Will you use Safari?
(Credit: CNET Networks)For those of us interested in software, the lack of an iPhone developer's kit announcement at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday was a bit of a disappointment.
What we got instead was Safari for Windows, which is exactly what I don't need: another Web browser. When considered with the relaunch of Netscape Navigator last week, it's clear, however, that the battle for control of your browser is still a major front in the software wars.
Internet Explorer has reigned supreme since the dawn of the new century, while Mozilla Firefox continues to chip away at Microsoft's market share. Opera blazes trails on mobile devices and the Nintendo Wii, while products like Adobe AIR have the potential to replace your browser completely.
So what's it all mean? Well, it sounds like good news to me. The software that most of us spend the most time with is the browser, and we've got some of the most talented software developers on the planet trying to prove that their browsers are the best.
In essence, we have a multibillion-dollar development team working on making our free software even better. Who can argue with that?
What do you think about Safari? Would you consider switching from IE7, Firefox 2, or Opera? Is anyone out there still using Netscape 7.2? How about Lynx? Tell me about it in the comments.
How much more development can a browser go through? About the only thing
they can do is redesign the interface (yay, I always wanted a new reload button!)
and maybe a few small features that aren't that revolutionary.
How much more development can a browser go through? About the only thing
they can do is redesign the interface (yay, I always wanted a new reload button!)
and maybe a few small features that aren't that revolutionary.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/historyofie.mspx
Give it time and eventually it will have as much features as the other browsers. That's how it usually works. Will I drop IE and Firefox for Safari? Unless they are giving away free music on itunes no.
I don't know what it will take for me to try Safari again, but for now, it's off my radar.
- Good news for web developers
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by Yami Pegasus
June 12, 2007 12:08 PM PDT
- This will not have much impact on the average user, but it's really good news for web developers. For quite some time, it was next to impossible to test HTML and CSS in both IE and Safari without buying a second OS as well as either very pricey virtualization software, Boot Camp, or a second machine.
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(10 Comments)I have been using Firefox as my main browser for quite some time and I don't plan on changing that, but now it's easier to ensure that anything I make will work correctly for more users.
This beta release seems a bit buggy, but I don't doubt that the problems will be worked out before a final release. Despite occasional crashes, it's a useful tool and I recommend it to anybody who is interested in web design.