Safari for Windows market share triples following SW Update push

[AppleInsider]

Apple Inc. saw its share of the Windows browser market triple immediately after it began encouraging users of the Microsoft operating system to download and install its Safari web browser through the widely deployed Apple Software Update mechanism, according to a new report.

Net Applications, a firm which tracks browser share and operating system usage, noted in a release Thursday that Safari 3.0 on Windows never gained much traction, with its share peaking at just 0.07 percent. However, Safari 3.1 on Windows has rapidly muscled gains over the past six weeks, already tripling Safari 3.0's peak at 0.21 percent.

The surge follows a move by the Cupertino-based company back on March 18th in which it began pre-selecting Safari 3.1 installs as part of its Software Update service installed on millions of PCs that run the company's iTunes software.

"Normally, Apple's Software Update service is not used for delivery of new products.* Clearly, this is a calculated risk by Apple that has annoyed and/or alienated some users," Net Applications said. "However, the question is, did it work?* Did Apple gain browser market share on Windows based on this move?* The answer is yes."

Indeed, Apple became the subject of much criticism following the move, as industry watchers and rival browser developers charged the company with using its Software Update mechanism as as a trojan horse to gain an unfair advantage in the battle for share of the web browser market.



In response, the company a month later issued a revised version of the Software Update mechanism for Windows separating new software releases from regular updates to applications already installed on users' machines. It also added a toggle to turn off automatic software updates, though the box remained checked "on by default.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ] (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=4019)

[ifiredmyboss.com]

Maybe I read the numbers wrong but it looks like it is still under 1%

[minderbinder]

I found it hard to fault apple for this all along, and after this data it sure looks like they made a smart call.

It will be interesting to see data showing whether people are actually USING safari for windows, once that's available.

[the cool gut]

Excuse me - but how in the F**K is this different from installing Java (ugh I know, but filemaker server needs it) and being prompted if you'd like to install Open Office as well?

[Rot'nApple]

You don't ask, you're not going to get the business...

[johnqh]

Oh, come on, upsetting many people for that 0.14% market share?

There are many ways to increase your market market, especially when it is 0.07%. Slipping it in and upsetting customers is not a good way.

Whichever MBA thought of this "brilliant" idea should be fired.

[teckstud]

Excuse me- but is 0.21 percent something to brag about or even publicize??:\

[the cool gut]

How about when you buy a dell for the first time, run Internet Explorer and you are prompted if you'd like to install Google Search Bar? I have yet to see any arguements that this is not an already industry wide practice.

[StuBeck]

How about when you buy a dell for the first time, run Internet Explorer and you are prompted if you'd like to install Google Search Bar? I have yet to see any arguements that this is not an already industry wide practice.

You're asked then though, I think th eissue was that people weren't asked, it was already clicked for them, so if they needed an iTunes update they would probably just turn their brain off and click yes to everything.

[djdj]

"Encouraging" isn't the right word. "Tricking" would be more appropriate.

[Clive At Five]

Obi-Wan: I have to admit that without the [default selection] it would have not been a victory.
Yoda: Victory! Victory you say? Master Obi-Wan, not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen, begun the [browser] war has.

-Clive

[studiomusic]

So PC users DO just click on the next button without looking at what they are doing!:lol:

[TheSpecialist]

So PC users DO just click on the next button without looking at what they are doing!:lol:

Are you serious? You are acting like PC users are f*cking morons. I'm a PC user myself, I don't have the money for a Mac (16yo). Like me I intentionally clicked for the update (already had Safari installed though). And installed it on all my friends computers when 3.1 came up. They LOVE it. Everyone I let to try Safari loves it and doesn't want to use Internet Explorer anymore. People, promote Safari, like me8-)

[federmoose]

"Encouraging" isn't the right word. "Tricking" would be more appropriate.

people who don't know how to unclick something in plain sight deserved to be tricked.

now come at me. :lol:

[Dakota Kid]

Note that Net Applications data is based upon browser usage at various web sites, not the installed base of the browser. The .21% share should be seen in that light. People are using it.

Consider that Safari's overall browser share according to Net Applications is 5.51%. Every little bit of share counts, even .21%.

Opera's share, for example, is at .65%, so getting .21% in a few weeks is more significant than some people seem to think.

[zunx]

That is why the crap from Microsoft is being used (Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Office, Windows, etc): INERTIA AND IGNORANCE.

[studiomusic]

Are you serious? You are acting like PC users are f*cking morons. I'm a PC user myself, I don't have the money for a Mac (16yo). Like me I intentionally clicked for the update (already had Safari installed though). And installed it on all my friends computers when 3.1 came up. They LOVE it. Everyone I let to try Safari loves it and doesn't want to use Internet Explorer anymore. People, promote Safari, like me8-)

You are one of the exceptions that makes the rule. Plus, you already had it installed...
How else can you explain a triple in users so fast?
And how else do you explain the rampant email viruses that thrive in the PC world?
I guess there could be a bunch of f*cking morons using Mac too. I just haven't seen it. :no:

[zorinlynx]

The fact that people are using the browser shows that they installed it and LIKED it more than MSIE.

I'm not sure why providing users with the option to try Safari was such a bad thing. It wasted what, maybe 0.5 seconds of their time as they decided to click yes or no? Big deal! Microsoft does this all the time and nobody bats a finger, but when Apple does it just once it's all doom and gloom!

More market share for Safari is good for the Mac platform. People who find out how awesome Apple software is may be inclined to try the Mac, expecting more awesomeness. Many people will end up loving and buying the Mac as a result.

[Eduardo]

Obi-Wan: I have to admit that without the [default selection] it would have not been a victory.
Yoda: Victory! Victory you say? Master Obi-Wan, not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen, begun the [browser] war has.

-Clive

Wow. You need to get out of your parents basement more often.
:lol:

[fraklinc]

Safari is a good browser but if Apple want's to keep strong is this game they gonna have to throw some lipstick on it, Safari looks kind of old, although it's my main browser:)

[poke]

It's ridiculous to suggest that 3 times gain is due to the Apple Updater; the upward trend is only slightly changed at the date of the update push. The 3.0 version was a beta and the 3.1 the first stable release version; it's hardly surprising that it quickly gained a larger market share.

[EagerDragon]

I did not see the issue before and with the new installation I still do not see an issue. People that installed it by mistake could easily delete it.

It is obvious that Apple did the right thing as a large number of people decided to take it for a spin. Prior to the installation they were probably unaware that there was a browser named Safari. Now they know and are using it.

I installed it a t work I am very happy with it. Great on my Mac and Great on the stupid windows box that I am forced to use at work.

[paxman]

The complaint that many people have has nothing to do with how good the browser is, nor has it to do with IE - it is strictly a matter of business practice. It may be successful, but to me that doesn't justify the means. I am sure the stats would have been the same with the option to click, accompanied by some Apple like marketing. Back handed strategies just don't sit well with me. If you have something good to sell find a way to tell it like it is and 'they will come'. I wonder how many of the people who inadvertently installed Safari are now using it. My bet is that by far most of them have no idea Safari is even on their computer.

[StuBeck]

So PC users DO just click on the next button without looking at what they are doing!:lol:

Yes, not that its any different in any OS. Users don't read or look at what they're doing all the time.

[-cj-]

I just don't think anyone was "tricked" into downloading anything. Users clearly had the option to install or not install. There is no sketchy business practice here.

[JeffDM]

I just don't think anyone was "tricked" into downloading anything. Users clearly had the option to install or not install. There is no sketchy business practice here.

I know many companies have tried this at some point or another, but regardless of company, I much prefer the check boxes to be opt-in vs. opt-out. Do nothing, and the software does nothing. To me, that's the most sensible way to do it.

[diskimage]

But Safari's market share has actually slipped since this.
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=1&qpcustom=Safari
Although they gained some windows users it looks like more mac users have stopped using it

[Clive At Five]

Wow. You need to get out of your parents basement more often.
:lol:

Hahaha, funny. If I was on the outside I would've made the same joke. Unfortunately for the veracity of your comments, I have my own place where I'm married to a very (http://x0a.xanga.com/1f7852f132508182300651/m139508252.jpg) foxy (http://xe8.xanga.com/655c266ac7c31182300653/m139508254.jpg) lady (http://x4e.xanga.com/24bc5560d4230182300647/m139508248.jpg). She doesn't mind that I'm a nerd sometimes. In return, I tollerate her quest to fill her every free moment with Sex and the City reruns. (That show in unbearable!) She feels the same way about my bi-weekly StarCraft tournaments, though, so it all works out.

So anyway... About Macs. Apple is a bully for forcing-- ah who am I kidding? There's no way I can re-rail this post. Oh well. Mods here don't care.

-Clive

[MacLemming]

Well since Netscape stopped supporting their browser, I am sure Safari has claimed some of those non-conformists....

On Windows, it may be true that anything is better than Internet Explorer.... So Safari has potential there.... But Firefox is clearly the better browser, even on the Mac side

[JeffDM]

But Safari's market share has actually slipped since this.
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=1&qpcustom=Safari
Although they gained some windows users it looks like more mac users have stopped using it

I think those numbers are more realistic. A quarter percent just seems like a lowball figure. On my sites, I see between 3% and 12%. Firefox generally gets about 3x that

Well since Netscape stopped supporting their browser, I am sure Safari has claimed some of those non-conformists....

On Windows, it may be true that anything is better than Internet Explorer.... So Safari has potential there.... But Firefox is clearly the better browser, even on the Mac side

I think it's a debatable claim. I use Firefox because it does certain things the way I want it to, but Safari has been more stable for me than Firefox 2. FF3 beta is pretty good though, it fixes most of the issues I have with Firefox.

[Ireland]

Excuse me- but is 0.21 percent something to brag about or even publicize??:\

It's more than I have. I have a browser on my desk called Brown Bread :D

[kim kap sol]

To anyone that is upset about this 'trojan horse' behavior that Apple adopted, give me your address so I can show up at your doorstep and kick you in the schnitzel.

[ashawley]

Just agreeing with all those posting that there's nothing shifty here about what Apple did. It's standard practice!!!

Don't believe me? Let's see, go to Adobe's site and download Acrobat Reader. Guess what? Yup, good ol' Google Toolbar is selected by default to be installed.

It's everywhere folks.

[qntmfred]

ill-gotten gains, i say
ill-gotten gains

[smokeonit]

people complaining about apple and the safari update issue need to get a life!

[bluedalmatian]

safari for windows is something of a waste of money.

apple would do far better to produce pages & keynote for windows. helping to establish them as a real alternative to MS office would gain apple far more than a web browser.

[ouragan]

Safari 3.1 on Windows has rapidly muscled gains over the past six weeks, already tripling Safari 3.0's peak at 0.21 percent.


Who else would get excited for a 0.21% browser footprint?

If I could write my own program, maybe I could beat the 0.21% market share of Safari on Windows. Nothing to get excited.

:embarrass:embarrass:embarrass

[teckstud]

However, Safari 3.1 on Windows has rapidly muscled gains over the past six weeks, already tripling Safari 3.0's peak at 0.21 percent.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ] (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=4019)

Inch worm, inch worm!!
Those "muscled gains" could use some steroids and get it above 1.0%.
"Ugggh- come on! You can do it- you can do it!!!!![" :lol:

[Chris_CA]

It will be interesting to see data showing whether people are actually USING safari for windows, once that's available.
That is exactly what is being tracked.
The number of people actually using a certain browser/OS.

[phytonix]

But Safari's market share has actually slipped since this.
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=1&qpcustom=Safari
Although they gained some windows users it looks like more mac users have stopped using it

No I guess that is just error. Because the market share of Mac OS X decreased too.

[Samnuva]

Who else would get excited for a 0.21% browser footprint?

If I could write my own program, maybe I could beat the 0.21% market share of Safari on Windows. Nothing to get excited.

:embarrass:embarrass:embarrass

Recheck your math. % .21 is a lot of computers using your browser. A whole lot.

[solsun]

People who find out how awesome Apple software is may be inclined to try the Mac, expecting more awesomeness. Many people will end up loving and buying the Mac as a result.


Honestly, I think that's pushing it a bit.. I just can't see any Windows user trying out Safari and saying "oh my gosh, it's fantastic, I need to buy a Mac." Of course I use Safari as my main browser, but to me, it's basically just a browser.. I really don't think there is anything that special or innovative that sets it apart from other browsers.. So they say it's "faster," but I personally don't notice any difference in speed between Firefox..

[McDave]

It's ridiculous to suggest that 3 times gain is due to the Apple Updater; the upward trend is only slightly changed at the date of the update push. The 3.0 version was a beta and the 3.1 the first stable release version; it's hardly surprising that it quickly gained a larger market share.

We'd all like to believe that people do things by consideration rather than being spoon-fed but that's not the case, hence they're still using Windows. All Apple did was hook into their already well-defined behaviour. Go Apple & give that MBA a bonus.

McD

[McDave]

Recheck your math. % .21 is a lot of computers using your browser. A whole lot.

Honestly, I think that's pushing it a bit.. I just can't see any Windows user trying out Safari and saying "oh my gosh, it's fantastic, I need to buy a Mac." Of course I use Safari as my main browser, but to me, it's basically just a browser.. I really don't think there is anything that special or innovative that sets it apart from other browsers.. So they say it's "faster," but I personally don't notice any difference in speed between Firefox..

OK I don't have figures so I'll make 'em up but if global sales are circa 180-200m PCs and refreshes are 3-4 years on average that's over 500m PCs out there. 0.21% is just over 1m and 660K of those weren't using Safari but were using iTunes.

Using iTunes as a one-off (because they had to) wouldn't do it alone but I'd say opening that second eye will sell quite a few Macs at refresh time and that .21% doesn't look like a plateau to me.

McD

[qualar]

Don't you all think this opens the door for MS to do the same with it's apps on OS X. Apple would not have a case to block it when they had done it on Windows.

[McDave]

Don't you all think this opens the door for MS to do the same with it's apps on OS X. Apple would not have a case to block it when they had done it on Windows.

MS have done their dash - that's why we're on OSX

[Endymion]

Don't you all think this opens the door for MS to do the same with it's apps on OS X. Apple would not have a case to block it when they had done it on Windows.

With what apps? It's not like Microsoft even competes in the free app market on the Mac anymore. Other than Messenger, what are they going to offer, surely not Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player.

[DGNR8]

Oh, come on, upsetting many people for that 0.14% market share?

There are many ways to increase your market market, especially when it is 0.07%. Slipping it in and upsetting customers is not a good way.

Whichever MBA thought of this "brilliant" idea should be fired.

As an IT administrator in a fortune 500 company I am constantly building and updating dozens of PC's a month.

What Apple did is not different than other PC Software industry leaders.

For example take any Windows PC fresh from Dell or HP and add Flash, Shockwave, Acrobat or AIR from Adobe.

During every installation you will be prompted if you want to install Google Desktop with the option DEFAULTED to INSTALL.

That is just one Software Vendor, I have seen this to be with an ever increasing tactic of software vendors by adding Google Desktop with there install/update packages.

I hear of no dissent for Google on this anywhere, so I find this argument from people hypocritical and because it is an Apple product.

I am not saying where it is right or wrong, rather be upset industry wide or refrain from criticism at just one company.

[Aquatic]

I agree with someone else, Apple should bring iWork to PCs. iWork makes profit. Safari...costs money to develop and is being given away. And it's just plain mediocre. For whatever reason, they don't seem to add features to it or improve on it or debug it at all, it's gone nowhere in years. Clips was the coolest thing they've added besides RSS and Tabs back in 2.0. That's just not impressive. I use FF 3 for now, until Safari stops being slow and buggy.

[JeffDM]

I agree with someone else, Apple should bring iWork to PCs. iWork makes profit. Safari...costs money to develop and is being given away.

I think there are a few valid reasons for Safari for Windows to exist. Apple most likely makes at least some money from Safari. The first is, search engine revenue. Google pays the Mozilla Foundation to the tune of $25 million a year. These are, at least in part, the kickbacks from whenever someone clicks a paid sponsor link when you use the search engine bar. So Apple can probably more than pay back their cost of development. Then there's also an easy means for developers to get a copy of Safari to test their sites against. No longer is "don't have a Mac" an excuse for a site dev to not test Safari.

[djdj]

Just agreeing with all those posting that there's nothing shifty here about what Apple did. It's standard practice!!!

Don't believe me? Let's see, go to Adobe's site and download Acrobat Reader. Guess what? Yup, good ol' Google Toolbar is selected by default to be installed.

It's everywhere folks.

Doesn't make it right, now does it... It's a deceptive and manipulative practice that no software company should engage in, especially Apple.

[djdj]

people who don't know how to unclick something in plain sight deserved to be tricked.

now come at me. :lol:

And I suppose everyone you know reads everything that pops up on their computer. I thought not.

This is how viruses get installed... a message pops up, user confirms, boom, virus installed. In this case, it's Safari on Windows. This is something I never thought Apple would stoop to.

I wouldn't have a problem with it if the box were unchecked by default. Offer new software all day long using Apple Software Update, as long as the box is unchecked, I don't care.

[hezekiahb]

I think those numbers are more realistic. A quarter percent just seems like a lowball figure. On my sites, I see between 3% and 12%. Firefox generally gets about 3x that



I think it's a debatable claim. I use Firefox because it does certain things the way I want it to, but Safari has been more stable for me than Firefox 2. FF3 beta is pretty good though, it fixes most of the issues I have with Firefox.

I primarily use Safari because I couldn't live without the find (which is vastly better than even firefox, which is good too). I've had no compatibility issues far as web pages go so I'm happy there. Only bummer about Safari is no PicLens 6 support, but they are working on it & once they have it I'm done with Firefox.

Firefox users all love the plug-ins, but to be honest I've never found a plug-in I use enough to move away from Safari, I just like Safari stability far too much.

[johnqh]

There is a strategic reason why Apple needs Safari on Windows - to keep Microsoft technology from dominating the websites.

Web has been a great equalizer for Mac. People complain less about "not enough apps run on Mac" these days because a lot of the commonly used stuff went to the web.

For example, Silverlight. It is a MS technology (competing against Flash) working in IE. At this moment, it is not the greatest, but has potential.

What if it becomes a great technology and a lot of webmasters start to use it instead of the standard technoliges (plain old server side scripting, or Flash)? What if Microsoft then drops the Mac support? (similar to what happens to Windows Media)

When websites use some unique technology which only works in IE, people will again more likely to buy Windows computers, and that "Mac has less apps" argument will come back again with a different form - "Fewer websites work in Mac".

Of course, there is Firefox...however, you cannot count on a third party for your core business, so Apple is pushing Safari for Windows as a strategic move to make sure web doesn't become a MS platform.

[wnurse]

Recheck your math. % .21 is a lot of computers using your browser. A whole lot.

I decided to recheck his math for him (later, i'll tell you where you went wrong or maybe it will be obvious after my rechecking his math)..

Lets say we have 1000 people browsing.

0.21percent of that is 0.21/100 * 1000 = 2.1 people.

Know where you went wrong?.. you thought 0.21 percent means multiple whatever number by 0.21..

but the author of the article did not say apple has 21 percent of market share (21 percent is same as 0.21)..
he said 0.21 percent which is same as 0.0021.

If you have 1 billion people surfing, that would work out to 2.1 million.

I would hardly call 0.21% significant in any circumstance.

you check your math.

[JeffDM]

I primarily use Safari because I couldn't live without the find (which is vastly better than even firefox, which is good too). I've had no compatibility issues far as web pages go so I'm happy there. Only bummer about Safari is no PicLens 6 support, but they are working on it & once they have it I'm done with Firefox.

Firefox users all love the plug-ins, but to be honest I've never found a plug-in I use enough to move away from Safari, I just like Safari stability far too much.

For some people, it just takes one plug-in. For me that might be FXIF, which lets me look at the EXIF data in an image. The plugin for Safari to do what AdBlock and FlashBlock does is more complicated than it needs to be, in my opinion.