Apple Safari icon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
While Apple has debuted Safari 6.0 browser for OS X 10.7 "Lion" and 10.8 "Mountain Lion" users, it seems that Windows users aren't able to join the party.
The absence of a Windows download link on the Safari page was first noticed by tech site 9to5Mac. I have since confirmed that the Apple Software Updater still says that version 5.1.7 is still the latest version for Windows, and that this version continues to be available from Apple's server, although only if you know where to find it.
Some are speculating that the reason why Apple has withdrawn Safari for Windows is because the browser contains features integrated into the OS X operating system -- features such as a Password Pane and a Reading List. As such, it would be hard for Apple to port these features over to Windows.
It's not likely that many would miss the Safari browser on Windows. According to metrics firm NetMarketShare, the browser has a total market share of some 5 percent across all platforms. Given that the Mac OS has a 7 percent market share, it's clear that even Mac users are turning to alternative browsers.
While I find Safari to be an adequate browser for the Mac OS X platform, when it comes to Windows I'd put it behind Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and even Microsoft's Internet Explorer. In fact, the only time I even fire it up on Windows is when I'm testing something.
If you're a Windows Safari users, it might be time to look for a different browser.
