Web Browser Grand Prix VI: Firefox 6, Chrome 13, Mac OS X Lion
Features
By Adam Overa
published Chrome 13, Firefox 6, Safari 5.1, and Mac OS X Lion (10.7) have all emerged since our last Web Browser Grand Prix. Today, we test the latest browsers on both major platforms. How do the Mac-based browsers stack up against their Windows 7 counterparts?
Analysis Tables
Windows 7 Analysis Table
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Header Cell - Column 0 | Winner | Strong | Acceptable | Weak |
---|---|---|---|---|
Performance Benchmarks | ||||
Startup Time | Opera | Chrome, Internet Explorer | Firefox | Safari |
Page Load Time | Chrome | Internet Explorer, Safari | Firefox, Opera | Row 2 - Cell 4 |
JavaScript | Chrome | Firefox | Internet Explorer, Opera | Safari |
DOM | Opera | Firefox | Safari | Chrome, Internet Explorer |
CSS | Chrome | Opera, Safari | Internet Explorer | Firefox |
Flash | Internet Explorer | Opera, Safari | Chrome, Firefox | Row 6 - Cell 4 |
Java | Firefox | Row 7 - Cell 2 | Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari | Row 7 - Cell 4 |
Silverlight | Opera | Chrome, Firefox | Internet Explorer | Safari |
HTML5 | Internet Explorer | Firefox | Chrome, Opera, Safari | Row 9 - Cell 4 |
HTML5 Hardware Acceleration | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Row 10 - Cell 3 | Chrome, Opera, Safari |
WebGL | Chrome | Firefox | Row 11 - Cell 3 | Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari |
Efficiency Benchmarks | ||||
Memory Usage: Light | Internet Explorer | Chrome, Safari | Firefox, Opera | Row 13 - Cell 4 |
Memory Usage: Heavy | Safari | Row 14 - Cell 2 | Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera | Chrome |
Memory Management | Chrome | Internet Explorer | Firefox, Safari | Opera |
Reliability Benchmarks | ||||
Proper Page Loads | Opera | Safari | Firefox | Chrome, Internet Explorer |
Conformance Benchmarks | ||||
HTML5 | Chrome | Firefox | Opera, Safari | Internet Explorer |
CSS3 | All 5 | Row 20 - Cell 2 | Row 20 - Cell 3 | Row 20 - Cell 4 |
JavaScript | Firefox | Internet Explorer, Chrome | Safari | Opera |
DOM | Chrome, Opera, Safari | Firefox, Internet Explorer | Row 22 - Cell 3 | Row 22 - Cell 4 |
And for OS X...
Mac OS X Lion Analysis Table
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Header Cell - Column 0 | Winner | Strong | Acceptable | Weak |
---|---|---|---|---|
Performance Benchmarks | ||||
Startup Time | Opera | Row 1 - Cell 2 | Chrome, Firefox, Safari | Row 1 - Cell 4 |
Page Load Time | Chrome | Safari | Firefox, Opera | Row 2 - Cell 4 |
JavaScript | Chrome | Firefox | Safari | Opera |
DOM | Firefox | Safari | Chrome, Opera | Row 4 - Cell 4 |
CSS | Chrome | Safari | Opera | Firefox |
Flash | Opera | Chrome, Firefox, Safari | Row 6 - Cell 3 | Row 6 - Cell 4 |
Java | Opera | Row 7 - Cell 2 | Chrome, Firefox, Safari | Row 7 - Cell 4 |
Silverlight | Firefox | Safari | Safari | Chrome, Opera |
HTML5 | Safari | Row 9 - Cell 2 | Chrome, Firefox, Opera | Row 9 - Cell 4 |
HTML Hardware Acceleration | Safari | Row 10 - Cell 2 | Row 10 - Cell 3 | Chrome, Firefox, Opera |
WebGL | Firefox | Chrome | Row 11 - Cell 3 | Opera, Safari |
Efficiency Benchmarks | ||||
Memory Usage: Light | Opera | Row 13 - Cell 2 | Chrome, Safari | Firefox |
Memory Usage: Heavy | Safari | Opera | Row 14 - Cell 3 | Chrome, Firefox |
Memory Management | Chrome | Row 15 - Cell 2 | Opera, Safari | Firefox |
Reliability Benchmarks | ||||
Proper Page Loads | Opera | Row 17 - Cell 2 | Firefox | Chrome, Safari |
Conformance Benchmarks | ||||
HTML5 | Chrome | Firefox, Safari | Opera | Row 19 - Cell 4 |
CSS3 | All 4 | Row 20 - Cell 2 | Row 20 - Cell 3 | Row 20 - Cell 4 |
JavaScript | Firefox | Chrome | Safari | Opera |
DOM | Chrome, Opera, Safari | Firefox | Row 22 - Cell 3 | Row 22 - Cell 4 |
Let's crown the champion of Web Browser Grand Prix 6.
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92 Comments
Comment from the forums
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adamovera ne0nguyThe first chart says "higher is better" for the load timethank you, workin' on itReply -
SteelCity1981 Chrome is the best browser out there right now. While FireFox maybe more popular then Chrome is, Chrome has shown why it is the best browser out today. If you haven't used Chrome yet it's def worth a look.Reply -
soccerdocks The reader function in safari actually looks really nice. Although I'd never use Safari on principle. I hope other browsers implement a similar function.Reply -
mayankleoboy1 why does firefox(6/8/9) performa so horribly on the IE9 maze solover test?Reply
chrome13 completely obliterats it.
and firefox 8/9 are still a memory hog.
not really surprised by poor show of ie9. moat updates it gets are "security updates". -
tofu2go Being on a Macbook with only 3GB of memory, memory is the most important factor for me. I open a LOT of tabs and I keep them open for long periods. For awhile I used Chrome, but recently switched to Firefox 6 and saw my memory utilization drop by well over 1GB. Granted with Firefox I was able to do something I am not able to do in any other browser, I could group my tabs into tab groups. I believe this allows for more efficient memory management, i.e. only the current group uses much memory. Not having done any tests, this is pure speculation. All I know is that I'm seeing MUCH lower memory usage with Firefox on OSX. Despite what this article would suggest.Reply -
andy5174 @Google:Reply
Bring back the Google Dictionary, otherwise I will use Bing Search, Firefox and Facebook instead of Google Search, Chrome and G+. -
kartu Firefox 6 comes in third for both OSes, representing a major drop from Firefox 5.
According to the graphic on "Reliability Benchmarks: Proper Page Loads" on MacOS Firefox is actually second, not third. -
LaloFG I keep Opera, more memory used and time to load pages is nothing when it load pages correctly; and the feeling in its interface is the greater.Reply