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Google Chrome Currently The World’s Fastest Browser

Posted on 18. Aug, 2011 by Nicholas Greene in Chrome, News

Anybody wondering how their browser stacks up in terms of real world speed? I mean, sure- we’ve got lab tests and official benchmarks, but those are isolated, controlled environments. In the real world, things can tend to be a little more chaotic- people use different models of computers, have different software and hardware…you get the idea. How fast a browser is and how fast that browser feels- that is, the experience of the audience- are two entirely different things, after all.

At least, that’s what Compuware’s benchmarks division- titled “Gomez”- reasoned. The project collected browsing data from over 1.8 billion individual measurements spanning over two hundred websites. So what’d they end up finding? What results did the test provide? What browser is the fastest of them all?

The answer isn’t particularly surprising- it’s Chrome.

On the other hand, Firefox might not be as far behind Chrome as we think.

According to the test, Chrome’s page load time is the lowest of the bunch, clocking in at 3.433 seconds. The slowest browser on the list is Safari 4(6.1419seconds), with a load speed of almost double Chrome’s. Firefox is definitely the second place browser on the list, with Firefox 5 clocking it just under four seconds. So…pretty close to Chrome 12 in speed, in other words.

In terms of perceived page loadspeed (basically, how long it takes for the page to become visible after being loaded), Chrome scored at 2.374 seconds, and Firefox….2.18.

Wait, what? I thought Chrome was faster than Firefox?

Actually, I’d argue that it still is. You’ll notice something appears to be missing from this study- specifically, the number thirteen.

See, here’s the thing. This test examined Chrome 12- that is, the Chrome that came before the myriad improvements brought by 13, as well as the new Instant pages feature. I’d imagine if they were to do this test again, the results would be rather telling. Having a page load in a split second definitely makes a browser feel a hell of a lot faster, that much is certain.

Another thing I found rather curious about this study is that they failed to include Opera in their tests. Then again, it sort of makes sense- compared to Chrome, Firefox, IE, and even Safari, Opera’s shares in the browser market are..well, rather negligible. Still, it’d be nice to see how it stacks up to the titans of the industry- particularly since there are a few rather hardcore adherents of the browser claiming it’s actually faster than Chrome. I’m not so sure about that, but still- it’d be interesting to see what sort of punch Opera’s really packing.Anyway, for those of you interested in finding out more, Compuware said they’d release a bit more information later in the month.via TechCrunch

Related posts:

1. Google Releases Page Speed Plugin For Chrome
2. Chrome is Fastest Browser for WebGL… According to Facebook
3. Could Opera be a Challenger that Could Approach Chrome?

Tags: Google Chrome News