Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari all have fewer desktop users, but Chrome gained some

By Konrad Krawczyk Published August 1, 2014

Though Internet Explorer is the most popular desktop Web browser on Earth by far, according to Net Marketshare, its numbers fell a bit last month. However, it wasn’t the only desktop browser to see its user base take a hit.

In July, Internet Explorer’s market share fell from 58.38 percent in June, to 58.01. Of course, that’s still a supremely dominant figure, making IE the most popular desktop browser in the world. No competitor is within shouting distance of it.

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Mozilla Firefox also lost some fans on the desktop front. Its share fell from 15.54 percent in June, to 15.08 percent last month. That’s a decrease of almost half a percentage point (0.46). Safari wasn’t safe from desertions either, seeing its share dip from 5.28 percent in June, to 5.16 in July. Of the big three browsers that experienced a decrease in desktop share, Apple Safari suffered the smallest drop.

MORE: Windows 8.1 and XP market share falls, Windows 7 gains more users

That leads us to Google Chrome, which is the only desktop browser with a significant slice of the pie to see its share increase in July. Chrome’s share rose from 19.34 percent in June, to 20.37 last month. Not only is that an increase of over 1.03 percent, it’s also the biggest change in usage overall for any of the world’s four biggest desktop browsers.

Chrome’s rise in popularity occurred despite the fact that the existence of a battery life-killing bug in Chrome came to light last month. The bug is specific to Windows-based devices, and Google is already working on a fix for this issue.

Konrad Krawczyk

Former Computing Editor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

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