I’ll admit it; I’m a Mac-head. There’s something about how my sleek iMac manages my digital photos and videos in ways that mere PC’s simply can’t match that keeps me a loyal user. But if there is one gripe of mine, it’s that Mac’s and our Safari browser are often at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to web-site usability and compatibility. This is a bit ironic considering most design houses and creative types still prefer to work on Macs when they design an ecommerce site in the first place. But somehow, when that creative front end gets connected to the nuts and bolts of the backend, and the site is launched, something just isn’t quite right. There are often countless little glitches and quirks that make browsing or buying on a Mac not possible or awkward.

Many times, the problem is that the creative team (often a different company) use Mac’s to design the site while the IT team use PC’s to build the site and the marketer is usually in a corporate environment running a PC when she approves the site. But now there’s no excuse for this anti-Mac behavior to continue. Apple has recently released a copy of Safari for Windows. This will let the IT programmers and marketers test that new ecommerce site on their PC’s and test it not just with IE and Firefox but also Safari. A cross-platform compatible site is finally something everyone can work towards!

Consider that Mac’s make up 5-7% of the overall personal computer market (and a much larger percentage of the home market) and that’s a significant customer segment ready to buy your products if you just let them in the store!