It's being widely reported this morning that Safari on Windows is "illegal." This is completely false, but we understand why outlets are reporting this.
Apple has confirmed that the license for Safari contains a mistake, asking Windows users to agree to something that virtually all of them can't: they agree only to run Safari for Windows on an Apple-made computer. From the license:
2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.
A. This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time.
(Emphasis has been added.) The only way to comply with this would be to run Safari on Windows through either Boot Camp or something like VMWareFusion, on a Mac. Anyone else would appear to be in violation of the agreement, but Apple can't be serious. In fact, they aren't, and anyone reporting on this could have picked up the phone and found that out.
We reached out to Apple PR yesterday morning (more than 24 hours ago) to let them know that their license, which dates from January 28 of this year, needs an update. We didn't run a story on it because it's an obvious mistake, and throwing up some FUD for the fun of it seemed rather lame.
Apple called me back later in the evening to confirm that yes, it was an oversight. The license has already been updated, Apple won't be suing anyone, and in any case, it was unenforceable to begin with. So, Safari away on Windows if you care to. Even if Apple hasn't updated the language, it wouldn't have mattered: you can't be contractually bound to something that's not reasonably possible, and Apple was distributing Safari for Windows, not for Apple computers. |
