According to a report from Bleepingcomputer and data from NetMarketShare (via Sweclockers), Microsoft Edge has surpassed Firefox for the first time and is now the second most popular browser.

This is encouraging news for Microsoft, which just released its new Chromium-based Edge browser in January of this year, although it will come as no great surprise that Chrome, with a whopping 68.5% of the market, is still in the lead.

It is worth noting that the data does not separate the old proprietary Edge from the new Chromium Edge, and the fact that it is the default browser on Windows 10 and new laptops may have influenced the numbers. But even if that is the case, it is clear that the upward trend is likely due to Microsoft's Chromium-based variants.

As of March 2019, Edge was in fourth place with a market share of just 5.2% (behind Internet Explorer 11, Firefox, and Chrome), but has since overtaken the other two to take 7.59% of the market. During the same period Firefox dropped from 9.27% to 7.19% and Internet Explorer 11 dropped to 5.6%.

What is a bit surprising about these numbers is that the new version of Edge is not included with Windows 10, so you have to go out of your way to get it at this point. If you want it now, you can download it here. However, Microsoft plans to upgrade the default browser in Windows 10 to the Chromium-based Edge in a patch to be released soon, at which point the browser's market share will no doubt improve.

The new Microsoft Edge is also worth a try, and several members of the PC Gamer hardware team have already switched (although to be fair, I often have both Chrome and the new Microsoft Edge open simultaneously). Chromium-based, so it has the advantage of having access to extensions written for Chrome, and there are many of them. It's fast, efficient, and familiar enough to use without having to rethink the way I work.