Ced's Files: The Search for the Fastest Web Browser Continues

ExtremeTech tested five web browsers, subjecting them to six test, in order to find out who is the Speed King of them all.

The browsers tested were: Firefox 3.0.4, Google Chrome 0.3.154.9, Internet Explorer 7.0.6001.18000, Opera 9.6, and Safari 3.2.

The tests made were the following:

V8 Benchmark Suite - measures JavaScript speed for rich Web applications
Browser Extensions - used for more complex XML renderings where data is pulled from an external source
Acid3 Test - compatibility test that measures the default settings in a browser, plays an animation, and compares the resulting image to a reference image
Adobe Flash – Flash rendering
JavaScript Library and Framework Tests - a very comprehensive JavaScript test that uses specific libraries to measure rendering speed
Web Speed tests – speed tests on content-rich sites

Results (per test):

V8 Benchmark Suite: Google Chrome
Browser Extensions: Firefox
Acid3 Test: Opera
Adobe Flash: Firefox
JavaScript Library and Framework Tests: Google Chrome
Web Speed tests: Google Chrome

“Based on our arbitrary score assignments, Google Chrome is the speed king… Google uses its own knowledge of search and browsing habits to optimize Chrome, but Chrome is still in early development. It's also clear from our testing that Microsoft really needs to get IE8 out the door—IE7 not only has compatibility issues, but is substantially slower in many ways. Firefox 3.1 should also improve Firefox's scores. ” [ExtremeTech | Which Web Browser is King?]

Overall Results:

Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
Opera

The tests done by ExtremeTech does show that Google Chrome is currently the fastest browser, topping 3 of the 6 tests. For computer users who regularly use different operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac), they would probably have to settle for the current second fastest, which is Firefox.

Of course, Speed is just one of the many attributes that makes a web browser desirable. My personal favorite is Flock (not tested by ExtremeTech), which usually trails in the speed department. Despite Flock’s lack of zippy-ness, I still use it more due to its built-in functions (integration of webmail, photoblog viewing & posting, etc.). And in case my searching and/or browsing task needs that extra speed factor, I just fire up one of the top three.