Web Browser Grand Prix 7: Firefox 7, Chrome 14, Opera 11.51
Table of contents
- 1. Web Browser Grand Prix 7
- 2. The Top Five Web Browsers
- 3. Test Setup And Methodology
- 4. Benchmark Results: Startup Times
- 5. Benchmark Results: Page Load Times
- 6. Benchmark Results: JavaScript, CSS, And DOM
- 7. Benchmark Results: HTML5 Performance
- 8. Tom's Hardware Exclusive: Peacekeeper 2.0
- 9. Benchmark Results: Flash Performance
- 10. Benchmark Results: Java And Silverlight
- 11. Benchmark Results: HTML5 Hardware Acceleration
- 12. Benchmark Results: WebGL Performance
- 13. Page Load Reliability
- 14. Memory Efficiency
- 15. Standards Conformance
- 16. Benchmark Analysis
- 17. The Crowning Of A Champion
Mozilla released the hotly-anticipated Firefox 7 two days ago. Does it deliver on the promise of speed and memory improvements? Does Firefox 7 have what it takes to dethrone current Web Browser Grand Prix champion, Google Chrome? Read on to find out!
Although it's only been one month since Web Browser Grand Prix VI: Firefox 6, Chrome 13, And Mac OS X Lion, the browser wars show no signs of subsiding. The last 30 days were just as feverish as those that came before. But before we get down to business, let's get all caught up on the latest in this epic saga.
Recent Events
08/30/11: Opera updates from version 11.50 to 11.51
09/16/11: Google Releases Chrome 14
09/27/11: Mozilla Releases Firefox 7
09/29/11: Futuremark releases an open beta for the next version of Peacekeeper, announced exclusively here on Tom's Hardware.
Ongoing: Microsoft Internet Explorer market share continues to plummet, while Google Chrome market share continues meteoric rise.
Recent Drama
05/04/11: Google releases "fixed" versions of Apple's SunSpider and Mozilla's Kraken JavaScript benchmarks. We missed this the first time around.
09/01/11: David Storey, emblematic Opera developer and evangelist, leaves Opera for a new gig at Motorola, which quickly gets eaten up by Opera's arch-rival Google. Doh. Good luck, Dave!
09/20/11: Yet another Mozilla developer incites fear and chaos by suggesting a five week (or shorter) Firefox release cycle.
09/21/11: This idea is quickly rejected.
09/22/11: Another camp inside Mozilla proposes Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) for enterprise use. ESR is to be five times slower than the standard Firefox releases.
9/29/11: Even more absurdity from Mozilla developers, this time floating the idea of banning Java to thwart security threats.
What's New In Web Browser Grand Prix 7?
We've added more composite scoring, brand new startup time tests, and retired the raw placing tables. Essentially, the benchmark suite receives yet another handful of additional refinements aimed at updating tests, enhancing accuracy, improving analysis, and most noticeable of all, yielding faster results. Hey, Firefox 7 was just released the day before yesterday! With 40+ benchmarks, multiple iterations per benchmark, and five Web browsers, this is nothing short of a monumental effort.
Firefox 7.0 is release that fixed my faith in FF. Unlike 5&6, it actually adds something new to the browser other than a minor security update. On top of that, it fixes everything that was wrong with 4-5-6: high memory usage (although even at its worst, FF managed to use less than Chrome anyday), slow cold boot and poor font rendering. All those are now excellent.
I'm usually torn between FF and Opera. Chrome uses lots of memory, is made by Google and a bit lacking in the features department (granted, so is FF - but at least it has add ons that fix those). Opera has the better font rendering and UI, but FF wins in raw speed and ad on choice in my experience.
opera is always consume all the memory that can be up to a maximum of 15%. thanks to its super cache so pages load faster already closed and will return to .. If an application requires memory simply lower your load.
I and occupied pc operates in memory of 256 mb and walk like a champ. instead listen to music and msn.
Great test. Opera will surely win Silver medal next time with Opera 12.
How about security tests?
CHROME 14 ANY DAY WINS ON MY COMPUTERS. FIREFOX JUST CANNOT STAND THE HEAT.
Wait, I have just received an update for Chrome 15. Anyone?
Winner of the soon to be Web browser grand prix 8?
Chrooooooooooooooooome 15 is here!!!!!!!!!!!!
No it wasn`t, couldn`t you see how firefox was so poor at memory management, especially last time in wbgp6?
Alert me if Im wrong, but CHROME 16 IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!
Web browser grand prix 9 has arrived. Thats all.