Browser Speed Tests: Chrome 19, Firefox 13, Internet Explorer 9, and Opera 11.64

Firefox 13 is out and it's all about speed, and with Chrome and Opera also introducing new versions of their browsers, we thought it time for another browser speed test. So we've once again pitted the four most popular Windows web browsers against each other in a battle of startup times, tab loading times, and more, with some shocking results.

We've been testing browsers for awhile, and we've refined our method pretty well. It's a good mix of both manually timed user experience measures and hardcore JavaScript and CSS benchmarks, plus some new tests aimed at features like Chrome's prerendering or Firefox's on demand tab loading can really do. All tests take place on Windows (which is why we didn't test Safari—it isn't very popular on Windows, and testing the Mac version wouldn't give it equal footing. We'll do a Mac-wide browser speed test the next time around).

Full story: http://lifehacker.co...-and-opera-1164

-- lifehacker 2012-06-13

I welcome your intiative to run some speed tests, but do you really think there's only microsoft and mac ?

I started using dos 6.22, windows 3.11 and all other versions of this annoying OS. All were legal versions which costed me a lot of money over the years (not to mention their office suites).

However... after I tried using several linux distro, I left the path of commercial OS. Everbody blames microsoft they want to keep the monopoly and some, in a reflex to escape it, turn to Apple which does handle similar tactics, if not worse (HW+SW).

I'm running several linux distro for about 2 years now and I feel releaved, although I encounter problems sometimes. I will never spend a cent for Microsoft-ware anymore.

I hope I'm not the only one around here who dares to hope you would run the same speed tests in some popular linux distro.

Agree about the OS. I encourage anyone with a USB pendrive to download UNETBOOTIN (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/) and try out a linux distro at no risk (i.e. without installing). Everyone has their favourite, but Ubuntu and Mint are a good start. You might be surprised how zippy your PC is without Windows.

Agree about the OS. I encourage anyone with a USB pendrive to download UNETBOOTIN (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/) and try out a linux distro at no risk (i.e. without installing). Everyone has their favourite, but Ubuntu and Mint are a good start. You might be surprised how zippy your PC is without Windows.

What about software? MS Office, Adobe CS, video editing and rendering, torrent software......these all work on Linux??

I heartily agree with those singing the praises of Linux. Why pay many thousands of baht for buggy Micro$oft software that offers no meaningful after-sales support when you can get a superb open OS that is constantly maintained and upgraded by an army of geeks worldwide, who do it all for love, not money? Then, of course, there's Open Office, which is every bit as good as the Micro$oft Office suite.

I suspect the answer is that most people are either just resistant to change or else too lazy to learn something new.

There's nowt as queer as folk.

Linux nerds are worse than Apple nerds nowadays. Any computer-related post, no matter how unrelated to OS, has to be turned into a post about Linux.

Linux nerds are worse than Apple nerds nowadays. Any computer-related post, no matter how unrelated to OS, has to be turned into a post about Linux.

100% agree. Feel free to open another topic to debate the various operation systems, but let's keep this one on topic.

Linux users do hear a different drummer. I've got all three browsers and only use Firefox. It's the one I'm most comfortable with because I know it. The speed thing is incremental. If I thought there was a difference I'd change. There isn't. Ease of use trumps incremental speed measurements.

I welcome your intiative to run some speed tests, but do you really think there's only microsoft and mac ?

I started using dos 6.22, windows 3.11 and all other versions of this annoying OS. All were legal versions which costed me a lot of money over the years (not to mention their office suites).

However... after I tried using several linux distro, I left the path of commercial OS. Everbody blames microsoft they want to keep the monopoly and some, in a reflex to escape it, turn to Apple which does handle similar tactics, if not worse (HW+SW).

I'm running several linux distro for about 2 years now and I feel releaved, although I encounter problems sometimes. I will never spend a cent for Microsoft-ware anymore.

I hope I'm not the only one around here who dares to hope you would run the same speed tests in some popular linux distro.

I use Ubuntu since 6 yrs ago and I'll never go back to Win anymore. The only thing I don't like about Linux is that can't get so many games like Win, that's all.

I've been using Chrome 99% last few years. I have IE v9, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and LunaScape6 also loaded. I use them occassionally when testing a web site. Chrome for me is much faster than any of the others. IE is a very noticeable wait. Firefox is o.k. but it always wants to check for updates, and check the status of my plugins before loading the page, and that can keep you waiting for several minutes. Opera I can't judge, I never use it, LunaScape is nice because it has the Gecko, Webkit, and Trident engines and you can switch between them easily.

I have found that the speed tests mean very little. The big story is glitches. When my browser hangs up or stalls that irritates me. Yes, I know cleaning the cache and deleting cookies usually helps but not always.

I am back using Chrome as my default browser.

Too many other factors can affect speed.

Linux nerds are worse than Apple nerds nowadays. Any computer-related post, no matter how unrelated to OS, has to be turned into a post about Linux.

OK, I apologise for steering off-topic. I'm not a fanboy, but just endorse choice. Any computer-related post should encompass all computer OS's where relevant though.

Hopefully on-topic: Chrome's sync feature and app choice in addition to it's stability, as I perceive it, makes it my browser of choice, regardless of OS. Although, some might call me a Google fanboy for saying this, but since I use Google products a lot, particularly Gmail and Docs, the offline apps in Chrome are really handy too.