Jakob Nielsen said that removing the Reset (or cancel) button helps usability most of the time:

Because Back is such a strong behavior on the Web, it is usually not necessary to offer explicit Cancel buttons. If the user asks for something but doesn't want it, then you can be sure that it's Back button time.

Offer a Cancel button when users may fear that they have committed to something they want to avoid. Having an explicit way to Cancel provides an extra feeling of safety that is not afforded by simply leaving.

Some questions here too: Is it not advisable to have a visible cancel option when performing a action such as delete,

In what sense do your users need to be able to cancel? If they could just "cancel" by hitting the back button, that would be my advice.

If you need to have the cancel button, I think de-emphasizing it and making it just a text link is the way to go. That way the users will focus on the Save button, which moves them forward in the process, and the default action is obvious. If this were an e-commerce process, you'd want to move users forward through the conversion process rather than giving the backwards option (or the getting out option) equal weight. Having these buttons in the "Save - Cancel" order matches Windows' order (7, at least; not sure about 8), so it feels a bit more natural.

Jakob Nielsen said that removing the Reset (or cancel) button helps usability most of the time:

Because Back is such a strong behavior on the Web, it is usually not necessary to offer explicit Cancel buttons. If the user asks for something but doesn't want it, then you can be sure that it's Back button time.

Offer a Cancel button when users may fear that they have committed to something they want to avoid. Having an explicit way to Cancel provides an extra feeling of safety that is not afforded by simply leaving.

Some questions here too: Is it not advisable to have a visible cancel option when performing a action such as delete,

In what sense do your users need to be able to cancel? If they could just "cancel" by hitting the back button, that would be my advice.

If you need to have the cancel button, I think de-emphasizing it and making it just a text link is the way to go. That way the users will focus on the Save button, which moves them forward in the process, and the default action is obvious. If this were an e-commerce process, you'd want to move users forward through the conversion process rather than giving the backwards option (or the getting out option) equal weight. Having these buttons in the "Save - Cancel" order matches Windows' order (7, at least; not sure about 8), so it feels a bit more natural.