PCWorld.com has an article Browser Showdown where they compare how the new IE8 matches up to FireFox 3 in speed opening up some of the most common websites such as amazon.com, myspace.com and yahoo.com.
It seems that in most cases IE8 beats the current FireFox but the difference is only by a second in most cases which unless you are some kind of paranoid time keeper, you probably wouldn't even notice it at all. But, as much as I wanna believe any website is unbias in their experiments or test, I would like the opportunity to try this out myself. Some who wrote comments mentioned they would have liked to see other browsers tested as well such as Opera, Chrome and Safari.
I would love the opportunity to run my own test as close as possible to their paramiters but I don't have a decent enough extra computer lying around that I can reload Windows multiple times trying to rule out any issues that could throw off the entire test making it invalid.
Maybe someone here can do a Joeuser.com Browser Showdown for us except this time we include several browsers to give everyone more details options as to what browser they would like to try, continue to use or change all together. Here is a list of browsers I think should be included in this test if anyone would volunteer to carry it out here (I'm thinking that IslandDog may have the guts to do it):
Internet Explorer 8
Internet Explorer 7 (latest version)
Firefox 3 (latest version)
FireFox 3.1 (beta version or non-beta if out by the time the test is done)
Google's Chrome (which I have read will be in beta for ever)
Opera (latest version and/or maybe a beta thats out there)
Safari (latest version) Is there a PC version of Safari? Never bothered to check this. Shame on me.
Also, while not very popular, maybe we can add these to the test, just for curiosity sake:
Avant (latest version)
AOL Explorer (latest version)
So, does anyone have a really good spare PC lying around that they are willing to do this test? Anyone up for the challenge? Sounds like fun, maybe time consuming, but fun. Wish I could do it.
Keep in mind the article from PCWorld.com does not compare these browsers other features such as security or tabs so I don't think it's necessary to compare these as well but its up to he/she who does the test to do so.
I'm certainly not bored enough to try that.
I just upgraded to IE8 a few minutes ago. I'm satisfied with it.
~Zoo
All the browsers are getting new javascript engines in their newest releases, so they're all getting faster--which is great for all of us. However, tt doesn't really matter on 99% of websites which of them is going to be fractionally faster than any other. Features, security, and compatibility with existing page rendering is what end users actually notice and care about, imho.
Speed is one thing...but safety is something else. Check this out....
The Pwn2Own trifecta: Safari, IE 8, and Firefox exploited on day 1
When it was reported on 3/19/09, only Google had not been cracked. (Opera is not in the contest.)
I love the line...
So much for "protection that no other browser can match," eh Mr. Ballmer?
You might want to add Maxthon to that list. Loads WC very quickly. Maxthon2 uses the Trident Layout engine like ie8, but isn't an ie8 "skin".
Faster is not always better, oh wiat a minute, that has nothing to do with browsers!
Excalpius makes some very valid pints.
I am really having a problem with Wincustomize being sooooo slow, with IE8 and FoxFire 3.0.7. Doesn't seem to matter which one , sometimes I get so frustrated that I just move on. No other site runs this slow? Is it because of all the graphics, or users on the site? But to answer the first question. FF 3.0.7 is faster. But I do like the new IE8.
Speed is as important to me as are security and other features, but I do understand what most are saying here and I agree. Still, it would be interesting to see this test done by someone from here as oppose to someone who's got enough money to build any computer and test these browsers and be as biased as their boses tell them to be.
You know, I meant to add it and forgot. I knew I had missed one.
No biggy, just thought you might want to include it. Certainly not meant to be a criticism.
You can test the speed of your browser with a benchmak site called Futuremar Peacekeeper http://service.futuremark.com/peacekeeper/index.action
Testing takes about 5 minutes and gives comparable results with test made on similar computers. They say the faster browsers are Safari, Chrome and Opera.
Is it just me, or is there any current browser that is 'too slow'? Been a long time since my browser was a 'rate-limiting step' in anything I do.
To be honest, there is no browser fast enough for me. I can never seem to get a website open fast enough, even when it seems to open within a second or 2 of me clicking a link or entering the address.
Google Chrome and Firefox 3.0.7 are the fastest and most secure. I can't compare the two for speeds but at security Google Chrome is much better.
Hey, my browser is my best friend. Always there for me, likes to visit the same websites I do, always has my sites ready to access, blocks pop-ups for me, we watch movies together, are interested in the same news and he even remembers my last set of websites for me when ever he crashes. When I'm not around, he gets sad and hides behind the screensaver, when I'm playing my games he will sit there patiently till I finish.
My browser is my best buddy and that is why he's a who and not a what.
You really haven't been looking at the speed trials then if you're thinking FF and Chrome are the fastest.
Security...that IMHO is something that is defined by the component between the chair and the keyboard.
Anywho, things look less secure the more of it is in the market. Knock IE down to 2% of the market and I'm sure people will begin to say FF is far less secure than IE. If a browser has a really low useage, why even bother trying to find exploits to it? That has been my stance on Apple vs M$....what's the market share?
I like Chrome myself due to it not freezing if some part of the site fails to load correctly (as IE does at least twice a day). However, I usually use IE since all my frequented sites are currently handy in the pulldown URL
ID Ten-T error
While that is true to an extent, I don't think internet security is down to browser and user/operator alone. A part of it, in my own experience, is down to the OS as well.
Since switching to Vista x64 as my primary OS, I have noticed considerably fewer (if any) 'threats' detected when running Spybot, Windows Defender and Avast. My last 3 or 4 dozen scans have come up clean. In fact, I do not recall picking up a nasty on Vista x64, using either FF or IE.
The same can not be said of XP or Vista 32 bit, however. I dual boot with those on a second rig and Spybot scans often pick up tracking cookies and other parasites. Oh, and going to porn sites isn't the only way to get them... just clicking on/researching the results of a music search can result in various nasties inhabiting your machine.
There's the reason. Smaller base = smaller target.
Possibly, but isn't Vista x64 more picky about installing unsigned drivers, apps, etc?
No, there are just less 64-bit drivers, apps, etc.
Now of course a 64-bit OS can run 32-bit apps just fine, but drivers/etc would need to be 64-bit, I'd assume.
If there's a difference between Vista 64's security in that regard and Vista 32's, I haven't seen anything on it, so if it exists it's very marginal.
Been using IE8 for a few days now and its fast. Quicker than Firefox.
I have seen trojans in the wild that failed to infect Vista64 but that infected Vista32. The trojan just flat out failed to even execute, lol.
I suppose the reason I made the distinction is that I assume bugs and nasties are written for Vista as a whole, not for specific editions, and that when I experience fewer/no detected threats in 64 bit it is because the security is improved on that of 32 bit.
Whether or not that asumption is correct, I don't know, but my surfing habits are pretty much the same in any OS, and I've found that using either FF or IE in Vista x64 results in a clean bill of health 99.999999% of the time when performing security scans. I don't care how or why it is, I'm just glad to be nasty free.
As for the speed thing, I don't need to be anywhere yesterday, so I don't really care if one browser is a tenth of a second faster than another, Correct rendering and a reliable connection are more important to me.
same here,always had a problem with this site and no other site.opens very slow and pages take ages to load.sometimes i just move on.
That's what I meant; I was highlighting the difference between a 64-bit OS and a 32-bit OS. But I doubt any additional security enhancements were coded specifically for 64-bit.
Does it make more sense stated that way?
Then why are you using IE?
Or, at least, were?
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