Apple Safari Browser for Windows - Is It a Failure ?
Apple introduced Safari for Windows around six months ago calling it the fastest web browser that is almost twice as fast as IE 7 or Firefox 2.
Since then, Apple has released couple of minor upgrades for Safari 3 that are mainly bug fixes and the browser is still in beta stage.
We never heard of any third-party browser plugins being released specifically for Windows Safari and there’s practically little or no talk among the blogging community about Safari browser on Windows.
So did Safari manage to win any browser market share during the six month stint ?
I referred to the Google Analytics report (OS / Browser) and out the last 6 million visitors, only 8500 (0.15%) were using Safari on Windows.
The sample data may not be very big but it at least gives a reasonable idea about the possible market share of Safari 3 browser on the Windows platform.
Related: Safari Font Problems
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Except testing the compatibility of sites I’m developing, I have no other reasons to use Safari on Windows platform.
I agree with thinlight.
Safari is not very stable in the Windows platform, and crashes regularly, especially in AJAX rich interfaces.
IT dept.’s never install a single thing that isn’t from Microsoft. And personal computer CONSUMERS who are tech savvy and computer literate are called “Mac users”.
Look at the data you present– but for the reasons I state, why would people still be messing around with pokey, feature-thin old IE instead of Firefox?
Safari will become a big player on Windows when people decide they want web pages to look like they do on their iPhones. I actually predict that, thanks to the iPhone, in less than 5 years, Safari will have >50% market share, across the board.
If the release of Safari for Windows has enabled 8500 web developers to test for Safari compatibility, then Safari is a success.
hi amith,
I am using safari from past few months. Only in few aspects i feel its better than IE7 & others. I am expect them to release the stable version of safari within next few months. Whether it will be a failure or not, i think that we can say only after the release of the non beta version. It might be too early to predict its future.
I develop my sites and first test them with Safari on the Mac. I would like to recommend Safari for Windows to my visitors, but I can’t do that as long as the beta badge is still stuck to it.
As soon as it officially out of beta (if ever), I’ll start recommending it to my visitors. Then the market share numbers can start to go up.
I’m a Mac user, and migrated from firefox to Safari on my Mac when Safari 3 arrived.
I then, started using lightly Safari at work (on Windows 2K and then XP). Lately, I’ve benn only using Safari on WXP at work, and revert back to Firefox for Insight Manager and ILO (HP server console), which doesn’t work obn Safari.
I agree that Safari crashes from time to time, but the speed compared to all the other browsers is really a nice thing. I remember waiting for Firefox to load pages … I very rarely used IE 6 on my office PC (about once a month or less !)
Of course, I can be labelled a “Mac Fanatic”, but my experience with Safari on Mac is a success so far. I can even administer the NetApp boxes at work …
I’m a Mac user but occasionally I’d have to use Windows at work. Safari’s find feature always amazes my clients :)
Safari on PC is a must-have for iPhone developers that are using the PC platform and dont have access to a MAc.
Mac usage outside of USA, Europe is scarce and that would deny TONS of programmers acess to a safari testing environment
The purpose of Safari on Windows was to get developers on board for iPhone, and to that extent, it has to be seen as a success. It’s already been said that by the end of 2008, iPhone will beat out Linux based machine on the net. By 2010, your chart will look significantly different.
I would say that at this point in time, most Windows users are entrenched in their browser of choice, most of which are locked into IE because of IT rules or IE-only compatibility issues. Firefox and Opera have been around a long time, so I’m sure those users are comfortable using them.
I’m sure it’ll take some time to build up Safari. I don’t think Apple’s intentions were to overtake anything. More than likely it was probably released for Windows for the main purpose of iPhone and web application development.
On the Mac, Firefox doesn’t offer much over Safari, other than possibly the number of plugins available. And since they’re both standards complaint, they’re fairly compatible in regards to rendering pages. This explains their relatively close share.
If the rendering of a webpage is similar on Safari for Windows and Safari for Mac, then Safari for Windows is a boon for testers as companies building websites for multiple platforms will not have to acquire a Mac just to test for page layout issues on the Mac. I have not seen authoritative statement anywhere that they render similarly and if it is true this may boost the popularity of Safari for Windows atleast among web developers.
IE 5 for Windows & IE 5 for Mac render the same web page differently. IE 5 for Mac was abandonded eventually.
Anil
I am with Ritchie on this one. The newer builds of Safari have really impressed me. The first beta was a memory hog, but the current build that is publicly available works very well and uses very little system resources. Most of the time, I find that it consumes very little memory when compared to firefox. The page loading times are also faster. Hopefully, the final build will be a winner.
No one uses Flock? Its rock solid on my Windows and my Mac. Or is it that hits through Flock are also recorded as firefox hits?
Its probably because Firefox and IE is already hogging and More on FF you have more options with so many extensions. I would never switch to any other than FF unless something comes with something lot better
Where was firefox six months after launch?
I think we need to give it more time to get popular. Maybe by the time IE8 and Firefox 3 hit it big time, Safari would be getting some traction on Windows.
Another major difference is that the Safari on Mac and Windows are not really similar..
For example, you cannot apply css styles to input elements on the safari on the mac, but you can do it on the Windows one.
And for those who are using it to test for Safari, guys, get a mac, the browsers are not even comparable…
As somebody pointed out (I am sorry I don’t remember who), the fact is that Safari for windows was not introduced to get any market. It was just given as a platform for people to develop applications for the iPhone. And the iPhone is a clear winner..
Not much a user of Safari on Windows outside of testing website development. More an Opera user. The fact that Safari pretty much doesn’t play nice with the mouse (no easy scrolling or tab spiking) makes it hard to bother even considering browsing with.
To me what appears more interesting is the 35 % share of Firefox vis-a-vis 58% of IE - People power versus corporate power.
safari was slower than firefox and bulkier on windows. it even loads slower
Apple products serve as a marketing tool for apple and in my opinion are deliberalty doomed to fail. iTunes is terribly slow and crashes on Windows but on the mac is smooth. Same with Safari you say. Hmmmmmm. It is only two apps but there is a pattern. Why would you make a totally bug free implementation for your rivals platform. Think about this guys.
I use Safari on a vanilla XP SP2 install. It has crashed once or twice, but not any more than IE did. In general, it seems pretty solid. Unlike IE though, it launches quickly, gives me a proper download manager, and leaves more window space for web content with its minimalist interface. I intalled Safari because I had been using it on a Mac before, and it did everything I wanted. I have tried Firefox, and while the flexibilty was nice, it still had a clunky interface (changeable, I know) and took twice as long to launch as Safari. I want a browser that gives me the web and stays out of my way. Safari does that. I like its text anti-aliasing too, though I know many don’t agree.