It might have garnered massive criticism from the industry and consumers, but Apple's move to include it's Safari browser in its Windows Software Update application seems to have worked when it comes to gaining market share in the browser wars.

According to measurement company Net Applications, the move trebled Safari's Windows market share in the space of a month.

"Safari 3.0 on Windows never gained much market share, peaking at 0.07 percent", the company notes. "However, Safari 3.1 on Windows is rapidly gaining market share, already tripling Safari 3.0's peak."

The browser had been pushed to millions of Windows users of Apple's other software products, like iTunes.

At the time, the CEO of Mozilla the foundation behind the Firefox browser slammed Apple for its tactics:

"What Apple is doing now with their Apple Software Update on Windows is wrong", John Lilly stated on his blog before going on to say that the move "undermines the trust relationship great companies have with their customers".

As of 18 April, Apple's update software now lists Safari as "new" software if not already installed.