14 DAY TRIAL // Google Chrome is by far the world’s number one browser, not only on the desktop but also on mobile. However, the debut of the Chromium-powered Microsoft Edge has made many consider a potential switch to Microsoft’s browser, putting Chrome’s domination at risk.
While it’ll probably take many years until Google Chrome actually loses the number one spot in the browser world, the good news for Microsoft is that the adoption of the new browser keeps increasing, and September 2020 brought another small improvement.
According to NetMarketShare data for the browser, Microsoft Edge jumped from 8.52% to 8.84%. while Google Chrome, which obviously continues to be the leading choice on the desktop, actually declined from 70.89% to 69.94%.
Firefox also recorded a small growth, with its market share rising from 7.11% to 7.19% in September.
The Internet Explorer demise
More interesting, however, is how Internet Explorer just refuses to die and actually managed to increase its market share last month.
The same set of data shows that Microsoft’s classic browser increased from 3.79% to 3.88%, and while the difference isn’t huge, it comes at a time when the software giant keeps insisting for users to make the switch to Microsoft Edge, regardless of the Windows version they’re running.
The new Microsoft Edge browser is available on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.
“Internet Explorer is a compatibility solution. We’re not supporting new web standards for it and, while many sites work fine, developers by and large just aren’t testing for Internet Explorer these days. They’re testing on modern browsers. So, if we continued our previous approach, you would end up in a scenario where, by optimizing for the things you have, you end up not being able to use new apps as they come out. As new apps are coming out with greater frequency, what we want to help you do is avoid having to miss out on a progressively larger portion of the web!” Microsoft previously said.
A Linux version of Microsoft Edge is also in the works, with a preview expected soon.