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Web Browser Grand Prix 9: Chrome 17, Firefox 10, And Ubuntu

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Last month, we ran WBGP VIII on a MacBook Air, representing browser performance in a native Mac environment. Today we're returning to the PC. But the cross-platform comparison theme continues with a long-overdue rematch to WBGP 2: The Linux Circuit.

Benchmark Analysis: Windows 7 And Ubuntu 11.10

The analysis tables contain categories for each type of benchmark. For example, Mozilla Dromaeo DOM is represented by the DOM category, while Peacekeeper, Kraken, and SunSpider are represented together under the JavaScript category.

Each category has four columns: winner, strong, acceptable, and weak. Winner is obviously the browser that achieves the highest scores in that  category. The strong column is for those browsers exhibiting superior performance, but no victory. Acceptable is for browsers that perform neither spectacularly nor poorly, but merely adequately. For tests that measure frame rates, a score near the 30 FPS range gets that browser filed into the acceptable column. The weak column is for browsers that perform poorly or substantially lower than competing products.

In the event of a tie in the analysis tables, we go back to the individual benchmarks and look at the raw difference in scores.

The Windows 7-based standings for Chrome 17, Firefox 10, Internet Explorer 9, Opera 11.61, and Safari 5.1.2 are found in the table below.

Windows 7 Analysis Table

WinnerStrongAcceptableWeak
Performance Benchmarks
Startup Time, LightSafariChrome, Firefox, OperaInternet Explorer
Startup Time, HeavyOperaChromeFirefoxInternet Explorer, Safari
Page Load Time, UncachedSafariChrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera
Page Load Time, CachedSafariChromeFirefox, Internet Explorer, Opera
JavaScriptChromeFirefoxOperaInternet Explorer, Safari
DOMOperaFirefoxInternet Explorer
CSSChromeSafariOpera, Internet ExplorerFirefox
FlashInternet ExplorerOpera, SafariChrome, Firefox
JavaFirefoxChrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari
SilverlightChromeOperaFirefox, Internet Explorer, Safari
HTML5FirefoxInternet ExplorerChromeOpera, Safari
HTML5 Hardware AccelerationFirefoxInternet ExplorerChrome, Opera, Safari
WebGLChromeFirefoxInternet Explorer, Opera, Safari
Efficiency Benchmarks
Memory Usage, LightInternet ExplorerChrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari
Memory Usage, HeavySafariFirefoxOpera, ChromeInternet Explorer
Memory ManagementInternet ExplorerChrome, FirefoxOpera, Safari
Reliability Benchmarks
Proper Page LoadsOperaFirefox, SafariChromeInternet Explorer
Conformance Benchmarks
HTML5ChromeFirefoxOperaInternet Explorer, Safari
JavaScriptOperaFirefox, ChromeInternet ExplorerSafari

Now, let's take a look at how Chrome 17, Firefox 10, and Opera 11.61 perform in Ubuntu 11.10.

Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) Analysis Table

WinnerStrongAcceptableWeak
Performance Benchmarks
Startup Time, LightFirefoxChrome, Opera
Startup Time, HeavyOperaChrome, Firefox
Page Load Time, UncachedChromeOperaFirefox
Page Load Time, CachedChromeOperaFirefox
JavaScriptChromeFirefoxOpera
DOMOperaChrome, Firefox
CSSChromeOperaFirefox
FlashFirefoxChrome, Opera
JavaFirefoxChrome, Opera
SilverlightChrome, Firefox, Opera
HTML5ChromeOperaFirefox
HTML5 Hardware AccelerationChromeFirefox, Opera
WebGLFirefoxChrome, Opera
Efficiency Benchmarks
Memory Usage, LightChromeFirefox, Opera
Memory Usage, HeavyFirefoxOperaChrome
Memory ManagementChromeFirefoxOpera
Reliability Benchmarks
Proper Page LoadsOperaChromeFirefox
Conformance Benchmarks
HTML5ChromeFirefoxOpera
JavaScriptOperaFirefox, Chrome
87 Comments Comment from the forums
  • mayankleoboy1 21 February 2012 11:42
    just wondering if use of a DX11 capable GPU will change scores in some HTML5 and other benchmarks as the browsers use DX11 assisted rendering.

    Also, AMD driver support in linux is poor compared to Nvidia.
    For future Linux articles, can you use a Dx11 based Nvidia GPU?
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1 21 February 2012 11:45
    IMO, Firefox is concentrating more on HTML5, ignoring CSS and JavaScript.
    It does well in HTML5 benches but 99% of the websites use primarily CSS and JS and HTML3, in which Firefox does poorly.

    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1 21 February 2012 11:46
    Waiting for OPERA12. It keeps impressing me.
    Even without hardware acceleration, it keeps up with the competition,

    When that beast launches, it will kill FF/IE and most probably chrome too.
    Reply
  • PreferLinux 21 February 2012 12:45
    Who wants to guess that the poor Linux Flash and WebGL results were because Flash and WebGL don't use hardware acceleration with that graphics card and driver? I would be thinking so.
    Reply
  • mitch074 21 February 2012 13:10
    Firefox performance took a dive starting with version 4, where all hardware acceleration was disabled: before then, in version 3.6, XRENDER was used when available (it was 4/5th as fast as IE9 on the same PC) while it is now really slow - it's all software.

    Moreover, the only driver enabled for hardware acceleration on Linux is the Nvidia driver: according to Mozilla (and verified by yours truly on AMD and Intel hardware), most display drivers in Linux suck when it comes to 2D rendering - ouch. Note that Mozilla and Google could add shims to circumvent those bugs, but they don't -not worth the effort, especially when driver makers could fix their bugs rather easily, leaving the browsers broken yet again.
    Reply
  • indian-art 21 February 2012 13:23
    I use Chrome (19.0.1041.0 dev presently) the most on Linux (Ubuntu) and empirically I felt Chrome works very well. Now your tests confirm it.

    I find Opera 12 really nice too. It can run with Opera 11.61. Opera 12 has a silver icon & 11.61 has its classic red. I like Firefox & Epiphany too.

    Its a shame Safari and IE are not truly cross-platform.
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1 21 February 2012 13:36
    how many of those top 40 sites use HTML5?

    i think that the HTML5 scores should be weighed by a factor of the percent of top40 sites that use HTML5.
    This way actual importance of HTML5 can be judged in real world.
    Reply
  • nd22 21 February 2012 13:38
    It's a shame Apple does not pay enough attention to the Windows market and optimize their browser! On Mac Safari is king of the hill - personal opinion of course!
    On Windows I feel that IE9 works really well for me, although Chrome is the speed demon! FF 4+ lost their appeal for me.
    Reply
  • forestie 21 February 2012 14:55
    The OSes that are used are 64 bits but the browsers are mostly (all?) 32bits on Windows, and probably 64bits on Linux.

    Internet Explorer has 64bits builds on Win7, and Firefox has "almost" a 64bits browser on Windows too: Waterfox, which is a semi-official Firefox for 64bits Windows. Waterfox in particular claims huge improvements over base 32bits install, I would like to see how that translates into real-world.

    Not sure about availability of 64bits editions of other browsers on Windows.

    Here are my wishes:
    -clearly mention if the 32bits or 64bits version of the browser is used
    -where applicable and relevant, test with both 32bits and 64bits variants. I would like to see IE and FF split into 32 and 64 variants on Win for example.

    I personally migrated from FF to WF on my machines 3 weeks ago and find it noticeably faster in everyday use. WF is now my main browser.
    Reply
  • doive1231 21 February 2012 15:27
    As long as phones keep using Android, Chrome will be the most popular browser for a long while. Google have got it all sorted.
    Reply