In an obituary Mac users have construe come since 2003 , Microsoft announced the end of the line for the Mac version of its Internet Explorer browser app Monday . The software goliath will unload all sustenance for IE on December 31 , providing no further protection or performance update .
IE ’s Mac dying comes as no surprise to us , and not just because Microsoft stop development of the web browser app a little more than two years ago . few than 3 percent of the readers who fall to Macworld.com are doing so via Internet Explorer for the Mac — in contrast , some 50 pct of our visitors are using Apple ’s Safari while Firefox and the Windows translation of IE number for a little more than 20 percent each .
In a fitting footer , Microsoft hint on itsMactopia IE pagethat user should consider migrating to Apple ’s Safari . Why is that interesting ? Because Safari was developed as a single - platform web internet browser , much like IE is now platform - specific for the personal computer .
Cross - platform vs. platform - specific is the core outcome of Microsoft ’s decision .
A mountain of ink has been pass on praisingFirefoxfor cut down into IE ’s domination . But Firefox has a distinct reward : It ’s an open - source web browser that can run by nature on all platforms . IE does n’t have that luxury . And as we all have intercourse , Microsoft is n’t keen on competing in a cross - platform environment . So Redmond last realized that any resource pour out into Mac development would be unlikely to make a difference . Safari already has the dominant chunk of the Mac market cornered , bump Microsoft to competing for table bit .
Factor in the condescension which many Mac substance abuser find for anything Windows - related , and it was a no - win post for IE . When Safari debuted at the 2003 Macworld Expo in San Francisco , many Mac users downloaded the Apple - built web browser app and never looked back .
Anyone who ’s used IE on a Mac sleep together that it is lacking in almost every class . Page rendering is atrocious because of CSS issues , and it has no exonerated path for integrating new features . ( Mind you , itcanbe done . Flockrecently launched such an effort with a web browser work up upon Firefox that offers integration with Flickr , del.icio.us , and various blogging tools . ) Rather than pouring more money down the Mac - development bootleg hole , Gates & Co. decide justifiably to draw the chaw .
I know most Mac users would debate that Microsoft write off the Mac IE back in 2003 when it announce updates would cease . Indeed , that announcement note the turning point where IE moved toward microcomputer - only . But notice that the annunciation descend just before Firefox was institute as a feasible menace . Safari , however , was already make Microsoft unquiet . I would contend that this is when the exploitation squad take a looking at their existing web browser and resolve it was n’t workable for the Mac , nor was their much promise of becoming so .
So the model for web browser development shapes up like this : Either pick a political program and stick with it or espouse open - source . Because vie for every little corner of both markets using proprietary technology necessitate so much money that even Microsoft ca n’t afford it .
