Firefox 3 (3.1) vs. Google Chrome vs. Safari 3 vs. Opera 9.5 vs. Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) vs. Internet Explorer 7 (IE7)

By | September 3, 2008


Firefox 3 (3.1) vs. Google Chrome vs. Safari 3 vs. Opera 9.5 vs. Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) vs. Internet Explorer 7 (IE7)John Resig did a great job by comparing Firefox 3, Firefox 3.1, Google Chrome, Safari 3, Opera 9.5, Internet Explorer 8 and 7 JavaScript performance.

JavaScriptCore: The engine that powers Safari/WebKit (up until Safari 3.1).
SquirrelFish: The engine used by Safari 4.0.
V8: The engine used by Google Chrome.
SpiderMonkey: The engine that powers Firefox (up to, and including, Firefox 3.0).
TraceMonkey: The engine that will power Firefox 3.1 and newer (currently in nightlies, but disabled by default).
Futhark: The engine used in Opera 9.5 and newer.
IE JScript: The engine that powers Internet Explorer.

Feel free to check his post here.


About (Author Profile)


Vygantas is a former web designer whose projects are used by companies such as AMD, NVIDIA and departed Westood Studios. Being passionate about software, Vygantas began his journalism career back in 2007 when he founded FavBrowser.com. Having said that, he is also an adrenaline junkie who enjoys good books, fitness activities and Forex trading.

Comments (145)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Maulkin says:

    Are you sure the opera’s engine is name Futhark? Sources if any?

  2. Ky says:

    I’ll wait for Firefox 3.1 and its new javascript engine. Chrome is a hog.

  3. ArAsh says:

    My rate is
    1:(opera & chrome)(opera: some perfect build-in futures like mail client, perfect download manager, web searches, speed-dial, support bittorrent protocol and….)
    (Chrome: to fast web searching, perfect JavaScript engine, so simple, low memory usage, nice view in ajax pages)
    2:FireFox3
    (good JavaScript engine, faster than IE slower than chrome)
    3:IE
    (End-low version, to hang and crash, low security)
    The Think google chrom will the best browser in the world

  4. Ky says:

    >(Chrome: to fast web searching, perfect JavaScript engine, so simple, low memory usage, nice view in ajax pages)

    Not true on my computer. It’s quite the contrary. Chrome uses even more resources than IE 7.

  5. ahmed says:

    google chrome is best

    • john says:

      oh yeah its for google users only

      use ie8 its perfect

      i am using ie8 its better than buggy chorme or any other explorers

  6. Maulkin says:

    Pretty constructive comment!

  7. r4yd3n says:

    I have done some tests on the memory consumptions between Google Chrome and Firefox. Read my article for more details.http://reviewgooglechrome.com/google-chrome-vs-firefox/google-chrome-vs-firefox-memory-test/84/

  8. Kevin says:

    firefox, safari, internet explorer and opera: they all suk

    THE BEST IS GOOGLE CHROME FAST, SECURE AND VERY GOOD LOOKING

    YEA GOOGLE CHROME

    vamos rayados!!!!!!!!!!

  9. ADMIN says:

    First of all, Google Chrome Beta (yes, it’s still in beta) which was released not long ago should not be compared with any browser because it has been released for a short while and this is there first browser and it’s just a Beta (not the completed version) unlike Firefox, and yet it still manages to challenge Firefox. Wait until Google releases 1-3 more updates/upgrades/newer versions to Google chrome and then try it again and most of you would like it (or since i’m now posting this, try the latest version of Google Chrome) but if you want add-ons/extensions that don’t slow down your browser or cause other issues like with Firefox, give Google 5 months – 1 year. Also, Google Chrome, believe it or not, is much faster, has a cleaner interface, uses less memory, crashes less than Firefox (with me) and is more secure and Google releases 10-30 nightly builds of Google Chrome everyday and also has a Developers/Testers channel which has newer versions of Google Chrome every 1-2 weeks (with a change log and new features etc) which are tested before they are publicly released.

  10. Maulkin says:

    I don’t think we should expect some final version of google Chrome in a near future, as we all know, Google Inc. always put services in a beta service, and this last for a lon long time (in a galaxy?).
    So we can compare it to other browsers.

  11. Shane says:

    Quoting: >Not true on my computer. It’s quite the contrary. Chrome uses even more resources than IE 7.
    ————————————————————-

    Your computer sux. This is my side by side comparison of ie7 vs. Chrome.
    http://i40.tinypic.com/mv2pu8.jpg

    Chrome runs 2 processes at once.. (I can only guess that is because it splits it up between my dual core processors “to speed up load times”)… It is also running less memory then ie7 by 8596 k. Even tho Chrome is currently showing it is using 21 cpu, that changes back and forth between ie7 to Chrome depending on which browser I have in the foreground.

    Chrome is steady as a rock, now that it’s finally out of beta.

    It will rule the world.

    Shane
    Verizon FiOS Tier 3 Help Desk

  12. Shane says:

    Not to mention I can totally uninstall it if it does start to slow down. Not like ie7 with Reset only. Which never works against spy-ware that are only designed to attacks IE and Firefox nowadays. V8 is open source, but it would still be un-hackable against thousands of malicious browser attacks bombarding it on an hourly basis.

  13. gregory says:

    Google Chrome is the fastest browser no doubt about it. IE7, firefox, safari and opera you all suck.

  14. Nacho says:

    Google Chrome ………………………….. a long way to go…..
    FireFox “almost” perfect and has a room for improvement(s).

  15. NaturE says:

    Google Chrome = Ferrari (Fast, Beauty and Simple)

    • power says:

      NaturE you said google chrome is Ferrari
      Guess what firefox is LAMBORGHINI Fast Beutiful and powerful

  16. iwonthurtu says:

    simply firefox

  17. Clubby says:

    I agree that the Chrome looks better and works faster than the others, but i found a lot of websites that just aren’t designed for anything else but IE. My works intranet was one, each time Chrome would ask for passwords etc, then might crash. so back to IE7 until IE8 is confirmed finished.

  18. bob says:

    safari all the way

    looks nicer than ie and chrome and faster, not as popular so theres less attacks by virueses

  19. hacker says:

    Google chrome is the lower web browser of all – FireFox 3.1 beta 2 is the best u cant compare it with now other one then comes Opera , Safari , IE7 (NOT IE8)

  20. hacker says:

    U CANT COMPARE IT WITH ANY OTHER WEB BROWSER “FIRE FOX”

  21. Shane says:

    Try Chrome as it is now and go to youtube or facebook or myspace and back here and post with it. Tell me what you really think. I think Chrome Is The Fastest Ever, Load time, page switching – “Son of a Biker Chick” browser in the universe.

  22. jeffhardy28 says:

    CHROME IS THE BEST FIRE FOX SUCKS CHROME IS IN BETA AND IS BETTER
    THEY SHOULD MAKE A NEW GOOGLE BROWSER REMEMBER FIREFOX SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    THAT IS ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  23. jim says:

    OMG WTF LOL11!!!1!1eleven!one!1!

    Jeff, you’re such the fanboy. Just as bad as Mac zealots.

  24. GOUTAM says:

    I think firefox is the best

  25. Dave says:

    Google Chrome is the best. It splits each of the tabs into its own process allowing for better crash recovery and higher overall stability. With the incognito mode you can log into multiple email accounts simultaneously. The history tab is detailed but not overbearing and it has an overall clean and minimalistic look.

    Firefox is second with amazing add-ons and easy session manager control with quick closed tab recovery

  26. dsdsdsd says:

    FIREFOX ALL THE WAY BABY

  27. Woolie bear says:

    Ive tried em all dudes.
    Google chrome on intel dual 2.0 with 4 GB ram is the Ferrari!
    IE 7 too slow, Firefox 3 unstable, safari ok but slow. Opera quite good.
    But Google chrome. The fastest by a mile, simple and stable.

  28. Mridul Kumar Sharmah says:

    I have tried all the above. My observation is as below :

    IE7 is horrible as it takes a lot of time to start the browser (not loading a site).

    Firefox is very good with good plugin features, especially to download songs from e-snipps it works very good.

    Opera is also marvellous. We must give due credit to Opera team for inventing the tabbed browsing.

    Safari is also good but looks more relevant on a Mac as the actual look and feel is not proper on Windows.

    Chrome is my choice now a days as it is very fast loading. But there are two things that has disappointed me is that :

    1. When I click the browser close button, it closes all the open tabs without any warning. There should be a warning message while closing the whole browser with several open tabs.
    2. Free Download Manager does not work with Chrome. FDM is the best download manager I have ever seen. Hence, it should be allowed to work with Chrome.

    There might be some settings which may solve my problem. If anyone can help me (including Google), I would be grateful to you.

  29. XCFan says:

    I like Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. Safari seems simplistic. My default is Chrome. IE7 is SLOW! Opera not fully supported on all websites. With Firefox “IE tabs” I can open any page that requires IE without the rest being bogged down. Chrome is more stable. One process for the browser, one for each tab. Resizable text boxes. CHROME NEEDS ADDONS! (Port Firefox? Google pays them already for being the default search)(Maybe Google Gadgets?)

  30. Loverly Chrome says:

    Chrome is Fastest than more

  31. heru says:

    CHROME is number One !!!
    yeaaaah

  32. SID says:

    hey hey

    google chrome & Safari ………both are very good

    but

    google chrome is far better then every browser !

  33. Cath says:

    I actually see a lot of Google fan boys in here. Everyone seems so caught up on the whole “It opens a separate process for each new tab!” for stability and recovery but quite frankly if that’s one of your best points, that’s weak…

    To be honest, it really does (for me at least) boil down to an excess of process threads and wated memory. On the rare occasion firefox does crash, I have ALWAYS been able to open up all tabs I had open before (including the buggy page) and continue where i was; no worries. Restore previous session, anyone?

    There is also actually quite a bit of evidence to suggest Google Chrome sends all of its usage statistics to Google, such as what sites you go to, searches, etc, etc. If you want an example, here’s a link to such an article FROM THIS SITE:

    <a href=”http://www.favbrowser.com/google-chrome-spyware-confirmed/

    Just some extra info I thought some may find more useful then “OMFG IT’S SOO FAST LOLOLOLOL GOOGLE CHROME FTW!!!!!!111!!111”

  34. XCFan says:

    Cath,
    Google Chrome is far better. I saw your post and first of all wanted to correct you about the spyware thing. If you read the comments, you may have stumbled upon this page. http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/google-chrome-communication/ Now, along with the multiple processes to prevent browser crashes, it DOES restore pages in the rare event of a browser crash. It is also far less cluttered than Firefox. The omnibox is ideal for searching as opposed to Firefox’s search box. You’ll notice that in Firefox, you start in the address box for a new tab. Then you have to click over to the search box. It is a lot easier with chrome. (I use Google (of course), Google image search, Ask, Yahoo!, Ebay, Wikipedia and many others.) Each is available at a few keystrokes. I like the extra screen real estate and the new tab page is superior. It shows your popular searches in boxes (though I rarely use them). One box (which I commonly use) is the history search. It allows you to search the full text of your viewed pages as opposed to the title and url as Firefox does. Now things are alot easier to find. The new tab page also shows your most popular pages. (Admittedly, there is a Firefox addon that can simulate this.) It also shows recent bookmarks. The streamlined download manager is easier than a separate window. Finally, I noticed as I typed this that you can change the size of a text box that you are typing in. This helps for VERY LONG posts (as this one is) Have you even tried it? Make sure you try things before bashing them. You may like it.

    XCFan

  35. Ivan says:

    Google chrome:
    Whoa! Google Chrome has crashed! Restart now?

    Whoa! Google Chrome has crashed! Restart now?

    etc…

    Maybe a little faster than firefox, but firefox is much better and stable.

  36. Rich says:

    I’ve switched to Google Chrome. Firefox to me, was basically a better IE. I used it for a short time but never really jumped on the “Firefox is the greatest” bandwagon. Chrome seemed to be “lets start from scratch and rethink this” browser. I personally like the architecture choices and think they make sense. As the web is increasingly becoming more web 2.0 & application based, I don’t want one of my shopping apps killing my stock or financial apps because of an error. This makes sense to me. So having everything in separated web instances seems like the way to go. If you want a lean and innovative browser, use Opera. But I believe Google Chrome is the future of web browsing at the moment. Things can change quickly and no-one should become a fan-boi of any product or else they might be eating crow within a few months. Just keep you eyes and mind open. We are all benefiting from the competition.

    I must say though that major props need to be given to the WebKit team. Even though Google is my favorite browser, they did not develop the web engine. Kudos to the Apple team for creating a web engine that beats both IE and Firefox in most areas. I generally hate Apple products but I can’t deny that they have the best web engine at the moment.

  37. Alex says:

    I think Safari and Google Chrome win the prize.

    • john says:

      yes u are right and ie8

      don’t listen anybody who is that opera are better ie8
      oh no mf is better than chrome

      nooooooooooooooooo
      ok noooooooooooooooooooooooo

      just use those both or ie8
      ok

  38. vansh says:

    i think that google chrome is more sleek and lighter which makes it fast i hav tried
    opera it really sucks and safari is nice.firefox is toooooo good it gives a challenge to chrome.But for me chrome is better.

  39. Don says:

    I have used them all.

    Many tout Google for speed, ease of use.

    I say Firefox is king because it does things no other browser does. Such as hold CTRL + scroll your middle mouse button to zoom in and out of webpages including pictures on the pages. In addition, undo close tab, IE-Tab plugin (for websites requiring IE), anti phising filter, spell check, find as you type (great for finding all freeware terms on a page, or Intel, or $0 etc.

    Don’t get me wrong, Google is fast, looks good, and the others like Safari & Opera do good in general. IE crashes a lot for no reason & 6 which is decently stable, has no tabs & can’t be used seriously as a default browser!

    Firefox has the best combination of speed, features, and simplicity in the browsers that exist today.

    Period!

    • cousin333 says:

      It’s funny, because all you’ve said is in Opera (or at least in Opera 10 beta).

      I think Firefox 3 is great, but I never really liked it, or its philosophy…

      “Firefox has the best combination of speed, features, and simplicity in the browsers that exist today.”

      That’s exactly the thing I feel about Opera… :)

    • XC Fan says:

      Actually, if you didn’t know, the only two that Chrome CURRENTLY lacks, is zooming pictures on a page/Flash, but it does work for text and IE Tab. I say CURRENTLY because it is constantly being improved. (NOTE Extensions API is working, it isn’t as great as Firefox’s yet, but it is moving quickly [see Adsweep.org]) But the find in text search is superior. If you use it, it highlights all the matching terms instantly, both in page and along the scroll bar to help you find where they are more quickly. It also has a good spell checker!

  40. sWed says:

    Opera – no
    Safari – no
    Internet Explorer – no
    FireFox – no
    GOOGLE CHROME – YES

  41. Vladimir says:

    Well… i’ve used Chrome (latest version) and Opera 9 and 10 BETA and Firefox on a AMDk5 450Mhz with 256MB of RAM

    It’s an old pc that my gf has, she has 2 machines in her home, her notebook, and this old pc

    And i can say that, while Chrome gets a decent performance, and Firefox also, until now, in that old pc (which has WinXP by the way), Opera 9 has been more stable and is has a better response. Opera 10 BETA also works ok, but seems to be a little slower.

    Sorry, i don’t run tests, i only report ‘user experience’

    I would say that the fight is between Opera and Chrome. And i think that the difference would be unnoticeable when Opera 10 (not beta) goes gold.

    PS: I use Opera 10 beta and Firefox 3 on my netbook.

    As for the downside for Opera 9, it has issues with gmail. But those issues are gone in Opera 10 BETA.

  42. Evans says:

    tried chrome yesterday, better than ie7 but not firefox. So far they seem at par but i have less trouble downloading with firefox

  43. john says:

    mf is good.

  44. Jassi D says:

    Chrome Sucks Google i dont even think about it ……….. Firefox rulez

  45. El Jimmer says:

    If I can’t block ads with Google Chrome, then its not worth my sweat. Firefox has a simple add-on that kills most pesky ads. I don’t bother with third party ad filters because I don’t want the hassle. Firefox blocks ads => Firefox will be the browser I continue to use.

  46. vivek says:

    yeah
    google chrome rulez
    the others are good for nothing, to say truly.
    ie8 – worsest
    opera – worser
    firefox – worse
    safari – good
    CHROME – ALWAYS THE KING

  47. the n says:

    GOOGLE CHROME ALL THE WAY!!!!

  48. Evans says:

    is it enough to say something rocks without pointing out why?

  49. Joaquin says:

    GOOGLE CHROME!! IS THE BEST, FIREFOX SUCKS

  50. Search says:

    FIREFOX!! IS THE BEST, GOOGLE CHROME SUCKS

    • ben2talk says:

      This comment also sucks

    • James says:

      I have used both. I was rather upset when Google Chrome first released and had issues. It gave all the fanboys a reason to criticize websites which didn’t layout properly within it.

      I actually like safari. It’s not bad. I have used chrome as well. It’s pretty good.

      But there are so many tools and addons which I use with Firefox that I will not be making the switch permanently. I’ve tried. Firefox wins.

      I would post those tools too. But there are too many fanboys reading this thread I think.

      • Thomas says:

        Acctually Chrome and Safari are good in there own ways but their one big drawback is that if you have a site advisor like i have McAfee site advisor the bar will not show. For web browsing (other than facebook and stuff that i know is safe) I use firefox, opera or IE (rarely) because they allow such ad-dons

      • ben2talk says:

        I’ve got two fans and an Aircon unit – does that count?

  51. Billy says:

    Hey, Google Chrome’s speed is fast but it is still beta version, it has just few application so sucks
    Firefox!

    • ben2talk says:

      You don’t use the applications in Firefox all the time – and you don’t need many of them for normal browsing. Firefox has a great add-on for Google Reader, yet Google Reader also has an application in Chrome, and works better there because of the speed in handling Ajax.

      Up to you if you prefer Firefox, but Opera and Chromium are both far better for running Reader.

    • Firefox had nearly zero plugins when it first emerged as well. Chrome is based on Webkit which gets 100% on the Acid3 test which firefox has never attained. It also loads pages faster and uses a hell of a lot less resources with flash (I’ve heard people say their firefox was using 1Gb RAM which is disgusting to say the least)

      There will be a day when we look back at firefox and say “What we’re we thinking”

  52. ben2talk says:

    I think Chromium is better than Chrome, and Firefox 3.7 and Opera 10.10 are both excellent too. I use them all. Why do people always behave like 5 year old kids and just contradict each other like idiots?

  53. PooPoo Face says:

    Chrome and Safari are =. Yet Firefox is good but not better than the 1st two I said.

    • ben2talk says:

      Chrome is open source. Safari is Apple. They cannot be considered equal, they are not even similar – one is totally closed, and the other is open.

      • betamale says:

        Chrome isn’t open, and Safari isn’t closed. Both use the Webkit engine, which is open, but use the engine a closed source browser.

  54. bumblebee says:

    Chrome is a powerful browser wit limited facilities. Chrome will take up to or more than 5 years to develop to its maximum. Or i think just till google allow add-on to power up chrome. But when we starting using add-on then speed will decrease. I like chrome’s rendering speed, but firefox is handy for me cause it got thousands of add-ons. At this moment ad-blocking isn’t possible with chrome. (but there is a little difficult way, i didn’t try it..)

    Firefox 3.xx.xx are not satisfactory. Waiting for next version. I hope Mozila will not disappoint all of us..

    Remember.. there is only 2 browser is capable for acidtest with 100% result. Chrome, and Opera. Firefox got 93% on acidtest.

    The favourite browser is Firefox. I use Chrome where firefox fails. Yes it fails to load some sites.. maybe incompatible addons.. And i watch youtube videos and pornmovies in Chrome.. Fast.. fast.. superfast Chrome….

    • Thales says:

      I really hope you are kidding. Google Chrome only gets the 100 by a fluke and doesn’t actually work. Safari(even on windows) and Opera are the ones that actually work.

    • ben2talk says:

      Firefox is not satisfactory? Which versions are you testing there?

      Generally Opera makes the best starting browser – when you need to use features of Firefox, then right click and open with Firefox 3.5, 3.6 or 3.7…

      For general speed and rendering, then I open with Chromium. It has plenty of basic features (flashblock, Adsweep, Cleeki, Google Reader Compact & Clean, GR Unread count, RSS Subscription, WOT, YouTube Video downloader)

      In fact, I’d say that Chromium – with it’s new found add-ons being possibly easier to create than Firefox – is in position for the new crown.

      I certainly see no reason to switch to MacOSX or Windows so that I can try out Safari – I prefer not to be controlled by Microsoft or Apple. You choose to hate freedom if you like :P

  55. kion says:

    google chrome and ie8 sucks like the suckineess of the everything. mozilla,opera and safari own along with netscape

  56. Avin says:

    Safari 4 is better than all as it provides fast download speed and other features. Though google chrome provides fast browsing experience but lacks essential features. Opera 10 is small using efficient resources nd offers speed to nd is useful in many ways but its performance is not upto the mark. Firefox 3 takes lot of loading time nd IE7 nd 8 just crash a lot of time while working but they offer protection prom phishing sites nd malicious scripts….

    thus a browser should be used according to need…

    for speed = google chrome
    for speed + features = safari 4
    for security = IE7 nd 8
    for video download nd stability = firefox 3+
    for slower connections + fast experience = opera 10.10

    • somebody says:

      Actually, Opera 10.10 is not out yet. It’s still in Beta. You are probably talking about Opera 10.01 :) .
      And is IE7 and IE8 more secure than the other browsers? If phishing protection is the only criteria for security, im sure other browsers like Firefox and Opera have the feature too.

      • ben2talk says:

        Opera Version 10.10 Beta Build 4672 Platform: Linux System: i686, 2.6.31-14-generic-pae Qt library: 3.3.8b Java: Java Runtime Environment installed.

        What do you mean ‘it’s not out yet, it’s still in Beta’ ? The Beta is out, and I found it to be better than 10.01, and did not yet come across any bugs.

        IE7 and IE8 don’t come into consideration – they are evil, freedom hating browsers. Opera isn’t open source, but at least it’s designed to expand web user experience, rather than bring it under Microsoft or Apple control.

        • somebody says:

          I meant the final is not out yet. I agree though that the Beta is quite stable and can replace 10.01 for daily browsing.

        • avin says:

          I think u haven’t tried the latest version of apple safari 4.0.3, though it takes a lot of physical memory but it is compromisable with the speed, stabilty , smoothness it offers during surfing.

          And u might have used firefox on linux platforms, i agree firefox 3.5, .6 nd .7 might be very fast on linux but on windows platform latest version available is 3.5.4 and its browsing experience is not at all at par wit safari’s latest verion.

          if there is question of Opera i can just say for windows “it is mighty but powerful”

          • ben2talk says:

            Safari is only released for Windows and OSX – so I’m not interested.

          • ben2talk says:

            Safari won’t do drag’n drop files with Google Chrome will it? Firefox will. Chrome, funny story, won’t.

            Firefox is number one for power. And there’s nothing stopping you running a better OS if you want to be able to have Firefox 3.7 in your software list. In Windows you have to get everything by downloading from internet – that sucks.

    • Chromehere says:

      Actually, Opera 10 has fast (the fastest) real-world performance. Don’t trust those artificial JS benchmarks please.

  57. Zaixionito says:

    Okay, look. If your just going to flame other browsers, Shut The Hell Up.

    Now, does anyone know the differences between Chromium and Chrome?

    • ben2talk says:

      Yes. Chromium is a browser – Google take it’s source code and brand it and modify it a little, to release as Chrome.

      Generally Chromium is slightly ahead of Chrome. Rendering is occasionally slightly different… but the differences are just very slight. Chromium is slightly faster (currently 4.0.252.0 ) than Chrome (currently 4.0.249.4 )

  58. XC Fan says:

    The difference is that Chromium is cutting edge (expect bugs) each Channel of Chrome is more stable. There are 3 channels, Stable (Most Stable), Beta (Semi Stable), and Dev (Least Stable, next to Chromium). Chromium is also the open source part that people can download code to alter for their own purposes. You can find out how to change your channel by going to this site: http://dev.chromium.org/getting-involved/dev-channel/using-the-channel-changer

    The channels are (Currently) Windows only, but you can download the app there for Mac or Linux.

  59. Under Linux, fullscreen flash does not cane the hell out of my CPU, using 20% less cpu than firefox, it also uses a hell of a lot less while just running doing non-flash stuff so for me this is attractive, its also pretty fast and couple it with dnsmasq and you will be flying (I want a squid server but we can dream). All in all chromium for me is lightning fast but is young so will eventually get even better. Opera is also nice and I used it for a long while until Chromium arrived and I made the switch.
    I’venever used Safari at all so can’t comment. If you want a good firefox like alternative to firefox try swiftfox or Kazehakase which are skimmed down versions so they are a bit slicker.
    I’ve not used IE8 but 7 isnt too bad but I’m sat on 6 on my work laptop as every time I upgrade, the pages I need access to dont work for some reason (but work on my GFs vista laptop) very weird. But it works so I don’t care.
    In conclusion:
    Chromium is for me, Use what you want, they all suck, they all suck equally, just in different areas. There is no best.

    • ben2talk says:

      lolz yes. Though it must be said that anything that runs exclusively on Windows tends to suck the most, because it removes your ability to freely choose your platform, or security model.

  60. tsathieshkumar says:

    I am using GOOGLE CHROME but i FEEL OPERA 10.10 WILL BE FASTER THAN
    CHROME.OPERA 10.10 IS HAVING TURBO OPTION IN WHICH WE CAN INCREASE INTERNET SPEED

    • ben2talk says:

      Wrong – but Opera 10.5 will be so fast that the difference won’t be at all noticeable (actually faster in some tests than Chrome, but not so fast in other areas)

      Overall, Opera 10.5 will feel blisteringly fast and as a standard install it’s a much better browser.

      Firefox is only preferable because of certain add-ons. When not using them, I use Opera.

  61. Phil says:

    Hey what do you know if i need firefox apps or not i use them all to the to get shit off the web.

    Google crome seems nice and smooth even though its still a beta but i don’t like the way the google software agent always wants to connect to the web.

    • ben2talk says:

      The Google Software agent? I use Chrome, but i don’t have any ‘Google Software Agent’. You must have installed it yourself – why don’t you uninstall it? Isn’t this your own computer?

  62. Michael274478 says:

    I personally like safari and chrome best. I like chrome for it’s speed and safari for it’s speed+visual effects (apple’s good at that) I think we can all agree that Internet explorer has to be the worst browser ever made. ;)

    • Its actually not bad. People jumped to firefox due to the poor security in IE and didnt look back. IE is actually not bad at all and runs much smoother and uses less extra resources than firefox et al as most of the browser is already loaded as it uses most of the stuff that makes up windows. Yes it doesnt have all the apps and plugins the opther browsers have but its pretty slick.

      Chromium all the way!!!!

  63. Chicagoan says:

    Overall Rating; ((MY)) top 5 picks

    1. Opera
    2. Google Chrome
    3. Firefox
    4. Internet Explorer (7&8)
    5. Safari

    • ben2talk says:

      Wow, how can you put IE anywhere but last place? Safari is ten times faster, and Apple is much less evil than Microsoft.

  64. gridlock says:

    Does it really matter? as long as is not IE then it’s suitable to run.. all this fuss over a stupid browser.. people will use what they like to use.

    • ben2talk says:

      ‘Does it really matter?’

      Well, with all things being equal – I would choose freedom over the Proprietory browser, wouldn’t you?

      But all things being unequal – I vote heartily for freedom. For the right to use my computer without paying lots of money. It may not matter to you, Sir, but it certainly puts in a heavy bias in my thinking.

  65. Ricky says:

    FACKING FIYAHFOX FTW google chrome good but firefoxis better

  66. Ricky says:

    firefox pwns all :D

  67. Steve Jobs says:

    1. Safari
    2. Firefox
    3. Google Chrome
    4. Internet Explorer
    5. Opera

  68. Devon says:

    I think opera is the best browser. Most pages only take 1-3 seconds to load

  69. bfadaaf says:

    Safari is the best browser of them all.

    Even though it was originally designed for MAC i go Safari :D

    Unlike Google which store all personal data about you and is like a Big Brother stalking your every moment.

    Unlike Slowpoke IE8 which takes one year untill it have loaded up a page. Plus hackers favorite target.

    Unlike Firefox which only plus everyone seems to bring up is the Add on extensions blah blah blah.

    No, i say go Safari. Or perhaps Opera if you want to.

  70. Holly says:

    I’ve used IE, Chrome, and Opera intensely. I used IE because it came with my computer (Yeah… nice job Microsoft). I hated it. I’ve used it for the longest amount of time, and it’s definitely my least favorite. I think it’s a lot slower than all the others, crashes too often, and has little design appeal (to me).

    When I finally decided that it’s time for a change, I switched over to Opera. Loved the speed, but it had some problems loading pages, and occasionally crashed, but overall, a nice browser. It is a little deprived of personalization, but makes up for it with intense speed.

    I got a little tired of the crashing though, and on my seemingly never-ending quest for the perfect web browser, I stumbled upon this lovely little browser called Google Chrome. Personally, I love Google, so this was a really nice option for me. I loved how the function of the address bar also became a search bar with suggestions, and the ability to search within the website. On terms of speed, it was definitely faster than IE, but behind Opera.

    And so ended my search for the best browser.

    Until…
    Came along this lovely little device by Apple, the iPod touch. Love it. I also loved the browser on it, Safari. I googled “Apple Safari” on my beloved Google Chrome, and, of course, downloaded it. I like the design; it’s smooth and sleek, speed is very acceptable, and has little trouble loading pages and rarely crashes, and I absolutely adore Apple, but there’s something about it that is just lacking that “Je ne sais qua” about it.

    And, as I was trying all of these different browsers, I figured, “What the heck? Let’s try Firefox!” I was almost hoping it would be horrible, so I could return to my safe little niche in Chrome, but, of course, I am wowed. Faster than IE (obviously) and maybe Safari, but slower than Chrome and Opera. Haven’t yet experienced any crashes, but still trying it, and loads pages well.

    So, of the five, I prefer Google Chrome. But for those of you who are wondering about the others, here is the complete list:

    1. Google Chrome: Very Fast, little to no crashes, simple and clear-cut design, loads pages pretty well
    2. Firefox: Fast enough, little to no crashes (so far), very customizable design but clutter-y (I hate toolbars), loads pages well
    3. Safari: Fast, little to no crashes (again, so far), sleek and smooth design, loads pages well
    4. Opera: Fastest, occasional crashes, design is simple (if not a bit lacking), loads pages well enough
    5. Internet Explorer: Not that fast, some crashes, design is a tad clutter-some (Again, I hate toolbars), loads pages well but slowly

    • XC Fan says:

      Nice summary Holly! I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Opera really did feel limited to me, and most others just feel cluttered (As in, I hide the Bookmarks bar in Chrome). I like Chrome’s minimalistic feel!

  71. That'sMe says:

    Well, each is good and bad.
    Here are my personal rankings:

    Safari: My favorite… Much screen space, simple (but kind of boring) layout, quick loading, little crashes, some errors, very good safety (against viruses and tracking cookies), easy to personalize (change options), OK organization (tabs, windows, etc.).

    Chrome: Much screen space, colorful (but new and kind of ugly) layout, quick loading, some crashes, little errors, good safety, easy to personalize, OK organization.

    Firefox: OK screen space, many layouts to choose from, ok loading, some crashes, little errors, poor safety, VERY easy to personalize, OK organization.

    Opera: OK screen space, colorful (but pretty ugly) layout, OK loading, some crashes, some errors, OK safety, difficult to personalize, OK organization.

    IExplorer: so-so screen space, classic (OK) layout, slow loading, some crashes, some errors, good safety, OK to personalize, VERY good organization (colorful tabs, takes you from one to another, etc.)

    PLEASE keep in mind those are my PERSONAL opinions, and I don’t want to be laughed at my face for, what some people call, “bad opinions”… :)

  72. Ben says:

    Rofl – won’t laugh in your face for not pressing F11 when using Opera? Or knowing that Opera 10.51 is the current browser and has a very similar layout (and hence very attractive and similar look to Chrome, which can be skinned to look very attractive…)

    Try ‘ChromePlus’ and make a new comment when you have a better idea. Try also using your chosen browsers on different operating systems before you rate them (otherwise it’s just a ‘Windows Browsers’ comment, and bears no relation to the real world which is spawning many different platforms – Windows being a tiny minority, and a shrinking majority on personal computers too).

    • That'sMe says:

      Chrome Plus is so way better then Google Chrome, with all the new options and a way nicer layout. However, I will still stick to Safari. I just got used to it :)

    • That'sMe says:

      Also, I don’t like Chrome because of the ridiculous YouTube layout, which I cannot get ued to. Sorry…

  73. GoogleChrome! says:

    Chrome loads in a split second, speed is fast, and Safari doesn’t even sound like a web browser. More like a museum. Although Firefox is quick, I found it just the same as IE8. Google Chrome by far, is the Best.

    – Typed on Google Chrome

    • That'sMe says:

      Why IN THE WORLD would anyone care that you typed your comment on Chrome. It’ll appear the same on every website -.-

  74. ben2talk says:

    It’s insane and stupid to complain about youtube’s layout in Chrome, it has the same layout for me in Chrome, Firefox, Opera and IE….

    Firefox works best with youtube because it has the cool ‘downloadhelper’ one click to download – however, Chrome has flashblocker – so just for watching video it’s actually faster and smoother than Firefox.

    Try to keep the comments based remotely on reality folks – this is pathetic.

  75. pc says:

    chrome sucks…

    Firefox & opera best!!!

  76. stiffy says:

    all suck i think netscape is the best for me !!

  77. pneumatyka says:

    You know nothing. Lynx is the best choice those days. Fast, Stable & Secure.

  78. stve says:

    “XC Fan says: April 13, 2010 at 8:33 pm
    Nice summary Holly! I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Opera really did feel limited to me, and most others just feel cluttered (As in, I hide the Bookmarks bar in Chrome). I like Chrome’s minimalistic feel! ”
    Wow I’ve read some of the comments about Opera & must assume that you never gave Opera much of a test.
    “Opera really did feel limited to me”
    Opera by default no extensions needed has
    Mouse gestures , Side Panels, Private Tabs or Windows, Spell Checker, Opera Link(synchronize) ,Turbo mode for slow connections, Opera Unite, Notes ( I love the copy to note feature if you select some text & right click for the context menu. Plus double click on a note & it opens the page it was copied from.), Speed dial ,Search from Address bar, right click on a page & open with another browser,Closed tab button (to recover accidentally closed pages), Session Manager, Developer Tools Dragonfly,Widgets, Mail client,feeds, bit torrent,Content blocking,Edit site preferences ,Fraud Protection, Password Manager,Custom searches.  And it’s all packed into a download thats under     10 MB
    If you are new to Opera press F1 for the help menu & learn about its features,
    it has a great full screen mode F11 & press F2 to Enter a Web address or search, F4 toggles the Panels,Ctrl B toggles the bookmarks panel,Ctrl Tab or Ctrl Shift Tab cycles between your tabs, F4 & select the Windows panel is another great way of selecting between open tabs ,Alt opens the menu with keyboard shortcuts underlined you can turn on a individual Tool bar by  pressing Alt e t s  in sequence to turn on the status bar in full screen mode.
    ” feel cluttered (As in, I hide the Bookmarks bar in Chrome). I like Chrome’s minimalistic feel! ”
    Try pressing Shift F12 for the Appearance panel/skin &  select find more skins they appear in the panel & select the one you like. In Panels select what you want to show i recommend selecting Show panel toggle at edge of window. In Toolbars  select what you want & where to place them & the style (images or text or both). The buttons section of the Appearance panel has loads of buttons to add to your toolbars & you can right click any button/customize & select remove from toolbar.
    Its very easy to make Opera look more minimalistic than Chrome.
     
     
     
     
     
     

    • XC Fan says:

      @stve: You make a lot of good points. I used Opera exclusively for a month a while back. And while they can be nice, the side panels felt a little bit intrusive to the user experience, so I don’t use them. Don’t get me wrong, I love Opera Turbo, but don’t find myself frequently in a situation that I need to use it. I like Chrome’s “Most Visited” page because it’s dynamic in the way it updates based on page views. Opera Unite is a *GREAT* feature, but isn’t that useful to me as I don’t have my browser (or computer) running all the time. One extension I really like is “Google Mail Checker Plus” which uses Chrome’s desktop notification (HTML5) API to give me quick updates when I get a message. There is also a great extension called http://www.extension.fm which is _Chrome Only_ and indexes any .mp3/.ogg files you come across on the web, creating a library to listen to your music as you go. For RSS feeds I use Google Reader, as it is accessible from anywhere (although, Opera may sync with it, I don’t remember). I don’t use session manager that much, as Chrome will let you restore whole windows that you recently closed. That doesn’t stop me from keeping an extension (usually) disabled, but enabling it as necessary. Chrome is in the process of perfecting synchronization of Extensions, bookmarks, Autofill Data, Themes and settings. Additionally, Chrome has a VERY large library of extensions already if/when I want them (although, it doesn’t have the permissions to do a GOOD User Agent switcher [that must be done from the shortcut target line] or to block individual elements [Flash, Ads, etc.] from being downloaded). I must say that tab pinning is one of my favorite Chrome features, as it keeps all of my main sites accessible all the time. One place where Chrome lacks is in the fact that they have not determined a good way to handle tab overflow. They don’t think scrolling tabs are an elegant way to handle it (I agree) and most likely are having some internal planning in how they wish to handle it. Opera Mini would probably be high on my list of smartphone browsers, especially with Turbo. As a side note, I bounce between Windows XP and Ubuntu Lucid Lynx on a regular basis. Thanks for the great conversation @stve!

  79. kc says:

    Whoa.. Such a heated debate over browsers lol.
    I started by using I.E. and went to MFF and went to safari haha and currently using both safari and mff. Planning to try out chrome to see whats w/ the fuss haha.
    http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/06/safari-5-tested-chrome-opera-still-have-javascript-edge.ars whoaz who knows? Its just yr own personal preference since all are constantly improving ^^

  80. akhil nairgoogle chgr says:

    google chrome rocks..!!
    it is the best..
    ratings-
    chrome-5 stars
    firefox-4 stars
    opera-3 stars
    safari-2 stars
    flock-1star..!!

  81. Charly says:

    Safari: It is an Apple internet used programme. I don’t think it is very quick and it isn’t good for downloads.
    Firefox: It is good and quick and I have used it for a long time on my mac.
    Google Chrome: Very good, quick, simple and got it downloaded when I only wanted Google Earth. I recommend this one.
    Internet Explorer 8: I haven’t had a good past with Internet Explorer and refuse if possible. We use it at work and it’s dreadful.

    I am an Apple Mac user so I recommend Google Chrome is definitely the best internet browser.

  82. ggsgsg says:

    opera is the best!!!

  83. =gravatar= says:

    Opera 10.63 works good and fast in you tube if you on the opera turbo

  84. Chrome simply feels much lighter, and seems to be less of a memory hog than FF. I vote for it at http://coolometer.org/chrome-vs-firefox