Web Browser Grand Prix 3: IE9 Enters The Race

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With highly-anticipated Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 now available, along with recently released Google Chrome 10, superb Opera 11, newly updated Apple Safari 5.04, and rock-steady Mozilla Firefox 3.6, this is going to be quite an interesting race.

Performance Benchmarks: Startup Times

We started timing each browser when the launch command was initiated and stopped timing when the page/s were fully loaded. We used Google.com as the test page for the single-tab startup test.

Single Tab

Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 9 takes the speed crown for single-tab startup times, being the only browser to consistently come in under the one-second mark. IE9 is followed by Opera, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, all between the one- and two-second mark.

Eight Tabs

While we would have liked to raise the number of startup tabs to 10 or 20, unfortunately, Internet Explorer 9 still imposes the eight-tab limit from previous versions. The eight tabs in this test contain the home pages of Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo!, Amazon, Twitter, MSN, and Wikipedia.

IE9 once again pulls off an upset, claiming first place. Less than 20 tenths of a second behind IE9 is Opera, followed by Firefox and Safari. Google Chrome brings up the rear, finishing the eight-tab load in just under six seconds.

244 Comments Comment from the forums
  • pirateboy
    I wonder how much microsoft paid tomshardware not to include Firefox 4 RC1
    Reply
  • cruiseoveride
    Now everyone is going to switch from Chrome to IE?
    Reply
  • bison88
    Nice comparison Adam. I think people don't give MS credit for IE9 because of their history with web standards and lack of competition with updating their browser since they destroyed Netscape so many years ago. Hopefully they have their head in the game and continue with a somewhat constant update cycle. Currently the transition from IE8 to IE9 was somewhat FireFox'ish with speed instead of waiting for another revision of the OS. The browser definitely surprised me, some quirks here and there that are definitely noticeable and the Chrome/FF influence is obviously present. I wish them luck as the competition heats up.
    Reply
  • andy5174
    Will there be a " Web Browser Grand Prix 4: Firefox 4 Enters The Race " after Firefox 4's release (22 Mar)?
    Reply
  • illuminatuz
    i felt the speed once i switched from firefox to chrome and now chrome to IE..
    but there is no mention of any addon/extentions for IE..
    i mean there is no comparision on who's got nice addons and startup time "with" addons.. since users tend to use web browsers with addons knowingly or un-knowingly..
    it would be better if you include those two comparisions as well.. and who takes advantage of GPU and all..
    Reply
  • winner4455
    Won't take that long for IE to lag behind.
    Reply
  • illuminatuz
    winner4455Won't take that long for IE to lag behind.lol
    maybe not!!
    and FFS why doesnt that "submit my comment" button not working in IE!! I am using chrome for that ;(
    Reply
  • turboflame
    I like how this article was released one day before Firefox 4 is released.
    Reply
  • dimamu15
    duck it, i stick to firefox.
    Reply
  • Scanlia
    Is there a wrong picture on the efficiency page? The 40tabs graph comes up as GUIMark 2?
    Reply