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Mac OS X Secretly Cripples Non-Apple Software

Posted by Soulskill on from the hand-in-the-cookie-jar dept.

spikedLemur writes "Vladimir Vukicevic of the Firefox team stumbled upon some questionable practices from Apple while trying to improve the performance of Firefox. Apparently, Apple is using some undocumented APIs that give Safari a significant performance advantage over other browsers. Of course, "undocumented" means that non-Apple developers have to try and reverse-engineer these interfaces to get the same level of performance. You really have to wonder what Apple is thinking, considering the kind of retaliation Microsoft has gotten for similar practices.

17 of 559 comments (clear)

  1. first post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    first post!
    i cheated though, i'm using safari.

    1. Re:first post! by FF0000+Phoenix · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's even more incriminating that all the undocumented APIs are under the "Firefox_Sux" namespace.

  2. The thinking is really quite simple: by Valacosa · · Score: 5, Funny

    You don't really have to wonder what Apple is thinking, considering the kind of marketshare Microsoft has gotten for similar practices.
    Fixed.
    --
    "Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
  3. This would have been a First Post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... but I used a non-Apple browser.

    <sigh>

  4. Round Number? by cobaltnova · · Score: 5, Funny

    We're capping at 30.77 frames per second here. That's way too round of a number.
    The author must be a mathematician.
  5. Indeed, where's the advantage? by Foerstner · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Microsoft's case, the goal of keeping "secret" APIs was pretty clear: whoever controls the Windows browser market, controls the browser market, period.

    I can just see Steve Jobs rubbing his hands and gloating to his minions..."Yes, and with Firefox handicapped, we will have five percent of the browser market all to ourselves! Ours...all ours! Muahahahaha!"

    --
    The US free market: two halves of a government-granted duopoly are free to set the market price.
  6. Re:Really? by Ctrl-Z · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you read the article...

    You lost me there.

    --
    www.timcoleman.com is a total waste of your time. Never go there.
  7. *sniffle* by Serenissima · · Score: 5, Funny

    Awwwwww... our little system is all grown up now! Who's a good system? Who's a good system?

    --
    Give a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. But light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
  8. Re:Naw. by stephentyrone · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've been at a talk where the lecturer mentioned that we would, of course, recognize 10.99 as being "approximately seven-halves pi".

  9. Re:From TFA... by thephotoman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Along with several other minuses, such as "Just Plain Wrong", "Talking Out of His/Her Ass" (yes, there are women on Slashdot, and yes, there are naked pictures, too), and "Obvious Fanboy/Hater". On the other side, there really ought to be a [+5, IAWTC].

    --
    Haec merda tauri est. Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
  10. Re:From TFA... by loganrapp · · Score: 3, Funny

    I just thought people were trippin' balls on X.

  11. Re:From TFA... by unfunk · · Score: 5, Funny

    (yes, there are women on Slashdot, and yes, there are naked pictures, too),. I demand proof!
  12. Re:From TFA... by david@ecsd.com · · Score: 3, Funny

    Really, who uses "%" instead of typing "percentage"?


    Well I use it about 50% of the time.
  13. Re:Techincally .. by Machine9 · · Score: 4, Funny

    technically, you're subject title should be "technically," not "techincally." =P And technically, it's "your subject title", not "you're subject title" =)
    --

    Machine9dotNet

  14. Re:Slashdot ... has completely misunderstood... by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Why? it works fantastically for Fox-News on cable. they go for the sensational inaccurate reporting for viewiership and accuracy dead last. It's highly effective to the point that they are doing great.

    Slashdot is better because of all the bitching and discussion afterwards on how it's inaccurate.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  15. Re:From TFA... by Tore+S+B · · Score: 5, Funny

    IATWTC? I Ate the World Trade Center?

    --
    toresbe
  16. Re:From TFA... by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Funny

    I also use it 50 percent of the time.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.