In brief: When it comes to browser market share, Chrome is king. And while there are other, arguably better options than Google's product, it seems Microsoft's offerings don't appeal to the masses, with Edge and IE user numbers falling to record lows.
The results come from Net Applications, which shows that Microsoft's total browser share for September fell 1.8 percent to an all-time low of just 12 percent---down from a high of 14 percent in April. Most of the decline was due to IE, which fell 1.4 percent to a record low of 6.1 percent. Edge, meanwhile, was down slightly to 5.9 percent.
Microsoft last week issued an out-of-band security update for internet explorer after a critical vulnerability was discovered, which likely convinced more people to abandon the aging browser.
With Edge being pre-installed in Windows 10, one might have expected to see the browser's market share increase, especially as the OS is continuing to make gains while Windows 7 declines, but that isn't the case. Instead, more people are turning to Chrome, which was up another 1.3 percent to take a 68.5 percent share.
The news comes after Microsoft's Chromium-powered, reimagined Edge got a beta release in August. The company will doubtlessly be hoping the revamped version of the browser can capture some of Chrome's users when it releases in full, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Looking at other browsers, Firefox saw very slight growth last month, reaching an 8.7 percent market share, though it has declined by almost an entire percentage point over the last 12 months.
Chrome might be sitting at the top of the pile right now, but ComputerWorld notes that it still has a way to go before reaching IE's share from January 2005, when it boasted a massive 89.4 percent of the market.