Windows 8 is out with a new version of Internet Explorer, Firefox has boosted its JavaScript power and memory usage, and Chrome's been slowly improving its speed. How do the new versions stack up against each other? We found out in our latest round of browser speed tests.
We've been testing browsers for awhile, and we've refined our method pretty well. It's a good mix of both manually timed user experience measures and hardcore JavaScript benchmarks, plus some new tests aimed at features like Chrome's prerendering or Firefox's on demand tab loading can really do. All tests take place on Windows (which is why we didn't test Safari—it isn't very popular on Windows, and testing the Mac version wouldn't give it equal footing).
As always, remember that speed is not the only thing each browser has to offer. Each browser has a number of unique features and characteristics, all of which you should factor into making your choice of which to use. However, while most features can be listed on their home pages, you can't easily compare their speed just from each browser's changelog, and that's why we've put this together. It's just one more way to compare the browsers as you make your decision. Also keep in mind that everyone's computer is different, and your numbers may differ from ours, but the comparison between the numbers should be the same.
Cold Boot-Up Winner: Chrome!
Chrome had a shockingly fast boot-up time this time around, popping up just over two seconds after we clicked its icon, ready to go. Explorer was pretty fast as well, with Firefox close behind and Opera slowing down quite a bit to take last place.
Tab Loading Winner: TIE Between Chrome and Internet Explorer!
Our test of loading nine tabs, from Lifehacker to Facebook to Hulu and Amazon, showed some interesting results. Chrome and Internet Explorer both dropped some time in this area, tying each other for first place, while Firefox absolutely crumbled under the weight of the tabs. Firefox's UI had so much trouble loading all nine tabs at once that its UI animations would completely stop while it caught up, finally loading them all after nearly 20 seconds. Whatever the Mozilla team has done, it makes the browser feel like its old, slow self again.
URL Loading Winner: Chrome!
As usual, Chrome took home the prize for visiting sites from the address bar, thanks to its awesome prerendering feature. However, Firefox and IE have definitely sped up a tad, too, meaning most browsers should give you a pretty quick page load as long as you've been to that page during this session—except Opera, who still took over a second to load the page.
Cold Restore Winner: Chrome!
Even though this test was originally determined to test Firefox's new on demand tab loading, it seems this feature no longer works during a cold boot—only during a warm boot. However, whether we tested cold or warm starts, Firefox still didn't seem to benefit from this feature at all. The Chrome team has really upped their game, making Chrome boot up super fast whether it has nine tabs in tow or not. While Chrome still had to load those tabs, it became usable nearly immediately after the window showed up, while Firefox took a little longer to boot and Opera kept us waiting quite a while.
JavaScript Winner: Chrome!
We've gone back and forth about whether to include JavaScript benchmarks in this test, because they're pretty artificial, despite most test's claim to measure "real world performance". In the interest of completeness, we've included it here, with the usual results (Chrome smoking the competition), but don't put too much stock in this over our other, more real-world tests. Due to issues with Mozilla's Dromaeo test suite, we used the popular Peacekeeper test from Futuremark this time around.
Memory Usage (with Nine Tabs Open) Winner: Firefox!
As usual, Firefox's memory management has improved greatly in the recent past, while Chrome's continues to shoot up to astronomical levels.
Memory Usage (with Nine Tabs and Five Extensions) Winner: Firefox!
Everyone's memory usage went up when we piled on five extensions, though Firefox's increased significantly less than Chrome and Opera's. As usual, Firefox took first place once again.
The Winner?
This time around, there was actually a very clear winner, but we've decided to stop tallying up the results and raking browsers in these tests. Why? Because we think you should decide for yourself! Everyone has different priorities, so we've decided to stop including a "winner" since the scores were impossible to weight fairly against one another. If you don't ever shut down your computer, for example, you can just ignore the cold boot scores. Don't like benchmarks? Throw out the JavaScript test. Have 12GB of RAM? Then memory management isn't really an issue. Check out the above results and see how the browsers stack up when it comes to your most important tests—and of course, weigh each browser's features—before you determine a winner.
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