It doesn't matter whether you're a fan or not, Wikipedia is arguably the most significant development to hit the web in a decade.

Its biggest strength is that it relies on users to contribute to the free encyclopaedia, with the result being millions of articles on almost every conceivable subject.

However, the recent outage, despite being a few hours long, has driven home the fact that it's an essential resource. So, we show you how to download Wikipedia for offline viewing.

PC

If you want to save Wikipedia to your desktop or laptop, WikiTaxi is one of the best options around.

This program downloads the latest Wiki database every few weeks, keeping you up to date with the latest changes. Additionally, you can also store the application on an 8GB flash drive.

To get started, open the application and then click on the relevant Wikipedia dump to visit that page and download it.

Once you've got your Wikipedia dump, open the WikiTaxi_Importer tool, choose the dump you've just downloaded and that's it.

Running a Mac or Linux computer? Then you'll want Okawix, which has a similar premise to WikiTaxi.

Android

There are a number of paid and free applications available for the purpose of downloading Wikipedia to your Android device.

One of our favourite applications is Wiki Encyclopedia Offline, a free and simple program for your Google-powered device.

To begin, you'll need to download the application to your device, making sure you have about 3.6GBs free for the download.

Despite the relatively large size, the download only covers the top two million articles, according to the developer.

Still, we were able to find even the most obscure article entries, so it's still well worth downloading anyway.

iOS

Need your Wikipedia fix on your iPhone, iPad or iPod? Then arguably one of the best solutions is All of Wiki - Offline.

This simple application lets you sync once to snag "every single article on Wikipedia", according to the app description.

The first two content syncs are free of charge, with every one thereafter costing $0.99. Additionally, the app costs $8.99.

Blackberry/Symbian

One of the more accomplished applications is WikiPock, available for €10 from the BlackBerry App World, Nokia Store and Google Play.

Much like the other apps, you'll be prompted to download a Wikipedia dump shortly after installing the application, with over four million articles included.

If none of these applications appeal to you or you just need a few pages, check out our guide on saving webpages for offline viewing!