We’re a Windows and Linux shop.
We have been happily testing with Safari for Windows until the other day, when I read in Rachael Andrew’s CSS Anthology that there are substantial rendering differences between Safari on Windows and Safari actually running on OSX.
Rachael recommends buying a Mac to use for testing.
Is there general agreement on this?
Anybody ever gotten burned by testing only on Windows?
How do you deal with the issue?
Not by a long shot. I have two computers (one Mac, one PC) and both have current versions of Safari. I can’t count the number of hours I’ve spent trying to debug my web layouts between the two. Frustrating doesn’t even begin to describe it…
the safari on pc or mac is pretty much the same. no need to test on a mac.
It is true that Safari behaves differently between Windows and Mac, scarily the same issue has become apparent between Firefox on Windows and Mac.
I personally don’t use Mac’s but I have gone into the Apple store and managed to wrangle myself a bit of PC time to seek and destroy the bugs.
I would recommend buying a Mac though as Macs can run Mac / Win / Linux on the one machine, you can’t really work OSX on a general PC 
well safari and chrome support some webkit things that ff and opera do not I believe.
also, i know that mac supports some fonts different than mac, but as long as your site works in most browsers, devices, and resolutions that it should be fine.
I would recommend adobe browserlabs for browsers and viewlike.us for screen resolutions.
Best of luck and Regards,
Team 1504
Safari on PC is horrendous.
Working at a University we have to develop for Mac so testing is second nature. Plus I design on my MacBook Pro as well as my PC desktop to stay on top of things on both sides.
You could also hire a student for say $10/hr to test your sites on a mac.
That’s what I was afraid of. I’m not even sure why they ported it - what has Safari got that Opera, FF, and Chrome haven’t?
Nice recipe
What’s an Internet cafe?
We are in a rural area.
Why? The old G4’s with OSX jammed onto them are way less expensive.
Go to your local Apple store; pretend to be a buyer; check out the stuff you’ve been making; make a note of any irregularities; go back home; make adjustments as needed; stir gently; simmer for 20 minutes; add some herbs and spices; serve on a warm dish with a side salad of lettuce, truffles and sun-dried tomatoes; pour two glasses of Chateau Petrus; dim the lights; and enjoy!
Alternatively, find a local internet cafe that uses macs.
I use the latter option.
I deal with the issue by using Macs exclusively and testing for Windows via Bootcamp & virtual environments. 
Anyway, there are rendering differences between Windows and OS X in many browsers (and their respective versions), but I don’t think you should need to get a Mac because of that as most differences are minute.
Instead, I’d use one of tools in this list.
It’s best to test on a Mac rather than relying on the Windows versions, as there are sometimes (albeit relatively minor) differences. If you don’t check on a Mac, you’ll be taking chances, that’s for sure. That said, I don’t see too many differences generally—certainly not major ones, anyway. (If you are into pixel perfection, you will get quite a few surprises though. Personally I don’t care about that.)
Second hand Macs are pretty cheap and fine for testing purposes (though make sure it’s an Intel version).
I use a Mac myself, so this isn’t an issue for me (I run Windows on the Mac too, which is handy. It’s a pity it doesn’t work the other way around.)
Thanks both for the replies.
Nice list
Personally I’m not too overly crazy about screenshot services, but that’s probably just because the one I used once (NetRenderer) was pretty slow and only showed pages “above the fold”.