Get Safari 5.1 for Snow Leopard and Windows now

Apple has updated its Safari browser for Windows and Snow Leopard Mac users to version 5.1, bringing it in line with the versionbundled with the new Lion OS X release. Despite this, many features found in Lion won't be present in this build, such as sandboxing, full-screen browsing and multi-touch gestures.

The update does include a new process architecture designed to make Safari more responsive and stable. It also boasts a number of new features, including Resume (restore last browsing session when launching Safari), Reading List (add interesting webpages and links for reading later) and a new privacy pane, designed to make it easier to scrub cookies and other data left on your system by websites.

There are also a couple of minor changes worthy of mention. Private AutoFill lets you quickly fill out forms without making your personal information public. Downloaded files can now be easily accessed from the desktop: just drag the file out of the Downloads window on to the desktop.

Safari 5.1 also adds support for more advanced web technologies, including media caching with the HTML5 application cache and various CSS3 standards. In addition, there's extra Extension support in the form of new APIs for popovers, menus, new event classes and interaction with Reader.

The version isn't an exact replica of that bundled with Lion: OS-specific features like multi-touch gestures and full-screen browsing aren't present in this build. Three other absent features are sandboxing, a new downloads popover window and hardware acceleration for the new HTML5 Canvas element.

Safari 5.1 is available as a free download for Macs running Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6.8) and PCs running Windows XP, Vista and 7. For Mac users still still running Leopard (OS X 10.5.8), Apple has also released Safari 5.0.6, a stability, security and compatibility update.