Firefox 4 improves JavaScript rendering performance by 27%
Safety and functionality rather than lightening fast performance are my primary goals in selecting a browser. While high speed Internet minimizes these differences, good internal performance is certainly desirable. This article provides an interesting discussion on browser performance:
Firefox 4 improves JavaScript rendering performance by 27%
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179048/Firefox_4_picks_up_speed?source=CTWNLE_nlt_pm_2010-07-09
QUOTE: Firefox 4's first beta is 27% faster than Mozilla Corp.'s more stable browser, Firefox 3.6.6, but it still lags behind some of its rivals, including Chrome, Opera and Safari, benchmark tests show. Computerworld ran the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark suite in Windows Vista Business three times for each browser, then averaged the scores.
Browser Java Script rendering speed test rankings
1. Safari 5
2. Opera 10.6
3. Chrome 5
4. Firefox 4 b1
5. Firefox 3.6.6
6. Internet Explorer 8
Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft Corp.'s newest production browser, was also tested, but it remained the slowest by far. For all intents and purposes, IE8 isn't even in the JavaScript race.
Firefox may not be the fastest browser, but it's still the second-most-popular browser on the planet. In June, Firefox accounted for 23.8% of all browsers used to reach sites monitored by Web analytics firm Net Applications. Internet Explorer gained ground at a record pace, which is highly unusual, to end the month at 60.3%. Chrome, Safari and Opera held usage shares of 7.2%, 4.9% and 2.3%, respectively.