Google Chrome 10 Vs. Firefox 4 Vs. Internet Explorer 9: See Which Is Fastest

The browser wars are heating up again with Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla each with their own, updated browser on offer.

So how do Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome 10, and Firefox 4 stack up against each other?

CNET's Seth Rosenblatt has run each through a series of tests to assess boot time, memory usage, and performance of both JavaScript and HTML5. (During these tests, all browser extensions and add-ons were disabled.)

Booting speed was measured by clicking the browser's icon and timing how long each took to fully load six websites--talkingpointsmemo.com, aol.com, youtube.com, nytimes.com, giantbomb.com and cnettv.cnet.com. Firefox took home the gold, opening in 17.8 seconds. IE9 was second with 21.86 seconds, and Chrome was third with a boot time of 26.22 seconds.

Rosenblatt then loaded the same six websites and examined each browser's memory usage. Again, Firefox 4 was the champ, utilizing the least amount of memory (148,020 kb) during the test. IE9 followed with 205,616 kb used. Chrome required the most memory (390,532 kb) to complete this task.

"Though the competition is extremely close in some cases--especially JavaScript rendering--Firefox 4 is strongly favored by HTML5 processing, boot time, and memory usage," Rosenblatt concluded. "Overall, I'd judge from these results that Firefox 4 is the winner this time around."

In terms of safety, Chrome and Firefox seem to be the browsers of choice. The two were both unchallenged at this year's PWN2OWN hacking competition, according to ComputerWorld. All three aim to protect the user's identity through secure browsing and anti-tracking options.

Internet Explorer has traditionally been ranked the most popular browser. Last week, downloads of the Firefox 4 Release Candidate outstripped downloads for the IE9 RC. Mozilla reported that Firefox 4 was downloaded over 5 million times within its first 24 hours, while Microsoft reported only 2.35 million downloads within the same time frame. Although download figures don't always represent usage figures, Firefox 4 may pose a serious threat to IE9.

See what all the hype is about by checking the new features available in Firefox 4, and compare those to the new features in IE9. To learn more about Chrome 10, read PCWorld's feature breakdown.

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Comments

[imperator prime]

04:09 PM on 04/02/2011

I switched to Firefox a little while back because I got sick of how Chrome opens a new process in Task Manager for *every* new tab you open, and I'm a tabber... I'll open a dozen or more tabs on HuffPo before I pack up my laptop to take it to work, where I can't get online, and read the stories offline there. Meanwhile I'll have another window of tabs opened for my social networking sites and e-mail accounts, and so on. When the memory being used by my browsers becomes so glutted that my computer slows down and my broswer becomes unresponsive (as it inevitably does, because even just sitting there their memory consumption is constantly creeping upwards), I go in and kill the process. One Firefox process is a lot less of a hassle than 20 or 30 or 40 Chrome processes.

What I do like Chrome for is backing up my bookmarks. After far too many harddrive crashes where I lost my library of bookmarks, anything I bookmark in Firefox now, I bookmark in Chrome- which I keep synchronized with their 'cloud' (or whatever it's called). This last time my HD died, I just reinstalled Chrome, re-sync'ed my bookmarks to pull them into the computer, exported them to an HTML file, then imported that to Firefox.

[Nikya Kuan]

01:19 AM on 04/22/2011

I haven't tried it yet, but I hear that X Marks is a great add on for backing up your bookmarks: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/xmarks-sync/

[BASILE KOUTSIS]

11:08 AM on 04/02/2011

Why have I gotten 5 viruses off 2 computers using Google Chrome in the last 8 weeks and none with Internet Explorer in over 3 years of surfing? And this is all without any virus protection. The 5 attacks immediately stemmed from 5 different search links in Google Chrome. What makes this more a matter of concern is the limited use I make of Google Chrome which accounts for only 25% of my total internet usage again compared to IE. In that respect, I am not encouraged to make Google Chrome my web browser of choice. What could this problem relate to? Is there an adjustment that I need to make in Google Chrome to bring it up to par with IE, all things being equal? I have never needed a virus protection because I am able to avoid websites that are virus prone. However, it looks like Google Chrome might just be another of those virus prone "websites" (browser) that I have carefully avoided over the years. I have absolutely no intention of debasing Google Chrome. I am simply hoping to be convinced it is better than IE since I do appreciate the quicker uploads in Google Chrome. Thanks.

[Eagleman]

02:56 PM on 03/30/2011

Thumbs up Firefox
Thumbs down IE
Jury still out on Chrome

[Sharon Hunt]

08:47 AM on 03/30/2011

I've been using Firefox for years. I downloaded the latest version and had nothing but trouble with it. I decided to give Chrome a try and I love it so far. Its very fast...

[John Thom]

10:57 AM on 04/09/2011

Same here. Loads of problems. "Back" button did not work, settings would not save correctly, etc. Had to remove the program and ALL the settings, bookmarks, etc. and reinstall. Seems to work OK now, but we'll see. Very disappointed in Mozilla for this release.

[Abdi S]

01:33 AM on 03/30/2011

I like Firefox 4 but it crashed at least 10 times for me.

[spearsspears]

08:36 PM on 03/29/2011

I thought people only used IE to download Firefox or Chrome. Guess I was wrong.

[diddles707]

02:17 PM on 03/30/2011

that is only if you are using windows people using mac's use safari people who use ubuntu(my OS) already have firefox set as there defual browser

[rottnkid]

08:25 PM on 03/29/2011

I'm conflicted..I like Firefox for the skins and the faster "boot up" BUT I like the layout of Chrome and once it has "booted up" it runs faster than Firefox. I'll admit, I use them both. Now Internet Explorer? H.el.l NO! I don't care what new version comes out, it's a horrible browser. Every time you look around there's a "security update". It loads slow..too many problems to list. And yeah I uninstalled IE and if I need to use an IE browser for certain sites, I use the extension made for Chrome that emulates IE. Theres no need to use IE again. Period.

[Sharon Hunt]

08:48 AM on 03/30/2011

agreed!!!!

[gvscmr]

07:50 PM on 03/29/2011

Hahahahaha... Just when I thought I saw everything on Huff Po you have to see this thread by which this individual is digging their way to China with every response... Here is their original comment and it's clear that they would be considered a beginner just by this initial comment...

"Firefox would be OK but.. I have to tweak it to ask me to save my closed tabs as I shut down. And I don't even know how to save my closed tabs for the next time! Chrome for the win. Simple, beautiful, and easy to use"

So most "Anyone" knows to save your tab set as your home page and this individual clearly states they have no idea how to accomplish this fundamental task. someone else responded and told them how easy it would be and I did as well and it just takes off from there. Here is the rest of the thread from my initial response...

http://goo.gl/0pIeD

You just cannot make this type of comedy up! Enjoy!

[Ukie3]

05:22 PM on 03/29/2011

Opera, better than all 3... Use it on all of the computers, my phone, and loving it!

[gvscmr]

07:54 PM on 03/29/2011

Well if Opera is better than all 3 then why is it the least installed browser in the world at less than 3%? Just asking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

[etiennemacchias]

12:04 PM on 03/30/2011

Popularity does not mean quality.

[lardheppus]

11:59 AM on 05/11/2011

Trillions of flies eat feces. That doesn't mean I want to emulate their culinary choices.

[LucMee]

04:13 PM on 03/29/2011

Been using SeaMonkey for over two years and couldn't be happier. Essentially a vastly improved version of Netscape that has Mail, Chat, Address book and HTML composer all built into one. Fast... and uses most all of the Firefox add ons. I find it faster than Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera and it's not a RAM or processor hog. The feature I like most is no search bar... Just type in your query into the address bar and it goes right to your search engine of choice.... In my case Google. Mozilla open source too.

[Sharon Hunt]

08:50 AM on 03/30/2011

I'm an old Grandmother who is so into this new stuff. I am using Chrome after having problems with the new version of Firefox. I would like to see what this Seamonkey is all about, so I will give it a try!.

[grodelreal]

01:56 PM on 03/29/2011

I use Chrome and in my experience it is faster than Firefox and Safari.

[Azterix]

01:43 PM on 03/29/2011

It's best to use portable apps browsers (FF has always been my choice). No need to install your browser directly to your computer's disk. After installation, one may copy & paste the preferred browser from/to a USB flash-drive to any computer's local disk.

http://portableapps.com/apps

[sabelmouse]

12:21 PM on 03/29/2011

i love firefox. i've just lost mine and seem to be unable to reinstall. EVERYTHING has been going wrong since i installed kaspersky.

[Azterix]

01:51 PM on 03/29/2011

Get the portable version. You may use it from a USB drive, or COPY the folder from the USB drive then paste it to the Desktop.

[Azterix]

01:54 PM on 03/29/2011

Oh! Here's the link for the portable FF4....

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

[sabelmouse]

06:21 AM on 03/30/2011

thanks

[techy73]

10:09 AM on 03/29/2011

So far it's been Internet Explorer, and IE9 appears to be interesting, Also like Firefox browser, and not used chrome as of yet. One would think chrome is phone friendly...

http://www.cordlessphone-reviews.com

[G E H]

08:58 AM on 03/29/2011

I mainly use Chrome, but sometimes FF. For example, I use Chrome for facebook, and FF for HuffPost, because if I use the same browser for both, HuffPost always steals my facebook login, even when I try to decouple the two sites. (You oughta fix that, HuffPost.)

The other day I installed FF4, and either it, or one of the add-ons I use in it, immediately started preventing Ajax scripting from working in Chrome. I uninstalled and reinstalled FF4 several times, and demonstrated to my satisfaction that the interference came directly from FF4. This is a pretty outrageous breach of security from a top-level browser. Even if the issue stemmed from an add-on, I still blame FF, because the exact same version of the same add-on does not exhibit this behavior in FF3.6. So I have removed FF4.

I also didn't like the monkeying around with toolbars and buttons. It seems pointless and not very helpful. They are still lightyears behind Chrome in the treatment of tabs. For example, moving the New Tab button to the main toolbar and away from the tab bar moves it away from where it belongs.

Losing the status bar was a major backward step in my opinion. It is one thing to ship a product with a default set for what THEY think you should want (i.e. no status bar), but to remove the feature altogether for no good reason is mystifying.