Apple Creating iBrowser on Mozilla Code?

louismg writes "The Register is claiming there may be a browser mutiny in Cupertino. The Mozilla-based Chimera browser was featured by many speakers during this month's WWDC, which may constitute a backhand endorsement, and could be used as a weapon in the 'negotiations' with Bill Gates and Co. over IE ..." Chimera is beginning to turn into a usable browser, favored by many Mac OS X users. Who knows? Update: 05/28 15:33 GMT by P : Chimera 0.2.8 was released today.

Comments

Apple getting antsy?

[Nexum]

There are much wider implications involved rather than a simple browser here - IE means a lot psychologically to Microsoft, it's a product that it fought very hard (and very dirty) to have succeed against Netscape, and also to some extent the DoJ, and Microsoft is currently loving the fact it's the de facto browser shipping with both of the two most popular desktop operating systems on Earth (Mac OS & Windows). For Apple to devote time and money towards developing a competing browser is going to be seen as a rather aggressive move by Apple, and with the 1997 MS/Apple deal timed out now, Apple has to be cautious to maintain the support of MS as an ISV (take Office away from Apple and it's in trouble). But on the other hand, Apple is in an extremely strong position, it has 4.5 billion USD in the bank, it has award winning products that the world seems to be fawning over, it's FINALLY got itself an ultra modern OS, it's diverging at both extremes of the industry (iPod and XServe), and despite the tech slump with a combined worldwide economic slowdown, the company is amazingly still turning a healthy profit. The knowledge of this newfound stability is likely to fuel Job's fire for radicalism that has in the past produced both fantastically innovative products, and also almost ruined the company - what will it do this time? Who knows, but all the signs point to Apple getting back up for round two vs MS - starting with the little tremors such as the page dedicated to educating Windows users as to the superiority of Mac OSX that went live on the Apple site a couple of months ago, and recently Job's commented during an interview with the BBC on doubling Apple's marketshare in very positive terms. It seems the future is anything but certain, and only a fool would resign Apple to it's current position in the industry - if Apple does have new browser plans underway, you can be sure that it's part of a much larger move back into the limelight.

Re:Apple getting antsy?

[Vitriol Angst]

I think it isn't accidental. I think they are testing support of Chimera in house. Why? Chimera is Mozilla based, but uses direct plugs to the Aqua GUI in OSX (if memory serves). So they are really leveraging what is turning out to be a very good open source code base.

Why would Apple do this? Because Macs have been slowly but surely marginalized by depending upon IE. It doesn't run half of the VBscript or even some of the server-based ASP stuff correctly--and if it remains the defacto standard, more and more users will have to get on a PC to do their banking (or whatever). For the average user it isn't worth the headache. Our website at our company can't run on a Mac--not that it couldn't, but the PC bigots write code testing for A Mac or Non-explorer browser because they don't want the hassle (or are mentally lazy) of supporting anything other than IE 5 on Windows. This situation is epidemic and the greatest concern for Macs as a platform in the future.

What I would be doing if I were Apple? Helping to add IE/Win functionality or code-morphing to translate VBscript and other MS crap into something more useful, then let all browsers lie to the server and say they are windows IE based. Help the Mozilla/Chimera effort in the wake of the inevitable .NOT incompatibilities that will "accidentally slip in".

I really hope they are worried about web compatibility. IE on the Mac is just an excuse to do very little on Microsofts part.

Well, yippie.

[Big Sean O]

I for one can't wait for Chimera to be as good as Mozilla RC3.

I know that people say that Mozilla is a failure because it didn't kill IE, and that it's big and bloated, but the good part about Mozilla is it's all open, baby. You want to build your own lean, mean browser? Have at it!

That's the benefit of the Mozilla project. It's a big open pile of browser-related code that will drive projects for the next decade.

Chimera is looking very good and has all the Aqua-ey bits. Ditching Mail, News, Composer, Chatzilla, XUL and the like is sure to make it smaller, faster and easier to maintain.

MS doesn't do a darned thing for Mac's IE. Their Mactopia webpage [link intentionally omitted] says "If you want IE, go load it off your CDs that came with your Mac". As far as I can tell, they limit their support to bugfixes. Seems to me they're not real interested in updating their 'best of class' browser.

I'm going out on a limb and guessing that Chimera will be as good as the current IE in 1Q2003. In the meantime, Apple is cozying up with AOL (iChat, advertisements with Netscape in the dock). The stronger OpenOffice and Chimera are when the deal is made, the better position Apple will be. Apple and MS will figure out their relationship in some backroom. If MS loses IE to an open-source iBrowser, it won't be a big loss for MS, but it will be a big win for Chimera (and by extension Mozilla)

No go... Chimera is GPL

[TALlama]

Has anyone noticed that bash is suspiciously absent from the default install of OS X?

The reason-- and this is the official line-- is that bash is GPL.

Guess what? So's Chimera.

As much as Slashdot is a GPL-fest, it remains to be seen what companies can and can't do with GPL'd software. And yes, that includes whether they can ship it or not.

Another issue is that they'd have to ship the code. A /src directory is not really something you'd expect to find in a consumer OS. Maybe they could mirror it online as a download, but that's been questioned before, too.

So for now Apple has decided to err on the side of safety and not ship. I doubt that they will change their ways for a browser.

I think what they're trying to say isn't "We can use this browser, so be scared Microsoft" but more "We have access to a vast amount of open-source code that compiles on our OS-- and looks damn nice-- with minimal development effort." And I support the latter more than the former.