Apple is really sinking to spurious tactics by forcing Safari on it. It’s a cute browser but it ain’t no Firefox or IE. And the last thing I need is another piece of their hyper-proprietary software sitting on any of my systems.
It now appears that the Cupertino-based company aspires to use the advantage presented by the Software Update mechanism to muscle its way further up the browser charts at the expense Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and other third-party Windows browsers.
“Earlier today, Apple released the Safari 3.1 Web browser for Mac OS and Windows XP/Vista. A couple hours later, Apple Software Update popped up on my daughter’s Sony VAIO, offering Safari 3.1 for download,” noted Microsoft Watch’s Joe Wilcox. “I didn’t recall seeing an earlier version installed on the laptop. And I made no mistake: The Apple updater offered installation of new software, not something that had been there before. Whoa.”
What! You are going overboard here. It’s a good browser. Get over it.
The issue is not whether it is a good browser or not – I quite like it as a piece of software. The issue is that Apple includes it in its “standard updates” even if you haven’t previously installed it. It’s something they previously did when a full download and install of iTunes was always included in the update for Quicktime.
When that occurs, particularly when the default is “download and install” then I think it’s unethical. They’re taking advantage of the large numbers of people who use iTunes to try and push their browser onto PCs somewhat under the radar of those PC users.