But Remember, Yahoo Isn't Pissing On Mac Users

So apparently, Yahoo has completely redesigned the front page of their homepage. It's supposed to be all neat and cool, so I go to the URL mentioned in the Yahoo Search Blog entry to see how cool it is.

When I get there, using the "default" browser for any Macintosh computer, Safari, what do I read?

Thank you for your interest in the sneak preview of the new Yahoo! home page.
Unfortunately, you're using a browser we don't support today.

Check back again in the coming weeks - we plan to support additional browsers soon.

It makes the Baby Jesus cry for a number of reasons. First, this can only mean that the home page is becoming bloated. I can remember clearly the days when someone with an extremely low employee number (hint: employee # "1" or "2", I have no idea which one he got when they founded the company) told us how many dollars per day an additional single byte cost on the front page. It was like a shitload, though, that much I remember.

Now, it's completely bloated and full of useless crap.

Second, there's the whole concept -- long since thrown to the wind -- that the home page should be viewable on anything, because it should be using very simple basic standards-based HTML. That concept is now, apparently, tossed to the wind. The new homepage will be one that if you are not using one of the "blessed" browsers, you're screwed.

Also, I'm not really holding my breath for any kind of real Mac support. After all, the last official update for Yahoo Messenger was over two and a half years ago. I'm told, of course, that there is a crack team of Mac developers making a new version even as we speak. But, well, I've heard that a couple times. I heard it in 2001, when there were two developers assigned to work on the Mac version. Then one got pulled off the project. The other got laid off. Then in 2003, someone managed to dig up the code out of CVS (which, BTW, is still written against all the ancient libraries, which is why it still looked like an OS9 app), and push out a new version, probably to fix a security bug, not to actually give it features or anything.

(I should point out though, that it doesn't really bother me the whole YMsgr thing... mostly because the instant I sign onto YMsgr, on those rare occasions I do, I am flooded with IM spammers trying to pimp out chinese sneaker knockoffs, other "forbidden" Yahoo IDs, you name it... pretty much the only time I sign into YMsgr is when I absolutely have to speak to someone who works at Yahoo still, because they've got to eat their own dog-food. And even then, I'll use Adium, not the "official" client. )

But anyhow, suffice to say that it saddens me to see things like this, and makes me value my Google stock all that much more.