Skip to main content

Microsoft bleeds IE users to Google, Chrome on top by mid-year

microsoft bleeds ie users to google chrome on top by mid year internet explorer
Image used with permission by copyright holder
As users abandon Microsoft’s once dominant Web browser, Google appears to be reaping the benefits. According to the latest data from Net Applications, Microsoft’s share of the desktop browser market has plummeted by roughly 11 percent over the last 10 months. Alternatively, Google has picked up nearly all of that market share in new Chrome users.

At this rate of growth, Google will likely overtake Microsoft as the new Web browser leader. The only bright spot for Microsoft is Edge usage doubled over the last month, rising from 1.5 percent in January to 3 percent in February on one version of the Windows 10 software.

Recommended Videos

However, this is a far cry from Google Chrome or even Firefox. Edge still doesn’t support browser extensions, a feature that Microsoft is developing in order to compete more effectively with Google and Mozilla. Interestingly, Firefox growth has been extremely stagnant over the last year, holding onto just under 12 percent of users. Safari’s growth on desktops was also flat.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The migration from Microsoft browsers to Chrome may have something to do with browser prompts. For instance, if a user browses Google News on Microsoft Edge, a prompt appears at the top of the screen encouraging users to switch to Chrome. However, Microsoft is also aggressive in pushing users to Edge, simply by using a Windows 10 prompt to ask users if they want to reset their default browser.

The popularity of Google Chrome may also be attributed to Google’s commitment to a speedy development cycle with browser improvements. With new updates rolling out to users every six to eight weeks, Chrome users have seen significant upgrades over the last few years.  Chrome 49, due in early March, is expected to bring additional speed improvements in the form of a new compression algorithm.

Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
Google Chrome tops this list of most vulnerable browsers
Google Chrome logo appears over photo of laptop with chart of vulnerabilities.

According to a recent report, Google Chrome is the most vulnerability-ridden browser of all the major players. Chrome also happens to be the most popular browser in the world, accounting for over 60% of usage according to most sources, which means that a larger number of people are at risk until the bugs are fixed.

Every browser suffers from these security weaknesses from time to time, including the increasingly popular Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox, but Chrome has had a startlingly high number of weaknesses in 2022. The vulnerability report from Atlas VPN summarized data found in the VulDB vulnerability database. In this year alone, 303 vulnerabilities have been detected in Google Chrome. Firefox came in a distant second with 117, while 103 were found in Edge, and only 26 in Safari.

Read more
Spellcheckers in Google Chrome could expose your passwords
Office computer with login asking for password and username.

If you like to be thorough and use an advanced spellchecker, we have some bad news -- your personal information could be in danger.

Using the extended spellcheck in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge transmits everything you input in order for it to be checked. Unfortunately, this includes information that should be strictly encrypted, such as passwords.

Read more
Update Google Chrome now to protect yourself from an urgent security bug
Google Chrome app on s8 screen.

Google posted a security update for its Chrome browser that fixes what's known as a zero-day bug. The problem affects Chrome on Windows, Mac, and Android. The flaw can lead to arbitrary code execution, a serious security vulnerability, so it's best to download and install the latest version immediately. Zero-day bugs mean that this is a known weakness and, in this case, Google said that the flaw is already being exploited by hackers.

Google did not post a detailed explanation of how the exploit works, but will do so when the majority of people have updated, making the danger of further attacks less severe. The most severe bug is identified as CVE-2022-2294 and the update also patches CVE-2022-2295 and CVE-2022-2296.

Read more