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gregmancuso

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2014
408
512
The difference is that Microsoft was not following industry standards, but plowing their own proprietary path. Website engineers always needed to build two versions of their code ... one for standards-compliant browsers and one for Internet Explorer. So glad those days are behind us.

It's important to distinguish between WebKit and Safari. There are plenty of browsers on iOS, and each is free to implement their own features, but they must use the system-provided WebKit rendering engine.

Not one browser. Users have a choice of browser. And WebKit is adhering tightly to web standards, not being proprietary. So very different.
Those days are not behind us. Substitute IE with Chorme and we are right back in the early 90’s.
 

coolfactor

macrumors 604
Jul 29, 2002
7,128
9,875
Vancouver, BC
I never use Safari on a Mac, because it has stupid restrictions, yet I am effectively use Safari on iPhone and iPad.

What restrictions? How would you know if you _never_ use the browser? Sounds like you've developed a negative-view lens on Safari and can't see it for what it really is, or how it has evolved.

Safari is my preferred browser.
 

genovelle

macrumors 68020
May 8, 2008
2,104
2,681
One browser to rule them all...

And this is what Microsoft was sued for in the 90's...

The crap big tech gets away with these days is beyond laughable.
Not the same at all. Apple is not forcing people to use their browser on devices they don’t build like Microsoft was. The closest to Microsoft would be Chrome being forced on users to access the Internet for just basic functionality because tech heads at companies push proprietary chrome tech instead of standards.
 

genovelle

macrumors 68020
May 8, 2008
2,104
2,681
What restrictions? How would you know if you _never_ use the browser? Sounds like you've developed a negative-view lens on Safari and can't see it for what it really is, or how it has evolved.

Safari is my preferred browser.
The restrictions are likely not Safari but sites using proprietary Google Chrome features to lock down the internet.
 

genovelle

macrumors 68020
May 8, 2008
2,104
2,681
Those days are not behind us. Substitute IE with Chorme and we are right back in the early 90’s.
Google has carefully followed Microsoft’s pathway. Starting with the OS theft after first pretending to be an ally. Now they are using the IT world to tie the web and internal business systems to Google tech in a way that bocks anyone else.
 

bsolar

macrumors 68000
Jun 20, 2011
1,535
1,751
What restrictions? How would you know if you _never_ use the browser? Sounds like you've developed a negative-view lens on Safari and can't see it for what it really is, or how it has evolved.

Safari has restrictions in its content blocking capabilities and restrictions in usable codecs (e.g. VP9, which is otherwise supported when used in WebRTC).

Safari is a good browser in general, but different users have different priorities so what's true in general might not be true in specific circumstances.

I value my privacy and security particularly, so the content blocking restrictions are a showstopper for me.
 

CarAnalogy

macrumors 601
Jun 9, 2021
4,266
7,873
Your first two sentences could describe the iOS situation, or the "damned near everything is Chromium elsewhere" situation of Windows, MacOS and Android. It's all the same thing! Really what we need is for a truly company/platform-agnostic engine that implements web standards, then everyone builds on that. Take everyone's vested business interests out of the equation and make them compete on user experience. Obviously not going to happen - I've been developing for the web since 1996 and all that happens is the cudgel changes hands every few years.

But there still exists Firefox. I use it because it handles certificate errors better than any other browser. I frequently deal with self signed / expired / weird certificates for web interfaces for old devices, so I know exactly what I’m connecting to. But Chromium often insists a connection is impossible (even after clicking through the warning), while Firefox lets me connect no problem with just a warning. Safari works too but I have to authenticate and trust the certificate and everything.

Chromium is of course the de facto and for general browsing is fine and its strict certificate stance is even useful.

Sad fact is Safari still mostly exists only because of its monopoly on iOS. I use Safari on Mac too for most things that don’t require Chromium.

So I’m glad third party browser engines are still possible and I hope that never becomes impossible, even if it is currently not as widespread as it could be.
 

gregmancuso

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2014
408
512
...you realize Chromium and by extension Blink are open-source as well, right?
I do. I also know that Chromium is Google developed and maintained. It is open source in thet you can use it fir free. I bet Google likes that…

WebKit was introduced by Apple in the mid 90’s and current key contributors include Apple, Google, Sony, Adobe, KDE, others.
 

ian87w

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,636
Indonesia
Wonder why the CMA did take their own sweet time?
Anyway, the downside of this is that Chrome dominance over Android is nailed down, as there will be nobody else questioning how Google forces OEMs to pre install Chrome on Android handsets if they were to be certified by Google for GMS. This is clearly anti competitive style aka Microsoft of the old, considering the dominance of Android in mobile market share.

The upside, Safari can remain to be the “little guy” holding off the complete domination of Chrome. If only Apple continued developing Safari for Windows. Not sure why they stopped.
 
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jonblatho

macrumors 68030
Jan 20, 2014
2,510
6,206
Oklahoma
I do. I also know that Chromium is Google developed and maintained. It is open source in thet you can use it fir free.
No, it's unequivocally open-source. Google accepts and reviews contributed code for Chromium much like Apple does for WebKit. Chromium isn't all that different from WebKit in that most of the people with meaningful control over WebKit's development work at Google and Apple, respectively.
I bet Google likes that…
They don't care. Given that Chromium's open-source, the world is welcome to maintain a version of Chromium in parallel that removes what little dependence Chromium has on Google services, even though it appears that any such dependence which Google would see as dollar signs are in Chrome, not Chromium.
WebKit was introduced by Apple in the mid 90’s and current key contributors include Apple, Google, Sony, Adobe, KDE, others.
Blink was forked from WebKit was forked from KHTML. Not that any constructive open-source contribution is unimportant, but to suggest that any establishment other than Apple is a substantial contributor to WebKit overall is kidding yourself. I'm also not sure it's right to consider Google, Sony, or Adobe "current" key contributors to WebKit given that all three of these companies appear to have either moved away from, if not fully off of, their WebKit investment. KDE of course has Konqueror, but its collective contributions — while again important — pale in comparison to what Apple's able to throw at it.
 

roar08

macrumors 6502a
Apr 25, 2008
677
1,827
One browser to rule them all...

And this is what Microsoft was sued for in the 90's...

The crap big tech gets away with these days is beyond laughable.

Disclaimer: NOT a fan of MSFT or Bill Gates by any stretch of any imagination.

TL;DR

Microsoft was sued because Netscape and Sun convinced the DOJ to file antitrust claims (some Netscape execs had government friends); they were not necessarily sued as a result of consumer complaints. This is of course a simplification, and if you'd actually like to read more about the history of this, look here:


And David Boies — the attorney the DOJ hired to sue MSFT — is a questionable character to say the least. If you've read "Bad Blood" you can see why. But, he makes his pseudo-defense about representing Theranos (and Harvey Weinstein) here:


The passing quips on MR are often clever and worth a chuckle, but I suspect there aren't many who really understand the history of "tech", or who have been around through the dirt and scandals, and who actually know the players. Quips are easy, truth is difficult.
 

cableguy84

macrumors 68000
Sep 7, 2015
1,761
2,623
If the UK wants to impose rules then why don't they develop their own mobile phone OS and try completing instead of complaining.

Apple shouldn't have to listen to a tiny islands demands.
That’s funny you do realise ARM is an English company?
Their chip designs are in every iphone/ipad ever made.
Jony Ive is English and he is one of the most influential people in Apple’s modern history.
 

killhippie

macrumors 6502a
Jan 12, 2016
652
685
UK
I use Firefox on my iMac, I just dont like Safari, and I can't use Ublock Origin on the Firefox webkit clone on the iPhone or iPad. I'm not going to download a safari clone when the API in Firefox makes UBO work so well and gives such good privacy controls plus malware and script blocking etc and all before they get loaded in the background. As time is passing I feel like I miss out of what I actually need these days from Apple and they are not going to provide the solutions, just more extras that should be standard, like the ability to use what bowser I want, not their narrative which is webkit clones that lack the feel or usability of the real browser I use on macOS, or a mouse and keyboard for a computer that comes in the box as standard for instance not as an extra for £300.
 

jlc1978

macrumors 603
Aug 14, 2009
5,513
4,291
Your first two sentences could describe the iOS situation, or the "damned near everything is Chromium elsewhere" situation of Windows, MacOS and Android. It's all the same thing! Really what we need is for a truly company/platform-agnostic engine that implements web standards, then everyone builds on that. Take everyone's vested business interests out of the equation and make them compete on user experience. Obviously not going to happen - I've been developing for the web since 1996 and all that happens is the cudgel changes hands every few years.

The problem is there is no money in developing browsers. In theory someone could create a company/platform-agnostic engine by forking an existing open source engine which is used to build multiple competing browsers; if there was a compelling need for it that would have happened and there would be multiple browsers using it and be viable alternatives. It's far easier and cheaper to use existing engines and try to compete on features.

Firefox is interesting since it is an outgrowth of the browser engine used by Mosiac, and thus predates most in use today, except at least Lynx.
 
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nt5672

macrumors 68040
Jun 30, 2007
3,380
7,220
Midwest USA
.....

Given that, if iOS and iPad OS were opened up to other browser engines, do you think you're going to have much more choice? We'll get native Firefox (which I personally haven't had any interest in for a decade) and... Chromium dominating yet another platform. It's the illusion of choice.
I think that depends on how good the new browser is. Oh, what a minute, that is freedom to choose. Can't have that any more! Not in Silicon Valley.
 

genovelle

macrumors 68020
May 8, 2008
2,104
2,681
You are forced to use the WebKit _engine_ on iOS and iPad OS, but anyone can build a browser on top of it and innovate as they so choose. It hasn't stopped Firefox, Google's Chrome team and others creating great browser experiences.

Outside of iOS and iPad OS, besides the ridiculous dominance of Chrome itself, Chromium is also under the hood in Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera, Amazon Silk and Samsung Internet among many others. Not to mention it's the basis of Electron, which numerous desktop apps are built on - just on my personal Mac, I can name Slack, Discord, TIDAL, VSCode, Dropbox and Github for Desktop. I'm sure I have more. If anyone's the new antitrust-era Microsoft, it's Google.

Given that, if iOS and iPad OS were opened up to other browser engines, do you think you're going to have much more choice? We'll get native Firefox (which I personally haven't had any interest in for a decade) and... Chromium dominating yet another platform. It's the illusion of choice.
It would be a repeat of the 90s where once there were no alternatives to the direct platform competitors browser technology, they stop working on Keeping their browsers update on Apple devices. Microsoft did this with IE and is the reason Safari was created in the first place. Google has already proven they would do the same with how they held back features like turn by turn navigation until Apple caught them off guard and built their own mapping system.

Apple would much rather use partners for these things but they always seem to choose to use that relationship against them and become a direct competitor. They also start by copying Apple’s tech and then slowing development of the products they make for Apple products to make their platforms more attractive.
 
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