Apple Opens Up to Windows With Safari Browser

Jun 12, 05:00 AM

Current Headlines: By Jon Swartz

SAN FRANCISCO -- Vowing to make a splash in the Web browser market dominated by Microsoft, Apple on Monday unfurled a version of its Safari Web browser for Windows-based PCs.

"We would love for Safari's market share to grow substantially," said CEO Steve Jobs in a speech to software developers that showcased Apple's forthcoming operating system software, called Leopard.

Safari, which was released a few years ago for Apple's Macintosh computers, has about 5% of the world's browser market share, with more than 18.6 million users, according to Jobs.

Internet Explorer, which is built into Microsoft Windows, has 78% of the market, followed by Mozilla's Firefox, with 15%, Jobs said. Like the other browsers, Safari is free. But Jobs claims it is twice as fast as its competitors.

The move to make Safari available to non-Mac users is part of an ongoing Apple strategy to boost sales of its flagship Macintosh product line, which represented 43% of Apple revenue in the company's most recent quarter. Apple's iPod and iTunes store already are available for Windows PCs.

The gambit appears to be paying off. The Mac's share of the PC market in the USA was 4.9% last year, up from 3.5% in 2004, according to market researcher IDC.

"Safari is another enticement for the Windows community to look at the Mac platform," says Van Baker, an analyst at market researcher Gartner. "If it can bring some new people into the fold, perhaps a few percentage points, that's goodness."

Jobs said iPhone -- Apple's highly anticipated cellphone/iPod/wireless browser -- will run Safari. And he said any application program designed to run on Safari will be compatible with the iPhone.

The announcement that Apple would let other companies write Safari-based iPhone applications softened the company's previous position that the iPhone would not support outside programs because of concerns about security.

"Some phones crash and reboot when you try to run applications," Jobs said in an interview Monday. "We want to avoid that with modern, lightweight apps."

He said the iPhone will be available in the USA on June 29 at 6 p.m. in all time zones.

Jobs spent most of his 90-minute speech highlighting features of Leopard, Apple's operating system due in October. Among its features: a new desktop design and Time Machine, which lets users easily back up photos, documents and other data on their Macs. The operating system will cost $129.

Apple stock fell 3.5% to $120.19 in trading Monday. (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.