WetGeek I have no fond memories of it, either. Nor of the web-weenies that built their code favoring IE, just because was from Microsoft, despite its non-compliance with web protocols.
I was one of the "the web-weenies that built their code favoring IE" in the 2000-2005 era (a manger for the team responsible for designing/implementing a web-based global intranet for a Fortune 10 company), and if I may comment, we did not do so "just because [IE] was from Microsoft" but primarily because (not despite) IE's "non-compliance with web protocols" allowed us to enhance the intranet's security and develop tools that enhanced functionality.
But I am not sad to see IE finally come to an end. Not at all. Chrome (as much as I try to stay away from the Google/Android ecosystem) quickly took over the browser market after it was introduced because it was a far superior browser to IE. The browser market has developed significantly since Chrome was introduced in 2008/2009, and in comparison to modern mainstream browsers, IE is an insecure, dangerous mess. Good riddance.
qsl While I understand the concerns (and use Firefox myself), it really boils down to better software and user experience. There's nothing to recommend Firefox over other larger browsers (and that's a shame).
I moved from IE to Firefox as my primary browser in 2005-2006, but I'm moving away from Firefox toward Edge at this point, little by slowly, simply because Edge fits my current use case better than Firefox. As you point out, Firefox offers no significant advantage over other mainstream browsers and that is a shame. Firefox, for a while, stood head and shoulders above the crowd.
brent Safari has a bigger market share than Firefox in 2022?
Safari is the Apple default browser, integrated into the Apple ecosystem. I'm a bit surprised that Safari's market share isn't slightly higher than it is, say 11-12%. Firefox has been slowly slipping away for the last several years, dying on the vine. I don't think that it will disappear, but I don't see it regaining significant market share in the future, either.