Google Chrome overtakes Internet Explorer for the first time

by Chris Smith

Google Chrome is, for now, the world's most popular web browser. It has outperformed Internet Explorer for the first time over the last two weeks, while Firefox has dropped further back

Google Chrome has marginally edged ahead of Internet Explorer for the first time, to take the title of the world's most most popular web browser.

Stat Counter reckons that for the last two weeks Google has pipped Microsoft with 32.5 per cent of the market compared to IE's 32.1 per cent share.

Chrome's ascent to the number one position comes after it overtook Mozilla's downward-trending Firefox browser back in December. Now Firefox only has a 25 per cent share of overall global usage.

Google will now be hoping that Chrome can stay ahead for the rest of the May to take the monthly title for the first time. However, The Next Web reports that the latest version of Microsoft's browser IE is gaining traction during evening and weekends, bucking the traditional work-only usage patterns.

Chrome's popularity has surged in the last year thanks largely to a regular update schedule that continually brings the addition of new features including the popular multi-user accounts functionality outed in Chrome 16 and an Android iteration that syncs with the desktop app.