Safari browser for Windows

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.