Web Browser Grand Prix VI: Firefox 6, Chrome 13, Mac OS X Lion

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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

Latest Videos FromTom's Hardware
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.

92 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ne0nguy
    The first chart says "higher is better" for the load time
    Reply
  • adamovera
    ne0nguyThe first chart says "higher is better" for the load timethank you, workin' on it
    Reply
  • 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?
    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".
    Reply
  • 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
  • @soccerdocks

    Yeah? And exactly what principle would that be?
    Reply
  • andy5174
    @Google:
    Bring back the Google Dictionary, otherwise I will use Bing Search, Firefox and Facebook instead of Google Search, Chrome and G+.
    Reply
  • 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.
    Reply
  • 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