Microsoft Edge has overtaken Apple's Safari to become the world's second most popular desktop browser, according to web analytics service StatCounter. In February, Microsoft Edge was less than half a percentage point behind Safari (9.54% to 9.84%) in popularity among desktop users. The latest data from StatCounter shows that Edge is currently used on 10.07% of desktop computers worldwide, ahead of Safari by 0.46%; the latter dropped to 9.61%.

Google Chrome is still far ahead, accounting for 66.58% of all desktop users. Mozilla's Firefox only had a 7.87% share, down sharply from February's 9.18% share.

Edge's lead over other browsers varies by location. In the US, for example, Edge is far behind Safari - Edge's market share is only 12.55% compared to Safari's 17.1%. In Europe, Edge has already surpassed Safari with 11.73% and 9.36% shares respectively.

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The world's most popular desktop browser, according to StatCounter

Firefox didn't have much market share from the start. It doesn't have the marketing clout of Microsoft or Google, which means less brand recognition -- and little outside the tech world, according to Jack Gold, principal analyst at research firm J. Gold Associates.

"So I don't think Firefox has an advantage over other companies," Gold said.

Of course, Safari's channel is primarily used as the default browser on Apple's iPhone and iPad tablets. On these devices, the situation is completely different. Chrome accounted for 63.57%, Safari accounted for 24.82%, and various other browsers accounted for the rest.

Some web analytics services are already way ahead of browsers -- except for Chrome, which has always dominated. For example, the latest data from Net MarketShare shows that Chrome has a staggering 73.24% market share, Edge 12.93% and Firefox 4.73%. Safari isn't even among the top four browsers.

Passing the edge is already slow. Gold said it initially ran into performance and compatibility issues on the web, which drove many users to Chrome. However, Edge is now on par with Chrome in terms of performance, mostly because it's built on top of the underlying Chrome engine.

In 2020, Microsoft rebooted Edge, rewriting it using the same browser code as Chrome. Not only is Microsoft making Edge a remake of Chrome, but it's also extending support to more than 10 versions of Windows, including macOS and Linux.

"When Microsoft switched to the Chromium engine, Edge became faster and had better compatibility with more sites because of the advantages of Google Chrome, for compatibility with Chrome instead of the old Edge (which existed in terms of full compatibility) problems) some unique requirements)," Kim said.

Microsoft has also been adding features to Edge, such as enhanced security and privacy, "coupons" for those who use it to shop, and performance enhancements, Gold noted. Edge also doesn't have some of the issues that earlier versions had with some sites. "You're no longer forced to use Bing as a search engine," Gold said. While users were never really forced to use Bing, Microsoft did make it difficult for users to switch to Google.

Edge is also the default browser on Windows 10 and 11, so as it improves, there's no reason for users to switch. "I think a lot of people are too lazy to download Chrome. Edge has pretty much everything they want/need," Gold said.

Last June, Apple unveiled a major redesign of Safari at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). However, many of these changes were quickly criticized by users, who called them "counterintuitive"

Apple rolled out several iterations this summer on mobile and desktop, and allowed users to largely revert to the Safari design ahead of the release of iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey.

In February, Jen Simmons, an evangelist and developer advocate for Apple's Safari and WebKit Web Developer Experience teams, took to Twitter to solicit user feedback on why Safari was unpopular and asked them to point out specific issues.

"Everyone I mentioned said Safari was the worst, new IE browser," Simmons tweeted at the time.

To get to the source of the anger, Simmons asked Twitter users to point out specific bugs and missing support that were frustrating them or making it harder for them to create a website or app. "Bonus for ticket links," she wrote.

"We can address specific issues. To be honest, vague hatred can backfire," she added.

Unlike rival browsers like Firefox, Apple updates Safari infrequently, only doing major upgrades once a year. Therefore, most of the new features are rolled out in one go. While this may appeal to those who don't like frequent browser updates, it also means that Safari upgrades and/or fixes are rare.

In recent years, however, Safari has received numerous complaints about browser bugs, user interface and experience, and website compatibility.

In March, Apple launched a beta version of Safari 15.4, saying it "packaged" more than 70 new features, such as "lazy-loading" images to reduce page load times; a dialog element that the user interacts with to perform program tasks parts of an application, such as dialogs or windows; and cascading layers, which provide users with a way to organize styles (such as resets and defaults) into highest-priority styles (such as components, utilities, and overrides) .

Despite the improvements, Safari still faces a tough climb.

Because Safari is unique to Apple, unless someone is a big Apple fan, they probably won't use Safari, Gold said.

"Windows machines are still more popular than MACs, so the number of PCs means Edge (and Chrome) has a huge install advantage over Safari," Gold said. "I don't see much of Safari's adoption of Windows."

Shanghai Senior Role has been focusing on one-stop IT outsourcing business, IT system integration services, and IT operation and maintenance management services for decades.