Web Browser Grand Prix 2: Running The Linux Circuit

Features
By Adam Overa
published

Last week we showed Opera 10.60 to be the world's fastest Web browser. That was in the Windows world. But where do Chrome, Firefox, and Opera stand in Linux? Today we find out. Adding the Win 7 results, we'll also learn which OS has the speediest browser.

Benchmark Results: Flash

GUIMark 2 Flash Vector Charting

Firefox takes the lead with Chrome less than a frame behind. Opera trails Google's browser by three FPS, placing third.

All three of the browsers suffer a pretty big performance hit under Linux. Opera sees the largest decrease, creating a gap of nearly eight frames per second from its strong score of 22.5 FPS in Windows 7.

GUIMark 2 Flash Bitmap Gaming

In Flash bitmap gaming, Firefox is first. Chrome is close behind Mozilla, with Opera not far behind Google. All of the Linux scores are pretty close, with just over a single frame between winner and loser. The results in Ubuntu are, however, lower all across the board than in Windows 7.

GUIMark 2 Flash Text Columns

Firefox is again the leader with a fantastic 21 FPS, nearly seven frames more than any of the Windows scores. Chrome and Opera trail far behind in second and third (respectively), both earning around 7.5 FPS (about half of their Windows 7 frame rate).

Adam Overa
70 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Tamz_msc
    The article that I was waiting for.How the tables have turned!
    Conclusion:Firefox is quite capable in both Linux and Windows.
    I'm using Firefox 4 beta and I find it pretty quick.
    Reply
  • micr0be
    yes i would have loved to have seen the firefox 4 beta with the results. although great article.
    Reply
  • opmopadop
    Interesting how FireFox chose to sacrifice speed for memory.
    Reply
  • adamovera
    weirdguy99Why not put firefox 4 into the equation?micr0beyes i would have loved to have seen the firefox 4 beta with the results. although great article.When it's final, I'll test it.
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    DamdamanI'll get berated for this I'm sure but will we see an OSX article on browsers as well?You are kidding,right?
    Reply
  • arnweb
    Opera Turbo feature, is not mentioned here, it can boost speed in real surf. And also when we open a closed tab in Opera it opens them instantly, that's why Opera holds memory for closed, tab.
    Reply
  • Sihastru
    Opera still can't render pages properly, still can't print content properly, and we waste our time with senseless tests of imperceptible speed.
    Reply
  • The_King
    I dont think anyone using firefox will change to another browser even if it is Faster. I love my firefox :)
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    Wow, Chrome uses more memory than Crysis on my computer. :lol:
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    arnwebOpera Turbo feature, is not mentioned here, it can boost speed in real surf. And also when we open a closed tab in Opera it opens them instantly, that's why Opera holds memory for closed, tab.Opera Turbo increases page load times on slow connections.On my 2Mbps connection the time in which Opera Turbo connects to its servers is the time in which Google loads in Firefox.
    Reply