full disclosure: I co-sponsored the original Firefox 1.0 add in the New York
Times.
Safari 3.1
new
Apple just released Safari 3.1. The big news isn’t that Apple is claiming that
Safari is the best browser ever, or that it is faster and easier to use than
other browser, that are just bog-standard reality-distorted Apple marketroisms.
The big news isn’t that even Apple itself did not find any particular feature
worth mentioning. The big news is that Apple is now using Microsoft tactics to
push Safari out.
market share
Microsoft leverages it Windows market share to push Internet Explorer. It
includes Internet Explorer in Windows and requires Internet Explorer to use it
Windows Update Site. Apple has been leveraging iTunes to promote QuickTime. The
bundle is supported by the Apple Update Service, which is now offering to
install Safari 3.1 for Windows.
testing it
I confirmed this by removing Safari, and updating iTunes to the very latest
version (7.6). Even when I asked iTunes to check for an update, nothing
happened, but the next time the Apple Update Service popped up (easy to force by
running it directly, it is in the Program Files\Apple Software Updates directory
) it offered to install Safari 3.1. As I just uninstalled Safari, there is
nothing to update. Apple Software Update is not offering to update, it is
offering to install - and the box is checked already; "updating" is the default.
default
The text next to the check item reads "Safari for Windows is the fastest and
easiest-to-use web browser for the PC. It displays web pages faster than any
other browser and is filled with innovative features -- all delivered in an
efficient and elegant user interface.". If you install and start it, Safari
immediately pops up a dialog offering to become your default browser, and unless
you agree or uncheck the box to recheck its status on every start-up, it will
continue to annoy you with that pop-up box.
By the way, it works in both directions. Were you to install just Safari, Apple
Software Updates would push iTunes and QuickTime on you as an "update".
stupid
Apple’s tying of iTunes and QuickTime makes some sense, as iTunes relies on
QuickTime, but Apple has no such excuse for pushing Safari.
Apple’s move is not just wrong, it is plain stupid, for more than one reason.
They risk being investigated for less than completely fair competitive
practices, and they do undermine user’s trust in their update process.
It is also rather self-defeating. They are also telling the world that, despite
all their claims about Safari’s superiority, they do not trust Safari to make it
on its own merits. Apple’s is a public admission that Safari sucks.
updates
updates
2008-03-18: Security Update 2008-002
Apple’s own Security Update 2008-002 lists quite a few security defects
that affected Safari. This may explain why Apple’s description of Safari in
Apple Software Update does not claim that Safari is safer than other browsers.
2008-03-26: critical vulnerabilities
Apple may be glad they did not make such claims. Critical vulnerabilities
have been reported, see
Apple Safari 3.1
Critical Vulnerabilities.
2008-03-21: Mozilla CEO
Mozilla CEO John Lily has commented on Apple’s behaviour: "What Apple is
doing now with their Apple Software Update on Windows is wrong".
2008-03-26 installing Safari illegal
See Apple Safari Illegal.
links
Copyright © Tamura Jones. All Rights reserved.