The bundled Mac OS browser - Safari is now available for Windows and the latest version 3.1 is being pushed to Windows users by the Apple Software Update program.

This move has attracted a lot of criticism - notably by Mozilla chief executive John Lilly - who stated that Apple's decision to offer Safari to Windows users through its Software Update utility violates user trust and could hamper security efforts.

While this is one factor that is being widely discussed on the web, opinion is also split on whether Safari is actually any good as a browser. It is being advertised as the "fastest browser on the web" by Apple - a claim which is hotly contested by many. Couple this with a range of discovered bugs and security flaws and you wonder why Apple have made the decision to enter into an already crowded market.

While Apple has a reasonable market share based on Mac users that use the Safari browser, it also now has a growing target audience thanks to the iPhone. It may be that the decision to allow Windows users to try out Safari is to try and tempt more people over to using Macs.

Certainly the platform independent nature of the Internet blurs the lines between Windows and Macs and I think it's a good idea to have more Mac software available for the Windows PC.

For web developers, the availability of Safari on Windows makes it a useful test browser. Instead of having to use some form of Mac OS emulator or web application such as BrowsrCamp, web designers can easily see how their web sites will look on a Mac.

While I don't agree with the way the browser is being distributed (the fact that there is no way to stop it being shown on the download list is crazy) I chose to download and install Safari solely as a test browser. Time will tell if it tempts me away from Firefox in the future.

A small selection of websites that contain many excellent examples of web site design. A great resource for any web developer looking for inspiration with their web designs.

As with all forms of design, the world of website design is always evolving. As a web designer it is important that you keep up with both the latest technology and also the latest trends and ideas.

Websites such as the ones listed below are a great resource that I recommend you visit for a quick browse around every so often. These types of websites also provide useful forums and help should you need advice on any aspect of web design and coding.

Design Meltdown

A really comprehensive collection of web design styles and techniques that are clearly categorised. Each category has an introduction discussing the style, technique and colour combinations used and the site uses various different methods to view the websites (The view in a separate frame option makes it very easy to browse through a category quickly).

Stylegala

Another very good collection of graphically appealing websites which combine visually appealing designs with CSS and W3C standards.

This website also reviews the featured sites and allows visitors to rate and comment on the site designs.

piepmatzel.de

Another collection of CSS driven websites which use the latest web standards combined with great designs.

The layout of this site is simply a list of thumbnails linking to the websites - which you can rearrange using the buttons at the bottom of the page. While there is no discussion or rating of the designs this is still a useful collection of sites that should give every web developer inspiration.

CoolHomepages

Advertised as "the only known cure for designer's block" this website has a more commercial feel to it as it pushes its template and logo design services.

Like the others it contains a large collection of websites that incorporate interesting and unique design elements but it seems to put too much emphasis on Flash. It also includes a rating system and additional features if you register with the site.

The 1st of March saw AOL stop supporting the well known browser Netscape Navigator.

In the mid 1990's it was by far the most widely used web browser but since then has lost almost all its users to Internet Explorer and Firefox. The bundling of IE with Windows was a major factor in Microsoft's dominance in the browser market and started Netscape's decline.

AOL recommends that any existing users migrate to either Firefox or Flock which are both built using the same underlying technologies as Netscape.

Having grown up with Netscape, I now use a combination of browsers including Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer as any web sites we build need tested in a number of browsers to ensure they all display correctly.