What boycott?

[jsbowden]

I refuse to engage in this silliness of the 'boycott' over how LJ handles new non-paying customers, so posting I am. I haven't upped my account to plus because I don't really care about the extra functionality, but if the folks at LJ don't want to give new free accounts my minimal level of access, that's their decision. It's their site, their bandwidth, servers, and bills.

So, Apple Software Update asked me if I wanted to install something this morning, and I assumed it was a Quicktime or iTunes update because I wasn't paying much attention. Turns out, it was Safari. Um, Steve, why? What's the point of porting Safari to Windows? Seriously?

Comments

just wondering...

[dnmolo.livejournal.com]

i'm new... what more do you have then i?

Re: just wondering...

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

I have less, not more. But I also don't have ads.

Re: just wondering...

[dnmolo.livejournal.com]

ahhh i see. yes the ads can be annoying.

[skwidly.livejournal.com]

Safari? Really?

That's...sort of interesting, I guess, but just...why?

[cerebresque.livejournal.com]

So that people can have a browser that a) isn't IE, and b) doesn't require you to deal with the Firefox cultists¹?

I can see that demand existing.

1. No offense to sane Firefox users or actual cultists intended, but it definitely, IMAO, falls into that category of software where one of the biggest disadvantages is the number of creepy, obsessive assholes amongst its user-base.

[publius1.livejournal.com]

Whu? When did Firefox become a cult browser? Sheesh.. now I belong to the cults of vi, Firefox, and I-don't-know-what-else by sheer effect of liking them, and I hate it when cults form around things I like without me noticing it, damnit all.

[cerebresque.livejournal.com]

Oh, the usual time. As soon as people started thinking of the reasons why it's the best browser after deciding that it was, rather than vice versa. (Can't actually put a date on it, since it's evidently long enough ago to be outside my precise-memory time horizon.)

[publius1.livejournal.com]

Why I like it: I can easy block Flash and pop-ups with Firefox. That's...pretty much it, actually. Simple interface too, but meh.

[markerikson.livejournal.com]

Is there some enormous problem with IE?

[cerebresque.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't think so, but lots of people seem to think there is.

(Most of the reasons they give are either spurious or reasons to prefer IE to Firefox, so far as I'm concerned, so.)

[paoconnell.livejournal.com]

I've tried Safari on a Mac. Not impressed, it's harder to use than Firefox or IE. If I ever get a Mac, Firefox or Seamonkey (successor to Mozilla) will be its browser.

The issue with IE is that it allows ActiveX controls to load and run without asking. If you're behind a corporate firewall and the ActiveX controls are used by some company application, then IE is tolerable. If you're a home or small business user, ActiveX is a security hole, and so is IE.

[cerebresque.livejournal.com]

Not in recent versions, and always configurably not.

[deor.livejournal.com]

That's just because neither group understands the glory that is Opera. :-)

[kjn]

Umm... I think there has been a beta of Safari for Windows for at least a year.

As for why, it's a whole another level of jobs.

[dlganger.livejournal.com]

Makes it easier for Windows-oriented website developers to test against Safari.