New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS): Microsoft's Edge browser is on the verge of surpassing Apple's Safari as the world's second most popular desktop browser

According to data from web analytics service StatCounter, Microsoft Edge is now used on 9.54 per cent of desktops worldwide, a mere 0.3 per cent behind Apple's Safari, which stands at 9.84 per cent.

Google Chrome still holds the top spot at 65.38 per cent, with fellow challenger Mozilla Firefox now trailing with 9.18 per cent.

While Edge appears to be set to overtake Safari on a global scale, in North America, Safari is in a stronger position, being used on 16.87 per cent of desktops compared to Edge's 11.93 per cent market share.

Meanwhile in Europe, Edge has already surpassed Safari, taking 10.9 per cent of the market compared to Safari's 9.95 per cent. In Asia Safari's 5.41 percent market share trails behind Edge's 7.46 per cent.

Microsoft recently released version 98.0.1108.43 of its Edge browser that brings a host of new features, including a new browsing mode that prioritises security.

The company said that this is a browsing mode in Microsoft Edge where browser security takes priority, giving users an extra layer of protection when browsing the web.

Administrators can apply group policies to end-user desktops (Windows, macOS, and Linux) to help protect against in-the-wild exploits (also referred to 0-days), Microsoft said in a blogpost.

With the new update, users can personalise their multi-profile experience with the ability to create a customised list of sites for automatic profile switching in Microsoft Edge.