Web Browser Grand Prix 4: Firefox 4 Goes Final

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LuckyDucky7

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Adblock Plus, Adblock Plus, Adblock Plus.

That pretty much sums it up. No amount of optimization will help you when it comes to loading web pages if you have a large amount of adframes and such to slow you down.

So have your super-fast IE9: I bet the ads will appreciate loading quick too.
 
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@ericburnby

you must enjoy all those ads, in real world the difference in speed is negligible, but i sure has hell appreciate a rock stable browser, which is not what IE is, now saying that i have to say IE9 is definitely light years ahead of it's predecessor

have used all 3 browser and found FF to be the most stable by far
 
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@ StableBrowser,

You must enjoy being an ignorant Fx fanboy. IE9 comes with adblocking features without needing any extensions.
 

nd22

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IE9 is indeed fast, but my question relates to Safari, a browser created specifically for Mac, not for Windows. On Mac Safari is incredible fast, why Tom’s did not tested Safari on the platform which it was designed for?
 
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@luckyducky7

"Adblock Plus, Adblock Plus, Adblock Plus.

That pretty much sums it up. No amount of optimization will help you when it comes to loading web pages if you have a large amount of adframes and such to slow you down.

So have your super-fast IE9: I bet the ads will appreciate loading quick too."

Not if you use tracking protection.
 

adamovera

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[citation][nom]nd22[/nom]IE9 is indeed fast, but my question relates to Safari, a browser created specifically for Mac, not for Windows. On Mac Safari is incredible fast, why Tom’s did not tested Safari on the platform which it was designed for?[/citation]
It is my hope that we'll be able to do that. Hopefully for the next major Safari release. If that's at the same time as Lion, then we might have to use the latest updated Snow Leopard for time reasons.
 
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I loaded up IE today because the Chase website gives me problems with Chrome, and I was surprised by how fast IE9 is now. Loading pages seemingly as fast or faster then chrome. I even thought of switching it to my primary browser, but the lack of Ad-block support killed it. It is a necessary feature and every browser should have it or something like it these days.
 

andy5174

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The latest Chrome is indeed pretty fast, but I just can't live without Tab Mix Plus which is only available to Firefox. Someone please write a similar add-on for Chrome!!!
 

lancelot123

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Are Firefox fanboys and others really too stupid to realize that IE9 (as well as other versions) have adblocking "addons" you can get? Too bad ie7pro will never work with IE9, I loved that addon.
 

epileptic

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@stm1185 IE9 does support ad blocking. It's called tracking protection. You can write a tracking protection list that will block the ads you usually see or get a more thorough one from the web. Either way, that feature is there. I personally just converted my Opera list and rolled with it.

@adamovera There's a mistake in your last chart. IE9 should be weak in HTML5 conformance and you're listing it as a winner.
 
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There's something terribly wrong in your test results regarding chrome.
My 10.0.648.151 do much better, especially since I forced native OpenGL ES support rather than ANGLE.
Psychedelic - 1709rpm (hd4670@cat11.2 &A64 X2 4400+ 2.3@2.8GHz)
Aquarium - 58-60fps
particles 58fps
HWACCEL - 60+
html5 vector 40+
html5 bitmap 50+
Please try to use
--enable-webgl --ignore-gpu-blacklist --use-gl=desktop flags (and make sure you have canvas accel enabled by page about:flags too). Retake some of those test with that and see yourselves what it changes.
 

Tamz_msc

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I've been a Firefox user since version 2, and Firefox is undoubtedly the best version yet.I use Firefox 4 because its fast, highly customizable, responsive, supports the latest web standards and technologies, has thousands of extensions and on my computer it(along with Opera) is the most stable browser, and as you yourself have stated:

With that said, Firefox hasn't been a speed demon in a very long time. It's the rock-solid browser. During the 40-tab memory testing, we get see how reliably pages load. Firefox is the only Web browser that consistently loads every single element on every single page all at once, correctly. Each of the other browsers require at least one reload to fix a broken ad or or some other element. Also notice how few times Mozilla's browser is listed in the weak column. With version 4, Firefox is still the rock-solid browser. Which is what it needs to be with that kind of market share - the name of the game is stability over speed when you've got that many users.

Here are my reasons why I don't use the other browsers:

1. Chrome - Its true that its very fast, but speed isn't the only thing.It crashes on my computer when you have multiple pages open containing flash.It has the second best addon gallery(the Web store is also very nice), but many of its addons are poor copies of Firefox addons, and it has limited options for customizing.

2. IE 9 - Its also very fast, but it also has crashed on me a few times and there are virtually no addons at present.

3. Opera - Its a very good browser, but I find it a bit awkward to use.Its slowly catching up in terms of number of addons, but it cannot render some pages correctly.On my computer, it has problems with Tom's Hardware:

https://ptjp4w.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pW7J0mRZlCb8T4BHygV4LS_TP-8Kjmljz2XOdMfJ-2tAI2uAQ3kcsFE_uHTv0UHcr1GJrBmuiuUSijne3vvdMF4Uv72_TbbdX/Capture.PNG?psid=1

4. Safari - As a Windows user, I really don't care.
 
Why are all you guys hating on FF? Like Tamz, I've used FF for a long time, w/o any addons and it works beautifully. I though FF4 was a huge improvement over 3, though 3 was pretty solid. I have yet to use IE9, but I was never a fan of the IE browsers to be honest. I always felt... Like it lacked something. But FF4 has kept me on the FF train and I think I'll stay with it until otherwise.
 

yyk71200

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For the most part, speed differences are negligible. FF is a very well rounded browser. It is responsive and has lots of extensions: ad block, no script, this: http://www.downloadhelper.net/ , etc.
 

rainwilds

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Exactly! There is just no comparison to the lovely FireFox addons. This test may test 'millisecond' speeds but misses the all important functionality features.
 

rainwilds

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Firefox is the best. It's not all about speeds (um, milliseconds); it is about functionality. The the FireFox addons are just so vast and impressive I could never go back to IE: AdBlock Plus, FireGestures, SkipScreen, Web Developer, Ant Video Downloader, Tab Mix Plus!
 

ta152h

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Firefox is still a poor man's Opera. IE is still a poor man's Firefox.

They all copy from Opera, anyway. Most innovations start there, and the lesser browsers pick them up later.

But, let's be real. When you're measuring milliseconds, it's not that important. Who notices? The look and feel, and personal preference will always matter more than that.

After trying to like Firefox for a week, I finally gave up. It's not bad, but Opera is just easier, and fits better. Some will prefer FF4 too. It's really personal preference.

Where Opera falls on its face is memory, as indicated. Even after you close Opera, it seems to take longer to give up all the memory. Where this would help is reloading prior pages, probably, since they probably hold onto this data to speed that up. But, it's probably more bad than good.

I haven't used IE9, but IE8 was so bad, I don't know how anyone could enjoy using that awkward, horrendous browser. It's just painful to use, in the true Microsoft tradition.

The summary about how it's unavoidable that IE9 is the fastest is pure stupidity. It's beaten in a lot of tests, and how one decides to interpret that data, based on their own criteria of usage and importance could easily come up with a different conclusion. For example, I don't think it's too far fetched to say that something differing by less than 1/2 a second is irrelevant since it won't impact the human experience.

The whole concept that all rankings are equal is wrong on two accounts; it ignores magnitude, and it assumes each test is equally important. Both are obviously fallacious.

If TH wants to crown IE fastest on this crude basis, that's fine, because there's a basis, and everyone will have a different one. But, to say this conclusion is inescapable is ignorant and uninformed, and ignores even the slightest bit of statistical understanding.
 
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LOL FF Fanboys. They are always making excuses when their browser isn't number one. Then when a proof shows up they go "O YA? THEY NO HAV NO AD BLOCK N SUM 1337 ADDON!!11!11! ONLY FF HAZ". Don't be a dumbass. Modern browsers have the same features now, you're just too much of a fanboy to notice.
 

Tamz_msc

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LOL FF Fanboys. They are always making excuses when their browser isn't number one. Then when a proof shows up they go "O YA? THEY NO HAV NO AD BLOCK N SUM 1337 ADDON!!11!11! ONLY FF HAZ". Don't be a dumbass. Modern browsers have the same features now, you're just too much of a fanboy to notice.
And you're a fanboy of? :pfff:
 
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