Apple has backed off on pushing Safari for Windows out to iTunes users as a software update and now more accurately lists it as “new software”. What I find interesting about Apple’s sudden eagerness to get Windows users to install Safari is that it shows they’re significantly more committed to it as a product than I would have originally guessed. My original speculation when Safari for Windows released was that Apple was making it available so that Web developers who use Windows would have no excuse for not testing their sites in Safari, and more importantly, Mobile Safari. Now it looks like Apple feels like Safari has legs and that they want to get into the browser fight on Windows.
I think Apple could stand to improve their conduct a bit in terms of how they push out the software, but I welcome the additional competition in the browser market. It feels like Safari more than any other browser is pushing the state of the art forward in terms of standards compliance.