Google Chrome Replaces Internet Explorer As World’s Most Popular Web Browser

The much-maligned Internet Explorer has finally been usurped as the world’s most commonly-used browser by Google Chrome.

Figures from NetMarketShare show Chrome now holds top spot with 41.71 percent of total users, just ahead of Microsoft’s venerable offering on 41.33 percent.

Firefox (10.06 percent), Safari (4.47 percent) and Opera (2.01 percent) round out the top five, but it is Internet Explorers slow descent from dominance that is most noteworthy.

Boosted

Chrome has been steadily building its user base over recent years, spurred on by Google’s ubiquity and the growth of the company’s Android mobile OS.

The browser has increasingly chipped away at Internet Explorer’s lead in the figures, which was as high as 54 percent in June 2015, when Chrome only had 27.3 percent of the market.

However the figures do not give any indication of the popuarity of Microsoft’s new Edge browser, launched as part of Windows 10, and the spiritual successor to Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer has been the subject of many security flaws in the past, with Microsoft repeatedly urging customers to upgrade ahead of the Windows 10 launch last year.

Microsoft’s products have been renowned for their longevity, as Windows XP is notoriously still in use by many governments agencies and businesses around the world, despite the fact that it was first launched in 2001.

Microsoft officially ended support for Windows XP on April 8 2014, leaving many consumers and businesses facing a stark choice. Upgrade to a newer PC with a newer operating system, or face increased risks.

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