Did Apple Just Kill Safari for Windows?

Apple Insider found that Safari 6 could officially drop Windows support, especially since information about Safari 5.1.7 for Windows isn't readily accessible on Apple's website anymore and the download has been moved to a support page. So, if you really want to run Safari on your PC, you can still have it if you are willing to go the extra mile. There is no Windows PC version download link on the Safari page anymore.

A quick check with StatCounter reveals that Safari market share remains rather insignificant in the big picture and has stagnated since April at about 7 percent, while the other Webkit browser Chrome has assumed market leadership with 32.76 percent in June. IE was listed with 32.31 percent and Firefox with 24.56 percent.

Interestingly, StatCounter lists Mac OS X market share also at about 7 percent. Even if we do not know how that number relates to Safari browser usage, we can guess that Safari has a very loyal user base on its home platform. In the end, Apple's decision to drop Windows support could simply be a business decision and a way to save money and focus more on the features for the Apple platforms.

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sephmeister 5 years ago

People actually use Safari on Windows? I always assumed they accidentally installed it with Itunes...
oneblackened 5 years ago

Can't say I care, Safari sucks in general, even worse than IE.
gorz 5 years ago

Safari is know to be the slowest browser you can get for a windows pc so in the end, who really cares about this?

Other Comments

memadmax 5 years ago

Safari sucks, Firefox rules...

Gaaattoraaaaaade....
sephmeister 5 years ago

People actually use Safari on Windows? I always assumed they accidentally installed it with Itunes...
the3dsgeek 5 years ago

about time
subgum 5 years ago

What... Safari is on Windows?
oneblackened 5 years ago

Can't say I care, Safari sucks in general, even worse than IE.
gorz 5 years ago

Safari is know to be the slowest browser you can get for a windows pc so in the end, who really cares about this?
ed_tumb 5 years ago

Yeah... my friend (who love love the Apple's products so much... I know you know people like this too) installed Safari in my PC without my permission... and I found out that I don't like it... Firefox ruled, until it became so heavy to be operated on my PC and I switched to Chrome... Chrome are very much lighter than Firefox...
blazorthon 5 years ago

ed_tumbYeah... my friend (who love love the Apple's products so much... I know you know people like this too) installed Safari in my PC without my permission... and I found out that I don't like it... Firefox ruled, until it became so heavy to be operated on my PC and I switched to Chrome... Chrome are very much lighter than Firefox...

Chrome is far heavier than FF, at least it is right now. Whether or not it is faster for some things doesn't change the fact that it uses far more RAM and uses more and more as the tab count increases, especially with Flash-ridden sites.
s3anister 5 years ago

Took them long enough. The people that are smart enough don't use safari and the people too ignorant to know better, regardless, still shouldn't have to use such a horrible browser.
oneblackened 5 years ago

blazorthonChrome is far heavier than FF, at least it is right now. Whether or not it is faster for some things doesn't change the fact that it uses far more RAM and uses more and more as the tab count increases, especially with Flash-ridden sites.

Agreed. Chrome uses a stupid amount of RAM. One tab, ONE TAB, uses 90MB of RAM. 2 plugins in addition? 150MB.
Stardude82 5 years ago

Maybe this will free up some resources so that they can make iTunes not suck.
jhansonxi 5 years ago

Not surprising as it wasn't really providing any benefit to them unlike iTunes or QuickTime. Businesses drop unpopular products all the time. With open source software, someone can continue it if they are willing to spend the effort to do so. M$ dropped Internet Explorer support for Mac and Unix a long time ago. Most commercial web browsers stopped supporting Win9x-Me and OS/2. A few individuals still support open source browsers for obsolete platforms but that's their choice.
killerclick 5 years ago

I have to use all browsers with more than 1% market share, for testing purposes, but for the most part what works in Chrome will work on Safari (interestingly enough there are some differences despite them using the same engine).

For my personal use, I prefer Firefox over everything else, probably because I'm so used to it, but it's starting to get annoying due to streamlining they've been doing - no way to turn on Javascript error notifications, many options are hidden in about:config, Flash started crashing on it recently, etc.
blazorthon 5 years ago

killerclickI have to use all browsers with more than 1% market share, for testing purposes, but for the most part what works in Chrome will work on Safari (interestingly enough there are some differences despite them using the same engine).For my personal use, I prefer Firefox over everything else, probably because I'm so used to it, but it's starting to get annoying due to streamlining they've been doing - no way to turn on Javascript error notifications, many options are hidden in about:config, Flash started crashing on it recently, etc.

I often read about Flash crashing in FF, but it never happens to me. Are there some sort of circumstances that cause it?
Anonymous 5 years ago

Safari leaving the windows platform isn't much of a loss, if any to begin with.
okibrian 5 years ago

Good, so they won't try to push it on me anymore when I update iTunes.
zoemayne 5 years ago

Stardude82Maybe this will free up some resources so that they can make iTunes not suck.

i dont think so all they do is re-compile safari and itunes for windows i doubt they wright efficient code geared towards windows. i think they want it to suck on purpose. I'm guessing MS does the same w Office for MAC.
chicofehr 5 years ago

I use Firefox for all the awesome addons. Got like 20+ of them and allow me to do whatever I so please :P
nukemaster 5 years ago

zoemaynei dont think so all they do is re-compile safari and itunes for windows i doubt they wright efficient code geared towards windows. i think they want it to suck on purpose. I'm guessing MS does the same w Office for MAC.

I had noticed that iTunes did not run that good on PC, but was great on MAC. This was years back. I just assumed they are doing it to make you say...WOW look for good it runs on Mac(like thats gonna work ).
Shin-san 5 years ago

I agree. There's not many good reason for most of us to use Safari on Windows unless you are a web developer/tester.

zoemaynei dont think so all they do is re-compile safari and itunes for windows i doubt they wright efficient code geared towards windows. i think they want it to suck on purpose. I'm guessing MS does the same w Office for MAC.
I heard they did a very insane thing: they implemented the Mac font rendering system on their products for Windows. I have no idea if they did it on Safari.

There should be common code between Office for Mac and Office for Windows, but Microsoft actually does a great job making Office feel like it belongs on the system. Also, I find Office to be more stable than a lot of Apple software on the Mac. Remember that Windows and Mac has a very different UI system.

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