Why Safari?

[alex_ant]

Why did Apple develop & release their own web browser? What's in it for them? Why spend the money & resources developing it when they could have simply rebranded Chimera or gave Netscape an Aqua skin for next to nothing? I'm not knocking Safari, as I think it's a good browser that will only get better; I'm only trying to figure out Apple's rationale on this front.

 

[arn]

Re: Why Safari?

Originally posted by alex_ant
Why did Apple develop & release their own web browser? What's in it for them? Why spend the money & resources developing it when they could have simply rebranded Chimera or gave Netscape an Aqua skin for next to nothing? I'm not knocking Safari, as I think it's a good browser that will only get better; I'm only trying to figure out Apple's rationale on this front.

There was a lot of debate and talk about this when it came out...

remember... Chimera wasn't in the state it currently is when they started this project.

arn

 

[alex_ant]

Feel free to delete this thread if you find it redundant, but I read a lot of the Safari threads and I didn't notice any discussion about Apple's strategy plans in this area... more along the lines of "I like it / I don't like it."

 

[MrMacMan]

Oh yeah and that would of fusked Chimera for good, I mean look if apple took over there devolpment then there would be no more.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Browsers

Well I've been wanting Apple to ship a browser for sometime now. How could NOT have a homegrown Browser as the #2 OS Vendor?

We've all seen what Microsoft has done. IE had rapid development until it dominated Netscape and since them IE has basicaly had squat for Browser innovation.

I am interested in seeing what Apple can do to tie Browsers into the Digital Hub Ideology.

Chimera? Too big based on Mozilla code with too many lines of code. Nice features though.

Omniweb- it's taking them forever just to rewrite the core of Omniweb.

Opera- never really ran fast on Mac and has display errors.

In short. Apple must show what they can do in the Browser arena. I expect for them to eventually add features and tie ins to iApps and future applicatons that will change the way we use browsers. The cool thing is Mac users are guaranteed a top notch browser.

Frankly I don't care about the competition that much consumers have been vocal about what they want in browsers and it's the smaller guys jobs to provide those functions.

1. Tabbed Browsing

2. Pop Up suppresion

3. Auto Form Fill

4. Correct Display

This should be in EVERY Browsers.

Apple is sitting on a Gold Mine here. They're looking to push .mac. They have Addressbook and Mail.app. I think Apple is poised to show what a Browser can do.

The nice thing about Safari is the small code based on KHML. Keep in mind Apple has made the API public for the renderer so even 3rd party Browsers can "join the part"

You really haven't seen anything yet. Wait until Safari 2.0 I bet you see a Browser that's still small but integrates nicely with OSX and iApps.

 

[yzedf]

Re: Browsers

Originally posted by nuckinfutz
You really haven't seen anything yet. Wait until Safari 2.0 I bet you see a Browser that's still small but integrates nicely with OSX and iApps. [/B]

1.0 has not been released yet. There is hope. To get an idea of what they are probably working on, check out Konqueror.

Seeming as KDE 3.1 was just released... main thing being Konq updates. This includes tabs and such.

As to auto-fill... blech. As long as I can turn that off. Stolen laptop... bad things...

 

[alex_ant]

But... what's in it for Apple? If there are 5 people working on Safari (I don't know if that's anywhere near the actual figure) and they each make $40,000 a year, that's at least $200,000/year Apple is spending on this browser. Maybe that's small beans to a company like Apple, but it's still more expensive than allowing Netscape or MS to include their browsers for free, isn't it? I guess my main concern is that Apple is biting off more than it can chew on the software side of things. I hope they're doing it with big expectations of growth.

 

[Pismo]

Look at the BIGGER picture

Apple makes these awesome FREE applications for a bigger reason. Look at iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, iCal, iSync, etc for instance. These apps are easy to use and they run on the worlds most stable OS. When people see this, it gives them great incentive to buy a mac. Big deal if Apple spends all of this money on free software developement. They'll make it all back with their huge profits that they make from hardware and other cashcow services that they provide.

 

[nuckinfutz]

They have the best of both worlds

Originally posted by alex_ant
But... what's in it for Apple? If there are 5 people working on Safari (I don't know if that's anywhere near the actual figure) and they each make $40,000 a year, that's at least $200,000/year Apple is spending on this browser. Maybe that's small beans to a company like Apple, but it's still more expensive than allowing Netscape or MS to include their browsers for free, isn't it? I guess my main concern is that Apple is biting off more than it can chew on the software side of things. I hope they're doing it with big expectations of growth.

Remember Apple IS letting the Open Source market do alot of the heavy lifting the renderer used is KHTML from KDE. Apple just hooked in existing technology and Wham Bam they have a small lightweight browser that kicks Ass.

Now they can start to integrate more Macintosh specific functionality into this browser to create a cohesive suite of apps. Rumors are Apple will have a full Office Suite within a year. Keynote was just the first. These will probably tie into future version of Safari.

Apple cannot trust certain things to 3rd parties. Consumers demand the basics be done correctly. If you've used IE or Netscape you know their Mac support seems somewhat of an afterthought.

 

[whawho]

Bad Press

I remember reading last year in a few columns about Mac OS X was great but surfing the web was slow. [one story]

I think with microcrap dragging their feet and none of the other options being good they had to develop one. I think Apple new a browser could be fast on OS X so they hired the dude that made the fastest one up to that point (chimera) and made Safari. Apple can make a browser take advantage of Mac OS kinda like how IE does in windows.

That's one thing you don't want to be known for is slow internet surfing...

my 2 cents..

 

[arn]

Originally posted by alex_ant
Feel free to delete this thread if you find it redundant, but I read a lot of the Safari threads and I didn't notice any discussion about Apple's strategy plans in this area... more along the lines of "I like it / I don't like it."

here's some info on the decision:

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-980492.html

though I think the mozilla people feel they were misquoted.

arn

 

[jelloshotsrule]

so does all this mean that chimera is no longer devoloping? i mean, they lost their lead guy to apple (i think?) and it certainly doesnt' seem like the updates are coming out as quickly as they had been... still stuck on .6...

sorry if this is a terribly obvious question.

 

[scem0]

As of now Chimera is a better browser than Safari, for me at least.
It has more features, and browses faster. I doubt they will stop
developing Chimera, just because they have more competition. At
least I hope not .

 

[markjones05]

2 words, no popups

 

[chmorley]

Originally posted by scem0
As of now Chimera is a better browser than Safari, for me at least.
It has more features, and browses faster. I doubt they will stop
developing Chimera, just because they have more competition. At
least I hope not .

Mike Pinkerton's weblog is the best gauge of this. While he apparently considered giving up the project, he is again working diligently on it.

I'm torn about what to do with Chimera. It's obvious it will only ever be a marginal product on a even more marginal platform. AOL and Netscape have no interest in supporting it. Who aspires to be number two in an already over-commoditized space? Working my ass off for 3% just isn't any fun any more. Safari has already won, the rest is just to see by how much.

On a long enough timeline, the survival rate drops to zero.

Perhaps what is more disappointing is that my fifteen minutes of fame are just about up and I've really got nothing to show for it.

Seems he has gotten over his self-pity and it getting on with development (while still a bit pissed).

Chris

 

[janey]

Safari is just another step apple's taking towards independence from Microsoft.

Who on earth *still* likes IE?
Besides, some people switch just for the iApps and now Keynote and Safari.