Microsoft Edge Overtakes Safari As World's Second Most Popular Desktop Browser (macrumors.com) 100
Microsoft Edge has overtaken Apple's Safari to become the world's second most popular desktop browser, based on data provided by web analytics service StatCounter. MacRumors reports: According to the data, Microsoft Edge is now used on 10.07 percent of desktop computers worldwide, 0.46 percent ahead of Safari, which stands at 9.61 percent. Google Chrome remains in first place with a dominant 66.64 percent share, and Mozilla's Firefox stands in fourth with 7.86 percent. As the default Windows 11 browser, the popularity of Edge has crept up in recent months, with the first concrete signs that it would surpass Safari to take second place coming in February, when it was used on 9.54 percent of desktops globally. Back in January 2021, Safari held a 10.38 percent market share, indicating a gradual slippage in popularity over the last 14 months.
Meanwhile, first-placed Chrome has seen its user base increase incrementally over that time, but perhaps surprisingly, Firefox has leaked users since the beginning of the year, despite regular updates and improvements. That suggests Safari's hold on third place isn't in immediate danger, having lost only 0.23 percent share since February, but things could always change fast if Apple decides to introduce sweeping changes to the way Safari works in macOS 13 later this year. It's a different story when it comes to mobile platforms, notes MacRumors. "In StatCounter's analysis, Edge doesn't even make it into the top six browsers on mobile, but first-placed Chrome commands 62.87 of usage share, with Safari on iPhones and iPads taking a comfortable 25.35 percent in second place, 20.65 percent ahead of third-placed Samsung Internet, with 4.9 percent."
Meanwhile, first-placed Chrome has seen its user base increase incrementally over that time, but perhaps surprisingly, Firefox has leaked users since the beginning of the year, despite regular updates and improvements. That suggests Safari's hold on third place isn't in immediate danger, having lost only 0.23 percent share since February, but things could always change fast if Apple decides to introduce sweeping changes to the way Safari works in macOS 13 later this year. It's a different story when it comes to mobile platforms, notes MacRumors. "In StatCounter's analysis, Edge doesn't even make it into the top six browsers on mobile, but first-placed Chrome commands 62.87 of usage share, with Safari on iPhones and iPads taking a comfortable 25.35 percent in second place, 20.65 percent ahead of third-placed Samsung Internet, with 4.9 percent."
How do they define "Chrome"? (Score:2)
I'm curious whether, when they talk about Chrome on mobile platforms, they are limiting that to Chrome on Android or are including Chrome on iOS (which is just a reskinned WebKit/Safari). Depending on what you're interested in (user-facing features versus HTML/CSS/JS support), either of those approaches might be the correct one.
They should really break that down further (by platform).
Desktop browser (Score:3)
Says it right there in the title.
If you RTFA, it also goes into the stats for mobile.
When it comes to mobile platforms, it's a different story, reflecting Microsoft's lack of a mobile operating system since the demise of Windows Mobile. In StatCounter's analysis, Edge doesn't even make it into the top six browsers on mobile, but first-placed Chrome commands 62.87 of usage share, with Safari on iPhones and iPads taking a comfortable 25.35 percent in second place, 20.65 percent ahead of third-placed Samsung Internet, with 4.9 percent.
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It is an article on Desktop browsers, that they mention mobile and don't go into detail is probably the right call.
Second paragraph of the article.
According to the data, Microsoft Edge is now used on 10.07 percent of desktop computers worldwide, 0.46 percent ahead of Safari, which stands at 9.61 percent. Google Chrome remains in first place with a dominant 66.64 percent share, and Mozilla's Firefox stands in fourth with 7.86 percent.
Fits perfectly with the topic of Desktop browser. If you want more detail on mobile browsers, then look elsewhere. Such as the first link in the article [statcounter.com]. If you're more interested in iOS versus Android Chrome then again you have to go to a different data set that spells out "Chrome for Android" as a category. Such as in the summary here [financesonline.com].
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And of course, that has vastly different numbers, because the data comes from a different source.
The point I was trying to make is that this particular source does not make it clear what it means when it says "Chrome" on mobile devices. I have no idea how much market share Chrome on iOS has, so it may make very little difference, but it would be good to provide a more complete view of the data in either case.
"Shitty browser installs itself on your PC" (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, thanks Microsoft. Anyone who doesn't micromanage their Windows Update settings will get a copy of Edge installed on their PC by default, along with a shortcut on the taskbar and desktop.
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Firefox is my main browser, but you get the impression that Mozilla has absolutely no idea how to get new users, or keep their existing users happy. What are they doing with the $400M/year they get from Google?
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What are they doing with the $400M/year they get from Google?
That's probably their marijuana budget.
I used to prefer Firefox too, but it's like they just gave up.
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What are they doing with the $400M/year they get from Google?
That's probably their marijuana budget.
I used to prefer Firefox too, but it's like they just gave up.
Same here. On the desktop I switched to Chromium (I only use Linux) with DuckDuckGo as primary search engine. Chromium is Chrome without Google. Works great. On mobile (Android) I switched to DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser as my primary browser while previously using Firefox.
It seems to me to be poor management that they cannot produce a better browser given the amount of income they have.
Re: Downloaded free browser still a worse product (Score:1)
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I do agree they don't seem to be able to make changes that gain them users lately but you gotta admit they're fighting a very lopsided battle: Chrome is advertised in many Google's sites and has huge name recognition and Edge and Safari are the defaul
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Re:"Shitty browser installs itself on your PC" (Score:4, Insightful)
No it isn't. It just sends data back to a different mothership.
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No it isn't. It just sends data back to a different mothership.
Your two sentences are not connected. Yes, they send data to different motherships, but that doesn't change that Edge features (and speed/memory) are actually better than Chrome (IMHO) on both Windows and Android . When testing it I fully expected to easily discard it, instead it became my default. The built-in adblocker and privacy protection is good, also on mobile, I really like the immersive reader for reading some long form web pages (simplifying layout and removing clutter), you have the option of ver
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I still cannot set the newtab page
I still cannot add a menu bar and an OS bar.
It is filled with features that cannot be ignored or removed
It use to have a download statusbar which was nice, but it doesn't anymore. On that topic, does Google own the patent to that or something. No other browser has one and you cant make one with how locked down the add ons are now.
It is also slower than my current browser.
Uses more RAM than my current browser.
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Given a binary choice, I'd pick my data going back to Microsoft rather than Google, which makes Edge the better browser of the two to me. However, I have more than two choices, so I use neither Edge or Chrome.
Re: "Shitty browser installs itself on your PC" (Score:1)
Re: "Shitty browser installs itself on your PC" (Score:2)
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Edge is still a rancid pile of shit whose only purpose is to go to waterfox.net
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Yeah, thanks Microsoft. Anyone who doesn't micromanage their Windows Update settings will get a copy of Edge installed on their PC by default, along with a shortcut on the taskbar and desktop.
Being installed and being used are not the same thing. Not even the install to Windows 11 changed the default browser settings from Chrome / Firefox to Edge. Sure on a fresh install they made it borderline fucking impossible to change the defaults, but they walked back on that as well.
In the past 12 months it has actually gotten easier to use an alternative browser on Windows 11, so maybe ... just maybe ... users don't give a shit.
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Yeah, thanks Microsoft. Anyone who doesn't micromanage their Windows Update settings will get a copy of Edge installed on their PC by default, along with a shortcut on the taskbar and desktop.
And switching it to another browser is a long process full of dire warnings that bad things will happen to your computer if you continue.
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Further, they went the extra mile by making it a pain in the ass to change the default browser and even had made a type of web link hard coded to open edge without letting the user override (windows 11 at least).
shoved down users throats != popular (Score:5, Insightful)
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I really doubt that's the reason. Safari is the new internet explorer for so many reasons. It's a shit browser, so naturally people will opt for something else. Literally the only web browser in existence that is actually shoved down users throats is in fact Safari; apple blocks competitors from even existing at all on iOS.
Re: shoved down users throats != popular (Score:3)
Rubbish, itâ(TM)s nothing like IE was. It doesnâ(TM)t have a massive market share and itâ(TM)s not locking out other platforms by defining how the web should look and behave, as IE did 15 years ago. If anything, itâ(TM)s saving us from Chrome being the new IE. The idea of a WWW defined solely by a company with no respect for privacy and data is horrific.
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From what I've seen, the complaint is that Apple seems to not do as much to keep up with the standards compared to even firefox, so a web developer that doesn't want to alienate iPhone users has to ignore a lot of the standard.
Which is better than IE still, since IE was chock full of proprietary extensions and poorly conceived security behaviors, but I can still see how Safari's large share combined with slow adoption could be frustrating.
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Could you imagine if Microsoft forced Netscape, Opera, Firefox et al to use Trident (IE's engine) back in the day??
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If we are talking about Safari on iOS, it absolutely is 'defining how the web should look and behave'
I guess a website could put up a notice like the following when object detection fails:
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Re: shoved down users throats != popular (Score:2)
Maybe not. They could pick up the reddit playbook and do all kinds of shit to annoy the fuck out of mobile users until they download an app, only limit said annoyances to iOS users. Only problem is apple is very passive aggressive about what apps they allow. They'll allow scam apps without even thinking twice so long as it makes them money, but do something that in any way offends them or goes against their business model, they'll block your app and only offer a deliberately vague explanation that may or ma
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They could pick up the reddit playbook and do all kinds of shit to annoy the fuck out of mobile users until they download an app
That's exactly what Apple wants though. They want people to have to pay Apple to make a proprietary app, rather than have a website that's free* to make.
*yes usual hosting charges apply
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I don't think it works like that. I try not to install apps on my iPhone, and most of the time, I don't see any benefit from an app. I suppose the reason it often doesn't work like that though is because many app makers have the same web based content in their app as the mobile version of their web site.
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or demand that it works exactly the same way on iOS.
"We have contacted Apple about adding the needed features. To follow the progress, see this list of relevant bugs in WebKit."
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What will end users do instead? Visit the competitor's website? The competitor's website also lacks the same features because the same underlying mechanisms, such as the standard Push API, are missing from Apple WebKit.
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This is exactly what happened back in the day when IE had a market share over 90%. Hands up who remembers having to change their User-Agent string so they could access their online banking or numerous other sites from Mozilla, and nevermind all the real IE specific content that didn't work. => the original post about Safari being like IE is incorrect.
I'm grateful that iOS Safari is popular enough that web devs are forced to use standards compliant HTML, albeit a slightly less than bleeding edge version
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This is exactly what happened back in the day when IE had a market share over 90%. Hands up who remembers having to change their User-Agent string so they could access their online banking or numerous other sites from Mozilla, and nevermind all the real IE specific content that didn't work. => the original post about Safari being like IE is incorrect.
Both Microsoft in the 90s and Apple today see the web as a bad thing. It cuts into their business model of developers and/or customers paying for software. They just each went about controlling it a different way. IE used all the propriety stuff, hoping to essentially make the web itself a Windows-only product. Apple just drags their feet on adopting standards, so people make an iOS app instead.
I'm grateful that iOS Safari is popular enough that web devs are forced to use standards compliant HTML, albeit a slightly less than bleeding edge version.
Web devs are using standard compliant HTML, it's just that Safari lags behind greatly [infrequently.org] in adopting those standards [httptoolkit.tech]
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Exactly, I won't visit the site. That's the kind of thing like poorly implemented GDPR notices and anti-adblocker blocks that make me move on. There's rarely anything important enough for me to care, or there's often an alternative.
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The problem is that most web developers consider the iOS market to big to ignore, and since Safari is the only browser on iOS, they are forced to make their website work with Safari. So while Safari doesn't dominate like IE6 once did, the effect is still the same. Just like how they couldn't ignore IE6, they also can't ignore Safari.
The situation with Safari in some ways is worse. Even in the deepest, darkest days of IE's stranglehold on the internet, Microsoft never forced Windows users to use IE and yo
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apple blocks competitors from even existing at all on iOS.
iCab 4Eva! [apple.com]
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There is choice. Many people just don't care enough to choose an alternate browser. That's still a choice.
Re: shoved down users throats != popular (Score:1)
Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
Next up. Microwave oven continue to dominate the market over wood fired pot belly stoves.
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It's significant for Microsoft. For decades they tried to make IE popular, as well as their homepage (remember when it was MSN, I think it's some Bing thing now).
In the end what it took was adopting Google's browser and adding a few peripheral features to it.
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A browser that is the default on 92% of desktop computers has over taken the browser that is the default on 8% of desktop computers and must be manually downloaded and installed on everything else.
Next up. Microwave oven continue to dominate the market over wood fired pot belly stoves.
Your post would be more relevant if this browser hasn't been installed by default for well over 6 years now.
If anything it's showing a trend for users not to give enough of a shit to actually move to an alternative. Or ... Firefox is getting shitter.
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If anything it's showing a trend for users not to give enough of a shit to actually move to an alternative.
Too lazy to find the story, but it was posted here a few months saying most students don't know even the basics of an OS such file directory. They just dump everything somewhere then have to search for it because they have no organizational skills. This would jibe well with them not knowing they can use a different browser and that there is more than just the privacy raping Chrome.
Or ... Firefox is ge
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* Settings -> General -> Firefox updates
Your choices are Automatically install updates (default), and Check for updates but let you install them. The notifications appear inside the settings, or in the About page.
* Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Autoplay -> Settings
The default for all websites is Block all audio, but your other choices are Block all video and audio, and Allow all video and audio
On this page you can add individual choices for specific websites.
These are both the same o
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Your choices are Automatically install updates (default), and Check for updates but let you install them. The notifications appear inside the settings, or in the About page.
This still produces a harassment warning every 20 minutes or so there's an update waiting. There should be no message of any kind if you've disabled updates.
The default for all websites is Block all audio, but your other choices are Block all video and audio, and Allow all video and audio
Doesn't work as intended. You have to go into abo
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Part of the reason Chrome became popular is that it was originally distributed bundled with other unrelated installers and if you weren't careful, you ended up with a drive-by install of Chrome, which would then hijack your PC to make itself default. A lot of people ended up with Chrome without ever intending to download or install it.
A big reason for the slower adoption of Edge is that until it became Edgium, it was pretty legitimately terrible. A lot of people don't realize that's no longer the case, an
forced browsers (Score:5, Insightful)
Edge is forced on Windows. Safari is forced on Apple. Samsung is forced on Samsung..
Where people have a choice, it seems to be Chrome then Firefox.
I use Firefox because less Google fuckery.
Re: forced browsers (Score:2)
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Uhm, you are a bit outdated, Edge is based on Chromium same as Chrome and have far better standards support than Safari.
Really easy to do when you are the one writing the standards.
Re:forced browsers (Score:5, Informative)
Samsung Internet isn't forced on Samsung. Chrome is the default due to Google's requirements for licensing the Play Store. You have to make a conscious decision to use Samsung Internet.
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Samsung Internet isn't forced on Samsung. Chrome is the default due to Google's requirements for licensing the Play Store.
False. Google's requirements extend only to having Chrome installed. If you do a factory reset right now you won't even see the Chrome icon on the home screen, you'll see Samsung Internet which is the default. You can find the Chrome icon in a folder/group called "Google".
Remember Google got nicely fined by the EU for exactly this.
Re: forced browsers (Score:2)
Every post-Kitkat Galaxy series phone I or my wife has bought has had Chrome as the default. The S3 with Ice Cream Sandwich originally had a browser from AOSP as the default. Later updates replaced it with Chrome and Samsung Internet. But all the Samsung phones we've had that had Chrome present to begin with had it configured as the default browser, requiring a manual step to switch to Samsung Internet. They also stopped installing Samsung Music by default, and a few of the other Samsung apps that used to b
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I am forced to use a MacBook Pro for work. I have one of my own too. I've never even started up Safari on either one. I've never used Safari. Apple hasn't forced me to use Safari. However if get anywhere near a Windows device, Edge starts up and tries to do things. I kill it every time. The best solution I've found for Windows is to unplug the Internet. It can never call home. There's something satisfying about that.
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I'm not sure I'd call Chrome a choice on desktops. Rather, it's something you can opt-out of if you're especially strong-willed.
Google has a long history of just about forcing it down the throat of anyone visiting Google services on a competing browser. At best you get browbeat, and at worst Google services always end up slightly flakier on non-Chrome browsers for no particularly good reason.
It's a big part of how they managed to gain so much ma
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Edge isn't forced. It's installed by default. There's a difference. /Posted from Windows 11, but not using Edge.
Where people have a choice, it seems to be Chrome then Firefox.
No. Where people *want to exercise their choice* it seems to be Chrome then Firefox. What is becoming clear is that less and less users actually give a shit. All of this shouldn't be a surprise either, ever since Edge became Chrome with a different skin it actually renders websites just fine and actually works. Beyond that, very few users give a crap about freedoms, diversity, privacy or any other
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I am not sure what you mean. I don't think I can uninstall Edge on Windows.
This article is not talking about which browser is the most installed, it's which is the most used. You can't uninstall Edge, that doesn't mean you have to use it. When was the last time you used the 3D STL model viewer included in Windows? Did you even know there was one? The existence of software doesn't mean you're suddenly a 3D printer fanatic.
And sometimes Chrome or Firefox fails to detect new connections (e.g., new airport or hotel wifi) and I have to start Edge before I close it again.
Errr WTF? That is very much a problem on your end. In fact any time you think Edge is the solution to Chrome then it's almost certainly a problem on your end give
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I stopped using Firefox and Chromium because of the tail wagging the dog crap that Canoical forced on users in Ubuntu by making the browsers "snaps" rather than native apps because it was easier for the developers, but broke so much stuff in using the browser it was not funny. I am basically forced to use Chrome and Edge on Linux!!!!
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Ah but you can install edge on Linux, I'm sure that's why it has such a huge market /s
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FWIW (Score:2)
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Do you think Apple users use Safari because they think it's the best? Most Apple users I know choose Chrome on Mac. Why do you suppose Safari would be popular if it were supported on Windows? Because it's such a great browser? I doubt it.
Re: FWIW (Score:2)
I stopped using. Chrome on macOS years ago because of its bloat and battery draining behaviour. In addition, I wonâ(TM)t go back to it now out of choice because I donâ(TM)t want to support Google.
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That's great, you've made an informed choice. Most Safari users don't, just like most Edge users don't.
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They're all fine (Score:2)
Chrome is my default on Windows
Opera has pretty much been my Chrome on Linux
Firefox I just use as a second browser vs having separate windows, or sometimes primary browser on Linux
Edge is good for viewing pdfs on Windows
Brave I will probably replace Opera with
Tab Search (Score:2)
When will some browser implement a tab search feature, so that we don't have to use history to find something already open in tabs? Have a little icon and/or keystroke combo that will allow me to type a description of a tab to locate it .. and the results should show up with timestamps of last viewed/used. Also should allow describing the page even if its not word match inside page contents. Ie, if I say boat it should bring up the open tabs that have boats in it regardless of whether the word boat occurs.
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https://support.mozilla.org/en... [mozilla.org]
This feature has been in firefox for a while.
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Reading list makes it easier, saves GBs (Score:2)
Right-click - add to reading list instead of right click - new tab makes it easier to see what you've got and saves a few GB of RAM
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Boggles the mind... (Score:2)
That EU ruling they consented to (Score:2)
Well, it's official. (Score:1)
Honest question (Score:2)
Edge is the #1 browser (Score:2)
Title correction... (Score:2)