Apple Pushing Safari on Windows Users Via Itunes

Apple has officially begun pushing their Safari web browser into Windows users by way of iTunes. This was in the cards ever since Steve Jobs announced Safari for Windows last year.

This started on Tuesday, when Apple released version 3.1 of Safari. What makes the move unique is that Apple Software Update is rarely used to promote new software. Typically, you get the Update utility whenever you install any Apple software on a Windows machine, such as Quicktime or iTunes. Usually, you’ll only be given updates to those software. Using the same medium to push a product the person never downloaded is new territory.

When jobs announced Safari for Windows, he said:

“Hundreds of millions of Windows users already use iTunes, and we look forward to turning them on to Safari’s superior browsing experience, too.”

To clarify, Apple is not forcing Safari onto your computer. That would, almost literally, cause a war of the nerds. Instead, it is just showing the browser in the Update utility. You can uncheck it to decline. This is actually very similar to Microsoft using Windows Update to push Internet Explorer 7 even though you can decline it.

Personally, I find it a little odd that Apple’s music player is being used to distribute unrelated applications. Word has it that iTunes will also be the distribution medium for iPhone third-party applications (allowing Apple to control it, of course).

Are we going to see iTunes get renamed? Perhaps iDownloader? iGimme? iWannaMoreCrap? I mean, we wouldn’t see Microsoft using Media Player to push a web browser, would we?

Source: ComputerWorld

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Jeff
This is not new for Apple. People that have only installed Quicktime have been push-fed iTunes by Apple Update for at least a year.
Jah
I am not surprised apple has done this, those dirty little…
Well, anyway, I disagree with this part:
“This is actually very similar to Microsoft using Windows Update to push Internet Explorer 7 even though you can decline it.”
That is like saying a Target staff going to walmart to advertise Target brand merchandise is the same thing as a Target staff advertising at Target. No. One is wrong, and one is ok.
Brian
Apple offers you free software which you can decline. This is nothing compared to Microsoft’s track record of bullying other companies out of business, threating them, lying about software (FUD tactics), stealing software (quicktime for example–they were caught in court with the quicktime source code stolen from Apple and used in Windoze media), perverting standards, etc…
It’s like Microsoft kills your friend and that is OK, but Apple didn’t say hello to you in the hallway and you are more upset with Apple.