I have just finished up performance testing on Chrome, and while the results were mostly expected, I have to say I was stunned by the result’s of IE 7.
Lets start of with sunspider, a free online javascript performance benchmark. First is a comparison of Chrome and Firefox 3.
Benchmark comparing Chrome with Firefox 3
The results who a fairly significant edge for Chrome. However, there are a few areas were Firefox takes the lead. The Firefox team has announced greatly improved performance in 3.1, beating Chrome in most cases. However, 3.1 is still in alpha, so I will test it once it reaches beta stages.
Now lets put it in a bar graph, with IE7 in the mix. Lower is better.
Sunspider benchmark with Chrome, Firefox, and IE7
As we can see, IE7 loses horribly. By a factor of 10. As in, if Chrome and Firefox were sports cars, IE would be a tricycle.
Now lets look at Acid 3 standard compliance. I threw Safari on my Iphone into the mix. Keep in mind beta versions of Safari and Opera have been shown to get 100, although they are not release versions.
Acid 3 test for Chrome, Firefox, IE7, and Safari
In this test, Chrome takes the lead, although all of the browsers are relatively comparable. Aside, of course, from IE7, which again loses by a factor of nearly 10. Well done Microsoft.
So overall, Chrome is better, but not hugley better, than Firefox. And both stomp IE so badly it isn’t even funny.