Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge browser has jumped from third to second place on popular desktop browsers — according to the platform Statcounter.
10 percent of desktop users seem to use the Microsoft browser. This places Edge just ahead of Apple’s Safari, which is currently at 9.62 percent. Mozilla Firefox currently has a 7.87 percent share. At 66.58 percent, Google Chrome remains number one.
It looks like Edge’s popularity will increase further as, Microsoft and Cloudflare teamed up to integrate a VPN, Microsoft Edge Secure Network, into the browser.
Microsoft has pushed hard, often unethically, for more people to move to Edge. If users missed their one chance to engage with a new program, switching to a different default browser in Windows 11 had been an arduous process. However, Microsoft recently released an optional update that made the switch as easy as pressing a button. There were also the annoying pop-ups that hindered Chrome from downloading while using Edge.
It should be noted that different market research companies use different data collection methods. Netmarketshare, for example, has ranked Edge at number two for over a year. Still, the favourite of all, in all the statistics, is still Chrome.