As one of the big five (pun intended and assuming we include Chrome) internet browsers of the world, it is very interesting to us how suitable the name Safari is for such a product that lets you search and travel the web. A common, suitable word. How come it wasn't taken before?

Well it actually turns out that it was taken. We have to thank Heartsoft for this name it appears. Today they are better know for their educational software for the K-12 market, but they originally had a child-safe browser that handled graphics properly. We have been unable to confirm if Apple licensed the code also, but they certainly licensed the name as we can see from a USPTO trademark review. That is fine. That is the proper way to do it... unlike how Microsoft waited until they were sued and then ended up paying $9 million use the Internet Explorer name.

Apple are one of the big brand leaders of the world. We are therefore reluctant to knock down their presentation score slightly. We know their goal is to have a minimalistic, clean experience with Safari, but surely someone in Apple has a little sense of jungle fighter in them. At least enough to play off the Safari name slightly! After all, Leopard is also a registered trademark of Apple, and we sure saw leopard style graphics all over that software release.

Wish we could find a Safari logo to show you here, but we can't. Start to hunt for information on the internet at www.apple.com/safari.

PS Explorers on Safari, looking for Firefoxes through their Chrome Opera glasses?