One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of our time is the enduring popularity of Internet Explorer. Not only is it one of the least functional browsers available, but it was made obsolete when Microsoft launched Edge alongside Windows 10 last year.
Nevertheless, it remains the most popular browser in the world… but that may not be the case for much longer.
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According to the latest data from NetMarketShare, Internet Explorer’s market share dropped from 44.79% to 43.40% in March while Chrome’s share rose from 36.56% to 39.09%. It’s as close as the two have ever been to one another, and if the trend continues, Chrome could tie or even overtake IE next month.
Interestingly, of the browsers listed, Chrome was the only one to see a positive change in March. Opera and Safari took minor dips while Firefox followed Internet Explorer with a relatively precipitous drop of 1.14%.
Although there’s no way to know all of the factors that are influencing this shift, reports like this from earlier in the year can’t have helped IE’s case. In the meantime, Google has been regularly updating and improving the Chrome experience, perhaps most notably with its Material Design visual makeover.
Internet Explorer has been the reviled king of the browser market for years, but by this summer, there will almost certainly be a new top browser in town.
