Apple brings it to the PC.
June 20th, 2007
I would hope any audio or visual professional would be using a Mac…
June 20th, 2007
Why do so many Apple fanboys troll this Vista blog?
June 22nd, 2007
Richard and John Davis are correct, Safari on Windows is a tool to aid development of iPhone apps and little else. Apple are a business and the iPhone is where they expect to see major growth, so they need to open it up to as many developers as possible. The Mac itself will increasingly become a sideline novelty (albeit a highly desirable sideline novelty) in Apple’s lineup because it makes them relatively little money compared to the spoils that iPhone will bring (if successful).
June 22nd, 2007
Mr. Schlaffer: Some of your opinions are justified but as a web author, your research should be tempered with some original thought too. Merely documenting everything you noticed about Safari on YOUR test machines doesn’t make for a compelling or thoughtfully created article.
1. “worst most unstable betas in the history of beta software” you say? how many have you really tested?
Do you remember the beta of Vista? (Nearly ALL of Microsoft’s God rot *alphas* are worse than this and yet the world has meekly gotten used to them).
2. If you haven’t noticed, Apple’s new avatar is that of a Co. that actually listens to Users. When Safari for the Mac rolled out in 2002, there were serious bugs and issues too. Users participated in the bug identification process, sent out their rants and by the time the version 1.0 was released it was rock solid. On a Mac, Safari just runs circles around any other browser! Clean UI that gets out of the way, brilliant management of Tabs, Bookmarks, RSS, great page-rendering, speed, features like Snapback, Search .. all par excellence.
3. Oh, and You’re forgetting one major point - that Developers are going to be working on iPhone/ Safari apps, so it’s not like this beta is the only shot Apple has to prove their worth. Developers are going to be more demanding with Safari, which means Apple is going to be more keen to co-operate and address these issues, for their own good, if nothing else.
Issues like Window-resizing are at best low-priority, and involve a one-time habit adaptation.
And since we are only talking “personal opinions” here, i think that Apple WILL address the font-rendering, the crashes and security issues, since these grouses have come up most frequently.
Rather than dispense your judgmental and preachy advice to Mac and PC users, tone your articles with a sense of questioning and objective examination. You just might evoke better responses and your articles might just survive longer tests of time.
In the mean time, i suggest you get back to your “Patch Tuesdays”.
September 28th, 2007
To b3nd3r:
“Safari on OSX= Safe and secure”. Hmm… where have you been lately? Safari is SOOO unsecure, EVEN on MacOSX.
October 4th, 2007
You’re very nearly illiterate. Given your evident inability to construct the simplest of sentences, why should I be inclined to lend any weight to whatever criticism you seem to be attempting to make? The answer: I shouldn’t.
By the way, Apple *won’t* “address font-rendering” because they opted to preserve the integrity of font-metrics rather than provide clarity at the expense of accuracy. You could learn this for yourself if you were curious and unimpaired.
October 4th, 2007
to hellandback:
Mac sales account for nearly 50% of Apple’s quarterly revenue. This has persisted for a few years now, throughout the growth of iPod into the dominant music player.
Why don’t you people look up your shit before blathering? It probably wouldn’t taste quite so bad going down.
December 24th, 2007
[...] oneApple wrote an interesting post today on Appleâ??s Safari for Vista doomed to failHere’s a quick excerpt…are most likely using a version of Internet Explorer or Firefox. … Safari for Windows uses Mac OSX anti-aliasing instead of Windows cleartype… [...]