If you use Windows as your operating system, the likelihood is that you are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer as your browser. A significant number of you are using Firefox.

A new player has entered the scene -- Apple's Safari (version 3 beta) has been ported to Windows and is available for download.

I have to say that I'm impressed.

First and foremost is the speed. This is one snappy browser. The website provides some speed comparisons, but you can tell the difference without a stopwatch. That's almost worth the price of admission itself.

The presentation is very crisp. The default font is very easy on the eyes, and I now look at the Windows fonts with some disdain.

The interface takes a bit getting used to -- the browser retains the Apple brushed metal look regardless of the Windows theme you are using. Similarly, some Windows standard interface elements are missing. For example, I can widen a non-Safari window by placing my mouse on a vertical edge, which turns it into double-ended horizontal arrow. Then click and drag. Not with the Safari browser, however. The only resizing hotspot is in the lower right corner -- the edges are not active. That takes some getting used to.

Problems? A few. The tabbing scheme is similar to Firefox and Internet Explorer, but there isn't a button to create a new tab on the tab bar itself. You have to select New Tab from the File dropdown menu. Also, the set of plug-ins is very sparse (Quicktime, Java, WIndows Media Player, Adobe Reader, Flash, and Real Player). If you are used to the bewildering array of plug-ins available for the Firefox browser, this can seem like a major failing. On the other hand, perhaps only a small percentage of browser users install plug-ins beyond the standard media players, so maybe this isn't a major issue.

Since Safari has had such a limited market space, there will be websites that will report this as an unsupported browser and might refuse to run certain scripts as a result. The same problem happens with Firefox on occasion, but I expect Safari will have some catching up to do.

But then that is what I like about this release -- it allows me to catch up. Besides being a fine browser for my own use, I can now see my website as Apple users see it. For any amateur web developer, this adds confidence that your HTML and CSS and Ajax and so forth are working correctly for your entire audience.