Is Apple slowly embracing Windows?

GigaOM asks why would Apple offer Safari for Windows know that its introduction could very well boomerang back unto itself (vulnerabilities, outrage and of course, the mocking). Om offers some answers and points out to Robert Cringley’s theory.

It is possible that Google and Apple made some arrangements to practically compete with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7. Add to that the possibility of earning millions of dollars in ad earnings thru the browser’s search bar, the same deal Mozilla on their Firefox. Besides, I think Safari switchers will most likely come from Firefox/Opera users and not Internet Explorer users (majority of whom merely refers to it as the blue letter “e” icon).

Another theory I have is that Apple is trying to close the gap between the Mac and the PC. But you’d think that’s crazy right? Apple always wants to be different and innovative, I know but if you’d look back in the last 18 months or so, there’s some trend going on at the Apple labs.

The iTunes for Windows, the switch to Intel CPUs, BootCamp, support to Windows Vista, the Safari browser. If people say that one major reason why they wouldn’t switch to the Mac was the fear of re-learning everything from the keyboard shortcuts to the absence of the right-click, Apple is slowly inching its way to the Wintel users by giving them a bit of taste of Mac world.

So, is Apple really embracing Windows? It seems the answer is an obvious yes, though not to its detriment but to position itself (experientially) as a practical, inexpensive and familiar alternative to the PC.