Web Browser Grand Prix VIII: Chrome 16, Firefox 9, And Mac OS X

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Back in August, Mozilla took the WBGP crown with Firefox 7. Can Firefox 9 retain that title? And how are the top Web browsers doing in Mac OS X? We used a Hackintosh last time. This time, we're testing on the world's first Ultrabook, the MacBook Air.

Standards Conformance Benchmarks

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JavaScript

Ecma test262

Version 11.60 allows Opera to shoot from the bottom to the top of the pack with a near-perfect score of 11 107 in Ecma's test262. Firefox comes in a close second place by scoring 10 944, while arch-rival Internet Explorer is more than 200 points behind in third place. Chrome falls to fourth with 10 692 points, while Safari places last at 10 334 in Windows 7 and 10 335 in Mac OS X.

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HTML5

HTML5Test.com

Chrome takes the lead in Windows 7 with a score of 344 out of 450, plus 13 bonus points. Opera comes in second place with a score of 325 and nine bonus points. Firefox achieves 314 and nine bonus points. Safari demonstrates 252 and two bonus points for fourth place, while IE9 is in last place with a score of only 141 points and five bonus.

Although the placing order remains the same in Mac OS X, Google Chrome earns one point less than in Windows, and Safari gains 41 regular points and six bonus points under its native platform.

FutureMark Peacekeeper 2.0 HTML5 Capabilities

FutureMark's new version of Peacekeeper also has an HTML5 conformance measurement, known as HTML5 Capabilities. The maximum score is seven, and Google Chrome is the only browser from either platform to earn a perfect score, sealing its victory. Firefox attains a six out of seven to place second, while Opera manages a score of five, putting it in third place. IE9 comes in fourth place with a score of three.

Although Safari for Windows only gets a single point, Safari for OS X earns four.

Google Chrome once again tops the conformance composite with the only A (minus) grade out of the bunch. Firefox 9 lands a solid B grade, while Opera shoots up to a B-. Both IE9 and the Windows version of Apple Safari land an embarrassing failing grade, although Safari manages a C- on OS X.

Adam Overa
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152 Comments Comment from the forums
  • twztechman
    Been using Firefox for years - it works best for me.
    Reply
  • shiftmx112
    This makes it worth putting up with the constant updates on Aurora. :)
    Reply
  • The best part is I'm quite sure that this is using an out of the box build. Using a PGO compiled nighlty build, with about:config properly configured, and addons like Adblock/NoScript blocking things from ever loading Firefox is significantly faster than these benchmarks state.
    Reply
  • frost_fenix
    I have use firefox and chrome interchangeably for a few years now. I enjoy chromes streamlined design but have recently discovered the noscript addon for Firefox and have since favored Firefox. I have also found Firefox to be more compatable with school webpages and application pages. Still either firefox or chrome is better than IE.
    Reply
  • pharoahhalfdead
    Good point Stoof. I have IE9 and the newest FF, and with the FF add ons, it blows IE out of the water. The majority of IE pages like yahoo video links, boxingscene etc take 6 or more seconds to load, whereas FF is only a fraction of the time.

    I think add ons are much easier to find with FF, and there seems to be a wider variety. Then again I do realize this article wasn't about browsers with add ons.
    Reply
  • hardcore_gamer
    The only one thing I hate about firefox is that it takes a lot of time to launch.
    Reply
  • adamovera
    stoofThe best part is I'm quite sure that this is using an out of the box build. Using a PGO compiled nighlty build, with about:config properly configured, and addons like Adblock/NoScript blocking things from ever loading Firefox is significantly faster than these benchmarks state.Yes, we're using everything stock. There is no one-size-fits-all combination of plug-ins to standardize on, and every browser might not have the exact same plugins available. So that throws out a fair comparison between browsers - wouldn't work for the WBGP. Perhaps an article concentrating specifically on Firefox (or another Web browser) with and without various plug-ins would clear that up?
    Reply
  • Please use Firefox's latest logo, the one with the shiny orb in Mozilla's press kit! The one they're using now is the old one. http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/brand/identity/
    Reply
  • nevertell
    Chrome is the easiest to use if you've got lots of tabs open. Scrolling through them with mouse is a breeze and tab management is just excellent.
    Reply
  • soccerdocks
    frost_fenix. I enjoy chromes streamlined design but have recently discovered the noscript addon for Firefox and have since favored Firefox.
    Why do people seem to forget Chrome has this built in. All you have to do is go into the options menu and disable JavaScript.
    Reply