Microsoft Edge overtook Mozilla Firefox in popularity

According to NetMarketShare, Microsoft Edge is now overtook Mozilla Firefox in popularity. This makes Edge the second desktop browser in the world, although Google Chrome still leads with a huge margin and currently occupies 68.5% of the market.

This month, Edge first surpassed Firefox in popularity and market share. Even though Microsoft is suspending its Edge 81 browser, appealing to “global circumstances” around the outbreak of coronavirus.

So, a year ago, in the spring of 2019, Mozilla Firefox kept at the level of 9.27%, however, during the year the browser gradually lost its position, and as a result, by March 2020, it owned only 7.19% of the market.

Microsoft Edge, in turn, had a market share of 5.20% a year ago, but in the latest time it has risen to the level of 7.59%, and now it is 0.40% ahead of Firefox.

“Edge gained 0.21% in March, so not a massive uptick, but still upward movement nonetheless – and to see it secure second place and overtake Firefox is obviously a major milestone, particularly when you consider that the old (non-Chromium) Edge was dwindling away at the bottom of the browser league before Microsoft revamped it”, – writes the TechRadar.

As a result, as of the end of March 2020, the TOP-10 desktop browsers are as follows:

Edge is expected to continue its growth. It was recently reported that Windows 10 is already installed on one billion devices, and the new Edge will soon be distributed to them through Windows Update.

“Edge is doing well and it won’t really be a surprise if you’ve been following the reaction hoe the new browser has received online, which is generally pretty favorable. It’s now a strong contender, in other words, not to mention available across multiple platforms (instead of being Windows 10-only, as it was before). So even though there’s a long way to go, perhaps Google will now be sitting up and taking notice; if not being unduly worried yet”, — writes TechRadar.

With the release of the version based on Chromium, the browser has become faster, has acquired many useful features, and is now compatible with any extensions from the Chrome Web Store. At the same time, Mozilla Firefox is haunted by scandals, such as Mozilla become the “Internet Villain of the year 2019” for implementing DoH support.