@import or <link>? - CSS

I've been looking over CSS tutorials, articles, and other miscellaneous bumf, and I just happened to be wondering...

What is the preferred or correct way to import style sheets: @import or <link>?

I know that the @import rule under windows can have a strange side-effect of 'flashing' the unstyled content of the page before reflowing. So why use this, and not <link>?

Is this something to do with standards ( not again, that terrible yet wonderous word), or just down to the coding preference of the developer?

Comments and thoughts please ppl

I'm new to using @import too, but it's my understanding that @import is similar to an `include`. So let's say you default.css which only contains site wide fonts and default colors, then you have more specific stylesheets that would @import this default stylesheet, instead of repeating the style declaration or using multiple <link> statements.

<link> is used within HTML, @import is used within the stylesheet itself.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I understood all of this incorrectly.

i usually use @import

just remember that netscape 4.x
don't support @import.

but you can use that to an advantage,
use a simple style in the link for netscape,
and an more advanced style in the @import
http://www.dcjt.demon.co.uk/dc/web/2002/hidecss.html

just remeber that ie has its problem too http://www.bluerobot.com/web/css/fouc.asp

Thats what i mean, the "flash"ing of content before the style is applied. Surely it would be better to just use <link> to avoid this bug?