Safari for Windows Tops 1 Million Downloads
By the Betanews Staff | Published June 15, 2007, 11:28 AM
Despite security concerns and Microsoft pundits like Paul Thurrott wondering "who would ever use" it, Safari 3 Beta for Windows was downloaded over 1 million times in the first 48 hours, Apple announced. The company continues to tout the speed and standards support of its browser, which was previously Mac-only.
Even with 1 million downloads, however, Apple has its work cut out for it in order to retain those users. The initial Safari 3 beta was noticeably buggy on Windows, and many reported slower performance than both IE7 and Firefox 2. In addition, Apple is now facing the same security issues that have long plagued its rivals on Windows, with upwards of 10 vulnerabilities already discovered in the beta. Some analysts speculate that Safari for Windows exists primarily to aid development of applications for Apple's upcoming iPhone, not to compete with IE or Firefox.
I will never use it. It seems to me that we have enough crippled browsers already. I used Seamonkey for a while, but it has gotten worse instead of better. I don't know of a single software program that works "flawlessly" and certainly not IE7. Use the one you like best and good luck to you.
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|Why do we need another browser. I mean why now. They are so late to the game it's not even funny. Besides IE7 works flawlessly. I know some of you will cry foul, but IE is all I ever used. It just works perfect.
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|Because competition is good and IE sucks.
Firefox kicks butt but in my opinion Netscape and Opera are a joke.
Apple makes some kick a** products and Safari will be a good browser eventually. Give it some time.
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|I'm one of those million downloaders. But, I never installed it. As it downloaded, I went to Apple's addons page and saw that there was only Flash, etc., and no capability for actual extensions. A browser that I can't customize is useless to me, so I trashed it.
Lesson to apple: If you make it open source and allow a way for people to write addons for it, then it might be good someday. This same lesson applies to the i-phone. If it could run 3rd party software, it might be worth something. But only allowing browser apps means it is worthless.
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|Then you get the mess that FF has become... the last thing Safari wants to do is become more like its top nemesis FF.
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|Maybe if this thing becomes popular enough it will be better supported by web developers. It's a great looking browser but doesn't come close to FF even on the Mac in my view. But it has potential for sure.
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|Should Read. "Safari for Windows Tops 1 Million Downloads in 48 hours."
World record, 98% for those who downloaded -Uninstalled within the first 5 mins!!
It totally sucks.
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|I can not install Safari on my computer.
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|you're not missing much except headache. Wait about 3-4 months for a better build, then install again.
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|Apple is really great at over hyping their products. Like most of their hardware & software, though nice, they're mediocre.
But when it comes to browsers Firefox can't be beat for Windows or Linux (and maybe even MAC) I don't recall FF ever using 100% of my CPU to open a web page or play a video on youtube. I know, I know it's a beta. But S.J. Said their sh!t were build right the first time. That's false advertising (like all their commercials) or in laments terms LYING.
Another over hyped Apple software, iTunes for windows. Of course it looks nice but after all this time it's still a memory and CPU hog and leaves footprints the rival Bigfoot. On Windows, Winamp (not as good looking) leaves a small footprint and has a really fast media library. On Linux Amarok rulez!!!
But I would love to see a Linux version of Safari, who knows it might work better on Linux.
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|I love this browser.Tried them all Opera/Firefox/K-Meleon/I.E.7 they all have their good and bad points.But this is the fastest browser I have used.Love how it looks.No crashes or problems in the last three days.The security bothers me a little,if this is sorted then I will be a happy chappie.
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|I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or delusional.
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|I think sturgess might be on a acid trip :-) LOL
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|Nope, but it feels like it when I use this magnificent browser.
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|When you are so used to firefox being setup just the way you like with addons, trying out safari, while I did get it to install ok on vista. Just seemed overly simple, lack of features and just plain boring. Some of the animations and setup/options screen were nifty though. But when you have a mature browser like firefox, with skins and addons for everything you can think of and want. That is what makes it so great and wonderful. The support for firefox now is great on all websites, safari feels like firefox did when it first came out, websites saying sorry your browser isn't supported. I mean it sucks and its annoying.
Granted if I judged firefox by itself without add ons I would say ie7 and firefox are on par, and safari given some bug fixes would rate the same. I mean what can you say, they all do the same thing, allow you to view web pages from the internet.
It is noticably faster though, I was saying wow thats fast a few times while using it. I mean the web pages when your used at least some kind of a load/appear time granted its 1 or 2 seconds with firefox/ie. It appears instantly, I wonder what makes it so much faster?
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|This browser is the fastest ive ever used and idk what these people are talking about with these bugs they see only thing ive seen isthat java takes a little too long and some websites are bold.
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|I'm with you friend it's a nice browser.I care not what the other folks say I like it !
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|1) nothing special
2) integrates badly into OS (mostly visually)
3) full of bugs
4) why the **** they always have to bundle freakin QuickTime with anything they release!?
Just use Firefox/Opera with MacOS theme... better choice imo.
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|I just downloaded it out of curiosity myself. First time I've actually seen (other than screen shots) and been able to use Safari. I'll be sticking with Firefox though. From what I've seen so far Safari is worse than IE....and I really didn't think that was possible.
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|Safari's great-- it's pleasing/easy on the eyes, fast... Certainly better than the bloated, crash-prone & memory-hogging messes most Moz variants have become.
I rate it the equal of avant/maxthon/kmeleon/opera/netscape9... if not better, it's certainly no worse.
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|My Firefox never crashes, and it never uses much memory now that I block Flash ads. With an ad-blocker, Firefox is very stable.
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|Netscape 9? You realize that's one of those bloated, crash-prone & memory-hooging messes from Moz that you just bashed? Netscape 8 was based on FF 2, and Netscape 9 is going to be FF 3 based.
People never cease to amaze me.
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|I know that N9 is based on FF2... and it's actually better for production machines-- more ready to use out of the box while more friendly to extensions & plugins if one wants to go that route.
Less bugs, less crashes, less incompatibilities. less hand-holding, less muss, less fuzz.
Have you compared them side by side + on multiple systems to boot?
Glad to know i was able to dazzle you.
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|This is apples way of rooting alot of windows machines.!!! way to go apple!!
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|I have to quote an [H] poster for this one...
***
Hey Mac, Hey PC.
MAC: why you so blue PC?
PC: Well I tried this Safari browser and now I keep crashing.
MAC: Well if you were a Mac and used our browser you wouldn’t have this problem.
PC: What browse do you use Mac?
Mac: Firefox…
***
Safari hasn't crashed me, but boy is it ever a memory hog. I don't plan on trying it again until it is closer to final release.
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|WOW. I am an Apple fan (my iMac G5 is my primary computer, the Intel Based Machine is used primarily for my Outsource work), but after a day or so of playing with Safari for Windows, I have decided this thing sucks big time.
Right now, with no more activity than having one web page open, Process Explorer is telling me the CPU usage is fluctuating between 75-92%. RAM usage has jumped from 34 MB at start up to 65 MB in about 10 minutes. I have decided the crashing problems users are reporting are simply a result of Safari sucking all the free RAM out of the system, eventually it runs out of RAM then simply stops loading web pages with any amount of graphics and goes to sleep. Has a LONG way to go.
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|I think quoting the number of downloads is just stupid... it's just curiosity. I got it just to check website rendering rather than going to a Mac to check a site. It's a useful tool, but no one is going to "switch".
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|"The company continues to tout the speed and standards support of its browser, which was previously Mac-only."
Notice they're now not touting the security.
Also, "Safari 3 Beta for Windows was downloaded over 1 million times in the first 48 hours". In reality that's 500,000 as everyone had to re-download the fixed version.
It is still handy however, being a web developer.
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|Then, Safari 3 Beta for Windows was unistalled over 1 million times in the first 48.1 hours.
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|...and malware writers are now smiling.
I'm using Minefield(FF3) and IE7 and I am quite happy with the security/features in both.
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|They still have a long way 2 go. FF is no match, great of the greatest
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|So, over a million folks using a browser with more holes than IE? Sounds like fun!
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|Curiosity is what mainly spurred those. Now that the curiosity is passed I am guessing those numbers will drop off a bit. I personally wasn't too impressed. I will stick with my FF.
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|i agree with you. i downloaded it for testing purposes only.
well, the test result is: works after install, but when i reboot and try to launch safari again, it crashes.
i'm also a firefox/netscape9 fan and i'll keep on using them
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|I'm sure they'll get those stability issues worked out before it is out of beta.
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|sure they will... just like they do with each new itunes release.
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|Comment of the day.
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|Yep. Me too, just wanted to see one of the worlds most primitive and underpowered browsers at work :-) This piece of "software" is so offputting and desastrous i just can't tell.
Why does S.J. always lie instead of making something good?:
SJ: it's fast Reality: it's not
SJ: it supports standards Reality: it really lacks a lot compared to all the others
SJ: it's secure like OSX Reality: well OK, probably ;-)))
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|I second that lol!
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|Can I third it? :D
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|Mozilla Firefox = The Best
Torpark = FF with extra security through Tor Network
SeaMonkey = for you netscape lovers out there
Safari = ???
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|SJ: it's fast Reality: it's not
-- he benchmarked it right on the keynote
SJ: it supports standards Reality: it really lacks a lot compared to all the others
-- it passes ACID2 when neither firefox nor IE does
SJ: it's secure like OSX Reality: well OK, probably ;-)))
-- except that right now its not
you're 0 for 3
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|different animal. webkit = konqueror or galleon i think. maybe not galleon
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|Why is there an OSX vs Windows?
It's like my software is perfect until people start using it.
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|SJ: it's fast Reality: it's not
-- he benchmarked it right on the keynote
----I tested it myself on a normal config (no tricks! lots of (random (not prepared!) websites) Lots of others have too.
SJ: it supports standards Reality: it really lacks a lot compared to all the others
-- it passes ACID2 when neither firefox nor IE does
---- I also tested support for standards (I am a proffesional in this field). ACID does not tell everything. Safari has problems that would be too stupid to test in ACID
SJ: it's secure like OSX Reality: well OK, probably ;-)))
-- except that right now its not
---- no comment :-)
you're 0 for 3
---- count again
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|From a standards compliance perspective, I personally believe it's hard to beat Opera... but that doesn't stop me from using Firefox almost exclusively.
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|True, Opera is the most standards-compliant browser available, but much better than Firefox in that I can customize it to my workflow. Firefox is just to hit-and-miss with all the buggy plugins and extensions that Mozilla refuses to certify.
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