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Mac apps on Windows suck. Here's why.

iTunes and Safari do not make Apple the friend of the PC.

Rafe Needleman Former Editor at Large
Rafe Needleman reviews mobile apps and products for fun, and picks startups apart when he gets bored. He has evaluated thousands of new companies, most of which have since gone out of business.
Rafe Needleman
2 min read
Apple has pulled off a remarkable feat: it's released crappy software for Windows that only makes users want more of it.

Yet another browser. CNET Networks

iTunes is a bad Windows app. It's slow and it's a horrible resource hog. On the Mac, though, it's another story. The app taunts Windows users.

And now, Apple is going to bundle a redundant Windows browser, Safari, with iTunes. Who cares? Users won't--or shouldn't. Safari may be faster than IE, but it has no plug-in support, as Firefox (and even IE) does. It does have tabs. Big deal.

Safari is a runtime for iPhone developers, as other writers have covered here and here. If you develop a site for the Safari browser, it will also work on the iPhone, according to Steve Jobs. It's an iPhone app validator. It's not a browser that people need to use.

Yet they will, and some will be smitten by Safari's unobtrusive design, fancy roll-up interface features, and possibly its speed. They'll wonder why their Windows PC doesn't have the same (non-Windows) look and feel. And they'll think, If only I had a Mac, then all my apps would be this nice.

But if Apple was really serious about bringing good apps to the PC, it'd release good PC versions of iLife and Final Cut for Windows. Those are what Windows users need. The current apps do not make Apple a friend of the PC, the recent Jobs/Gates lovefest notwithstanding. iTunes is a store and a (bad) control panel for iPods. And Safari is a platform for developers. Neither are good Windows apps. Both are, though, good marketing platforms for selling more Macs.