The browser wars are heating up again, pick a side
Ah, the Internet. It is such an integral part of our daily lives that many of us have forgotten, or could care less, from where it originated. It wasn’t so long ago, that doing any task on the Internet meant launching the ever-faithful Internet Explorer. However, the winds of change have shifted and Internet Explorer is no longer the go-to favorite.
As recently as 2008, IE was the preferred browser for getting things done. Microsoft was dominating the market, and then suddenly, everyone was switching to Chrome. Jody Sieradzki used data from Stat Counter to create an image that shows the shift in preferred browser user over the years. Actually seeing the shift from IE to Chrome is almost mesmerizing:
While Firefox and Opera are included in the graphic as well, you can see that the clear preference shifted from IE to Chrome. Undoubtedly Chrome is faster than the old IE, but with the launch of Microsoft’s newest browser, Edge, the winds of change may be shifting again.
Could user preferences really change to favor Microsoft?
As we previously reported, Edge is allegedly 112% faster than Chrome. You read that right: 112% faster. Whether or not these speeds will hold true, and whether or not this will change users’ preferences, remains to be seen. Rumor has it, third-party benchmark testing tools are not coming up with the same figures, but this could be due to a variety of factors. If the super speed holds true, Microsoft may very well be able to make up the ground they lost to Chrome.
This may be about more than speed though. Many Chrome users love the plugins, add-ons, and other features that integrate with the rest of the Google environment. Even if Edge offer similar options, some users may want more than increased speed to make the switch.
Have you tried Edge? What do you think about it compared to Chrome?
#EdgeBrowser
