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.

JavaScript Performance Benchmarks

FutureMark Peacekeeper

In Windows 7, Chrome tops the new version of Peacekeeper with a score of 3775 on the MacBook Air. Opera follows in second place by 650 points, with Safari another 1000 behind Opera in third. IE9 comes in fourth, just shy of 2000 points, with Firefox 9 trailing behind with a score just under 1700.

Chrome also claims victory in Mac OS X, though it falls 500 points lower than its Windows 7 score. Apple Safari earns a second-place finish on its native platform with a score of 2500. Opera for OS X takes third place just under 2300, while Mozilla Firefox again comes in last at just over 1600.

Mozilla Kraken v1.1

Google Kraken v1.1 Mod

Kraken v1.1 Composite

The differences between the original Mozilla version of Kraken and the Google modification are minute. We're considering dropping the Google Mod from the test suite and sticking with Mozilla's original Kraken test in future editions of the Web Browser Grand Prix. Sound off in the comments with your own opinion.

Apple SunSpider v0.9.1

IE9 still wins the original version of the SunSpider benchmark due to its "dead code elimination" optimizations. Firefox 9 places second, nearly 35 milliseconds behind IE9. Safari comes in third, followed by Chrome and Opera in a near-tie for last place.

The placing remains the same in OS X, though both Firefox and Safari perform better on Apple's OS, whereas Chrome and Opera are speedier on Microsoft's.

Google SunSpider v0.9.1 Mod

The Google Mod of SunSpider pushes Chrome from fourth place up to first in Windows 7, with Firefox closely in tow. IE9 moves from first to third, while Safari drops to fourth, and Opera retains its last-place spot.

Firefox 9 for OS X takes the lead on that platform and beats all of the Windows 7 scores. Chrome takes second place, followed by Safari in third, and Opera in fourth.

SunSpider v0.9.1 Composite

The composite SunSpider score puts Firefox in the lead for Windows, followed closely by IE9 in second place, with Chrome even closer behind in third. Safari places fourth and Opera solidly falls into last place. Firefox for OS X is again the big cross-platform winner, followed by Safari. Chrome takes third place on Apple's platform, while Opera cannot get out of last place on any version of this benchmark (and in any platform).

Adam Overa
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