Most of the fuss made earlier this year, when Apple used its software update mechanism to download Safari to PC users without their specific consent, tended to overlook one fairly major problem: Safari is not a great Web browser.

It's certainly not a bad one, but compared to the problematic-yet-still-very-good Firefox, it still struggles to make a mark. Nonetheless, for Apple users in particular, Safari has been a friend for some time now, only making its PC debut in the last year or two. But in its continued PC push, Apple makes great mileage out of comparing it to Internet Explorer, when a far worthier alternative to Microsoft's standards-troubling browser is already biting hard into the market.

In downloading from Apple's site, you're invited to add your e-mail address to the Apple archives and the installation tries to tempt you with a couple of other program options as well. But once we'd bypassed these, it wasn't long before we were into Safari proper.

It's a little strange to see a very Apple-like software interface on a PC, right down to the font choice (which we found a little harder to read than the default of its opponents) and visual window style. And this is where Apple seems to be basing its hopes: on brand loyalty. In practice, the browser has nothing extraordinary to bring to the proverbial table, so instead it trades on its admittedly fine looks, in the hope that Apple enthusiasts will lap it up.

But while Safari may score a couple of punches over Internet Explorer - it does feel a bit zippier for a start - the problem is that it's hasn't got enough in its tank to go toe-to-toe with Firefox particularly, but also Opera.

There isn't the wealth of extensions to allow you to customise your browser like Firefox, you don't have an obvious button to let you open a new tab (we used the keyboard shortcut in the end) and there are one or two compatibility issues we encountered. In its favour are still speed, the fact that it works closely with Web standards, and that it didn't start slowing down in our tests after a number of hours' continuous usage, as Firefox is occasionally known to do.

But still, Safari is at best interesting, rather than in any way compelling. The PC isn't short of Web browsers and nor was it crying out for a new one. Safari, while a good effort, simply adds variety rather than depth to the already-crowded marketplace, and while it looks nice, it's no Firefox-fighter. Internet Explorer may look over its shoulder, though.

A perfectly decent Web browser, but not one that adds a great deal new - apart from its looks - to the PC world. Worth a try if you're an Apple devotee, otherwise stick to one of the other three main browsers.