Web Browser Grand Prix 4: Firefox 4 Goes Final
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?
Benchmark Results: Final Placing
Performance Placing
| Header Cell - Column 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Firefox | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 4 |
| Internet Explorer | 10 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Opera | 6 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 3 |
| Safari | 2 | 8 | Row 4 - Cell 3 | 8 | 7 |
When judging by pure speed, Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 is still the champ, taking in ten first-place finishes. This is despite being excluded from the WebGL tests, where second-place finisher Chrome 10 and third-place finisher Firefox 4 were guaranteed two extra first- or second-place spots each. Opera 11.01 drops to fourth and Safari 5.04, the oldest browser here, ranks last.
Efficiency Placing
| Header Cell - Column 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 2 | 1 | Row 0 - Cell 3 | Row 0 - Cell 4 | 1 |
| Firefox | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Row 1 - Cell 5 |
| Internet Explorer | 1 | 1 | Row 2 - Cell 3 | 2 | Row 2 - Cell 5 |
| Opera | Row 3 - Cell 1 | Row 3 - Cell 2 | 2 | Row 3 - Cell 4 | 2 |
| Safari | Row 4 - Cell 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Chrome finishes first in our efficiency results; Firefox comes in a close second. Internet Explorer is third, followed by Safari and then Opera.
Conformance Placing
| Header Cell - Column 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 2 | 1 | 1 | Row 0 - Cell 4 | Row 0 - Cell 5 |
| Firefox | 1 | 2 | Row 1 - Cell 3 | Row 1 - Cell 4 | 1 |
| Internet Explorer | 2 | Row 2 - Cell 2 | 1 | Row 2 - Cell 4 | 1 |
| Opera | 2 | 1 | 1 | Row 3 - Cell 4 | Row 3 - Cell 5 |
| Safari | 2 | Row 4 - Cell 2 | Row 4 - Cell 3 | 2 | Row 4 - Cell 5 |
Rivals Google Chrome and Opera tie for first place in standards conformance. Another set of rivals tie for second place: Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Safari 5, the oldest browser in the WBGP, places third.
Total Placing
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 12 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 7 |
| Firefox | 5 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| Internet Explorer | 13 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Opera | 8 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 5 |
| Safari | 4 | 9 | 1 | 11 | 8 |
When you combine the placing from all three types of benchmarks, we get a mirror of the performance benchmark lineup. Internet Explorer 9 is still in the number-one spot. Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Safari also remain in their respective second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth place ranking.
Current page: Benchmark Results: Final Placing
Prev Page Conformance Benchmarks: JavaScript, CSS3, And HTML5 Next Page Conclusion-
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.Reply
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. -
@ericburnbyReply
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 -
@ StableBrowser,Reply
You must enjoy being an ignorant Fx fanboy. IE9 comes with adblocking features without needing any extensions. -
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 -
@luckyducky7Reply
"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. -
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 -
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