Which browser is best? It maybe most of us here are Google Chrome users, because it was undoubtedly the fastest browser of the bunch. Microsoft, Google and Mozilla have been rewriting JavaScript engines, improving their support for web standards and improving their user interfaces. The latest versions of the big three desktop browsers provide speedy page rendering, support for the latest web standards, hardware acceleration, and unique features such as pinnable sites or cloud printing.
With so many features, the choice of which browser to use can be overwhelming. Fortunately, i’ve installed all three contenders to see which one deserves to be our default browser.
Installation & Updates
IE9 is still the most difficult of the three browsers to install, requiring massive download and full system restart to get it running. This is likely due to its reported use of hardware acceleration and other features. Chrome and Firefox both install relatively quickly and without a full machine reboot. If you’re a Windows, Mac, or Linux user, Chrome and Firefox are your best browser ever made. IE9 does not currently support any operating systems except Windows 7 and Vista.
Appearance
All three browser keep on-screen “chrome” lookalike to be as minimum appearance as possible. Chrome is stripped back to the point of near invisibility, and Firefox 4 is the damn prettiest Firefox ever. After years of brick and block ugliness the new UI is a vast improvement, and this refined version is starting to grow on us.
Speed
Most of the browsers are compatible with Web standards, but how do they rank in speed? A casual user probably won’t notice a difference in the Web page rendering speed of Chrome 10, IE9, and Firefox 4. So, keep in mind that I timed the application open times for all three browsers on our DELL Inspiron and its 5,400 rpm hard drive.
Tests were conducted for both cold opens (first time opened after boot up) and warm opens (application in memory). The average results were as follows:
| Browser | website Open (sec) | Youtube Open (sec) |
| Chrome 10 | 4 | 5 |
| IE 9 | 7 | 4 |
| Firefox 4 | 5 | 4 |
As you can see, Firefox and Chrome are generally neck and neck in everyday performance, and IE9 lags narrowly behind. All three browsers are HTML5 friendly, but they support different video formats: Chrome and Firefox are playing WebM here while IE9 gets H.264.
Features
Firefox has the edge here, its pinnable App Tabs tuck away opened tabs such as email and web apps, while Tab Groups make it easy to organise large collections of open pages. Firefox 4 also boasts some excellent synchronisation features. It doesn’t just sync your bookmarks across devices; it takes your history and even your currently open tabs. If you’re constantly moving from machine to machine you’ll love this feature.
Chrome has synchronisation too, but it doesn’t extend to open tabs. However, There’s also a Chrome-style new tab page and Chrome-style searching in the address bar. IE9 doesn’t have syncing at all, but it does enable you to pin sites to the Windows 7 taskbar as if they were applications and drag a tab out to Snap it for viewing side by side with another.
Conclusion
Chrome still probably offers the fastest and leanest overall browsing experience, but IE9 and Firefox 4 have narrowed its lead significantly, each offering new features that many users will find helpful and time-saving.
On paper Chrome and IE beats Mozilla’s browser, but in practice the differences are insignificant. However, Chrome’s ability to split tabs into individual processes should make it the more stable although at the time of writing there seems to be a horrible bug in its handling of Flash.
Still, Firefox’s Tab Groups and App Tabs are brilliant. If you use a lot of tabs and need lots of extensions then Firefox is the browser for you. But if you’re spending all day in a few web apps and your need for add-ons begins and ends with ad-blocking, then Google is your friend.
jonboy60
I’m a Malaysian, my name is Jon Loh (jonboy60) living in Kuala Lumpur and working in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Jonboy60.com is a blog magazine about Linux and other open source softwares. All about to a daily jobs or real life experiences I had since the year 2002 administrating Linux and Windows server in a hosting company. Basically i will be offering Linux tips, howto, tricks, latest news and tutorial. Contact Me for Career opportunities, business offers, Linux solutions for business or home, web and email server solutions, Linux consulting and expertise requests. Email to me on jonboy60{@}gmail.com. The site I’m running is VenCouture.com – Malaysia Online Fashion Shopping Boutique, VenCouture. We sell fashion clothes, sexy lingeries, baby clothing and etc.
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