Web Browser Grand Prix 5: Opera 11.50, Firefox 5, And Chrome 12

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Three major released have landed since our last impromptu Web Browser Grand Prix (WBGP4): Chrome 12, Firefox 5, and Opera 11.50. Can Chrome or Opera regain the WBGP championship? Will Mozilla Firefox ever overtake Microsoft's IE9 in the rankings?

The Lineup

When we published the first Web Browser Grand Prix back in March of 2010 (Web Browser Grand Prix: The Top Five, Tested And Ranked), we really hit the ground running and got right to the testing. It occurred to us that we never really gave an overview of each browser; we just assumed (probably justly so) that everyone was already familiar with the top five Web browsers. We didn't foresee how popular this series was going to become and the number of more mainstream folks (non-geeks) who would tune in. So, we figured it's about time that we properly introduced the contenders. Feel free to grab the latest version of the Web browsers from our new downloads section with the links in the table below.

ChromeVendor:GoogleDebut:9/02/2008Current Version:12Layout Engine:WebKitJavaScript Engine:V8Supported Platforms:Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOSWBGP Wins:2 (WBGP1 and WBGP2: Linux)Download Chrome!

FirefoxVendor:MozillaDebut:11/09/2004Current Version:5Layout Engine:Gecko 2.0JavaScript Engine:JagerMonkeySupported Platforms:Windows, Mac, LinuxWBGP Wins:NoneDownload Firefox!

Internet ExplorerVendor:MicrosoftDebut:8/16/1995Current Version9Layout Engine:TridentJavaScript Engine:Chakra Supported Platforms:Windows (Vista and 7)WBGP Wins:2 (WBGP3 and WBGP4)Download Internet Explorer!

OperaVendor:Opera SoftwareDebut:12/09/1996Current Version:11.50Layout Engine:PrestoJavaScript Engine:CarakanSupported Platforms:Windows, Mac, LinuxWBGP Wins:1 (WBGP2)Download Opera!

SafariVendor:AppleDebut:1/07/2003Current Version:5.05Layout Engine:WebKitJavaScript Engine:NitroSupported Platforms:WIndows, MacWBGP Wins:NoneDownload Safari!