Web Browser Grand Prix 4: Firefox 4 Goes Final

Features
By Adam Overa
published

It's official! After four months of delays, twelve betas, and two RCs, Firefox 4 has gone final. But after all that, does this fox still have teeth? Can Internet Explorer 9 retain the WBGP title, or will it become the shortest-lived champion to date?

Performance Benchmarks: Peacekeeper, DOM, And CSS

Peacekeeper

Chrome is again on top of the FutureMark Peacekeeper test, with rival Opera just 800 points in tow. Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 manages to score over 7000 points to take third place. Safari earns 5450 to place fourth, while the new Firefox 4 only manages a 5300.

Dromaeo DOM

Opera easily takes the top spot, performing over 2800 runs per second. Chrome finishes second, 700 points behind Opera at 2100. Firefox 4 comes in third with a score of almost 2000. Safari places fourth at around 1900, while IE9 comes in last at just over 1400 runs per second.

Maze Solver

Maze solver from the Internet Explorer 9 Test Drive site is a new addition to the WBGP. This test targets CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 performance.

Opera annihilates this benchmark, completing the 30x30 maze in 8.5 seconds. IE9 falls into second place with a 13 second completion time. Firefox 4 fills the middle spot, taking nearly 100 seconds to find the end. In fourth place is Safari, taking 120 seconds to get out of the maze. Google's Chrome flounders behind in fifth place at nearly 150 seconds.

Adam Overa
156 Comments Comment from the forums
  • reprotected
    Because people can't wait for half a second. I never had a single rendering problem with any of my browsers.
    Reply
  • LuckyDucky7
    Adblock Plus, Adblock Plus, Adblock Plus.

    That pretty much sums it up. No amount of optimization will help you when it comes to loading web pages if you have a large amount of adframes and such to slow you down.

    So have your super-fast IE9: I bet the ads will appreciate loading quick too.
    Reply
  • @ericburnby

    you must enjoy all those ads, in real world the difference in speed is negligible, but i sure has hell appreciate a rock stable browser, which is not what IE is, now saying that i have to say IE9 is definitely light years ahead of it's predecessor

    have used all 3 browser and found FF to be the most stable by far
    Reply
  • @ StableBrowser,

    You must enjoy being an ignorant Fx fanboy. IE9 comes with adblocking features without needing any extensions.
    Reply
  • nd22
    IE9 is indeed fast, but my question relates to Safari, a browser created specifically for Mac, not for Windows. On Mac Safari is incredible fast, why Tom’s did not tested Safari on the platform which it was designed for?
    Reply
  • @luckyducky7

    "Adblock Plus, Adblock Plus, Adblock Plus.

    That pretty much sums it up. No amount of optimization will help you when it comes to loading web pages if you have a large amount of adframes and such to slow you down.

    So have your super-fast IE9: I bet the ads will appreciate loading quick too."

    Not if you use tracking protection.
    Reply
  • adamovera
    nd22IE9 is indeed fast, but my question relates to Safari, a browser created specifically for Mac, not for Windows. On Mac Safari is incredible fast, why Tom’s did not tested Safari on the platform which it was designed for?It is my hope that we'll be able to do that. Hopefully for the next major Safari release. If that's at the same time as Lion, then we might have to use the latest updated Snow Leopard for time reasons.
    Reply
  • jsowoc
    Re: Acid3
    This is why Firefox doesn't get 100:
    http://limi.net/articles/firefox-acid3/
    Reply
  • I loaded up IE today because the Chase website gives me problems with Chrome, and I was surprised by how fast IE9 is now. Loading pages seemingly as fast or faster then chrome. I even thought of switching it to my primary browser, but the lack of Ad-block support killed it. It is a necessary feature and every browser should have it or something like it these days.
    Reply
  • andy5174
    The latest Chrome is indeed pretty fast, but I just can't live without Tab Mix Plus which is only available to Firefox. Someone please write a similar add-on for Chrome!!!
    Reply