Microsoft Edge Browser has surpassed Apple’s Safari in popularity

Microsoft Edge has overtaken Apple’s Safari to become the world’s second most popular desktop browser based on data provided by StatCounter, a web analytics service.

In February, Safari was on the verge of capturing less than half a percentage point (9.54% to 9.84%) of the Microsoft Edge two browsers in terms of popularity among desktop users. StatCounter’s latest statistics show that Edge is now used by 10.07% of desktop computers worldwide, 0.46% ahead of Safari; The latter fell to 9.61%.

Google Chrome still holds the top spot with a long shot at 66.58% of all desktop users. And Mozilla’s share of Firefox was just 7.87%, a significant drop from the 9.18% share held in February. New information was first reported by MacRumors.

Edge’s lead varies widely in other browsers depending on the location. In the United States, for example, Edge is behind Safari – Edge has only 12.55% market share where Safari claims 17.1%. In Europe, Edge has long passed Safari, 11.73% and 9.36%, respectively.

Stat counter

There has never been a market share that started with Firefox. And it doesn’t have the marketing influence of Microsoft or Google, which means low brand recognition – and virtually no one outside the tech community, according to Jack Gold, chief analyst at research firm J Gold Associates.

“So I don’t think Firefox will be more than a special ‘option’ for other guys,” Gold said.

Of course, Safari Lane is basically a default browser on Apple’s iPhone and iPad tablets. In these devices, it’s a very different story. Chrome accounts for 63.57%, Safari Net for 24.82% and the rest of the various browsers.

Some web analytics services are already ahead of Edge browsers – except for the ever-dominant Chrome. For example, according to recent data from Net MarketShare, Chrome has 73.24% market share, Edge 12.93% and Firefox 4.73%. Safari is not even in the top four browsers.

Edge adoption has been slow. According to Gold, initially it suffered from performance and compatibility issues across the web, which pushed many users to Chrome. Now, however, the Edge is comparable to Chrome in terms of performance because it is built into the built-in Chromium engine.

In 2020, Microsoft Edge relaunches, re-casting it with the same browser code that powers Chrome. Microsoft has not only made Edge chrome copy, it has extended support to all versions of Windows except 10, including MacOS and Linux.

“When Microsoft switched to a Chromium engine, the Edge became much faster and more compatible with websites that, due to the predominance of Google Chrome browsers, were designed to be compatible with Chrome rather than the old Edge (there were some unique requirements for it). Consistency), “Gold said.

Microsoft is also adding features to the Edge, such as enhanced security and privacy, “coupons” and performance enhancements for those who use it to make purchases, Gold noted.

Edge also has no issues that previous versions of some websites have managed.

“And you are no longer obliged to be on Bink as a search engine,” Gold said Although users have never been forced to use Bing, Microsoft has made it difficult to switch to Google.

Edge also has default browsers with Windows 10 and 11, and so there are fewer reasons for users to change as it improves. “I think a lot of people don’t bother downloading Chrome. Edge does everything they want / need, ”Gold said.

Last June, Apple unveiled a significant redesign of Safari at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Many of these changes received rapid criticism from users who described them as “competitors.”

Apple has gone through several iterations over the summer – both mobile devices and desktops – and has allowed users to go back to previous Safari designs before the release of iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and MacOS Monterey.

In February, Jane Simmons, an Apple evangelist and developer advocate for Safari and Webkit’s Web Developer Experience team, took to Twitter to ask users for feedback on why Safari was unpopular and to point out specific issues.

“Everyone I mention [is] Saying Safari is the worst, it’s the new IE, “Simmons tweeted at the time.

Hoping to get to the bottom of the rage, Simmons asked Twitter users to point out specific bugs and missing support that frustrated them or made it difficult for them to create websites or apps. “Bonus points for ticket links,” he wrote.

“It simply came to our notice then. Vague hatred is truly super-contradictory, “he added.

Unlike some competing browsers like Firefox, Apple’s updates to Safari are rare, major upgrades come once a year. So most of the new features are rolled out in single instances. While this may appeal to those who dislike frequent browser updates, this means that upgrades and / or modifications to Safari are rare.

In recent years, however, according to Macromers, Safari has carried a raft of complaints about browser bugs, user interface and experience, and website compatibility.

In March, Apple launched Safari 15.4 Beta, which was “packed” with 70+ new features like “lazy loading” images to reduce page load time; A dialog element that represents a part of an application that a user communicates to perform a task, such as a dialog box or window; And Cascade Layer, which provides a way for users to organize their styles, such as reset and default, up to the highest priority style, such as Material, Utility and Override.

Even with the improvement, though, the safari faces an uphill climb.

Since Safari is Apple specific, unless someone is a big Apple fan, they probably don’t use Safari, Gold said.

“Windows machines are still much more popular than Macs, so the sheer number of PCs means there’s a huge installation advantage over Edge (and Chrome) Safari,” Gold said. “I haven’t seen much Safari on Windows Upte.”