Microsoft Edge has now beaten Safari as the second most popular desktop web browser, according to Statcounter. In March, Microsoft Edge had 9.65% desktop marker share, up from 9.61% in February, while Apple’s Safari went from 9.77% to 9.56% in the same time frame.

Obviously, Microsoft Edge was poised to take second place as it comes preinstalled on Windows 10 and Windows 11, and it’s also available on macOS and Linux. Moreover, Microsoft Edge was already the second most popular desktop web browser according to Netmarketshare.

Google Chrome remains far ahead of the pack with a 67.29% desktop market share on Statcounter in March. Microsoft Edge isn’t going to beat Chrome anytime soon, though both browsers now share the same Chromium engine under the hood, and they’re also on the same 4-week release schedule. Last week, both Microsoft Edge 100 and Google Chrome 100 started rolling out, bringing pretty minor updates despite the change to a three-digit version string.

Microsoft Edge has come a long way since the original version of the web browser made its debut alongside Windows 10 almost seven years ago. The legacy Edge used to be exclusive to Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile, and it only received new features twice a year, which made it impossible to compete with other multiplatform browsers on a much faster release schedule.

Microsoft finally righted the ship by embracing the Chromium open-source project, and Microsoft Edge is now a solid alternative to Google Chrome. In recent months, though, a growing number of Edge users have been complaining about the browser becoming too bloated, and there’s definitely a fine line between adding “nice to have” features and focusing on the basics, including performance and ease of use.

Tagged with Microsoft, Microsoft Edge