Firefox 3.0 as fast as Safari 3.1.1?
So after downloading the brand new Firefox 3.0, I decided to compare its performance to the latest Safari. Apparently Mozilla has made significant changes with this version for Leopard and it utilizes many of its core technologies. There are numerous added features and a much-needed facelift. After playing around with it for a couple of hours this evening, I would have to say I’m very impressed at how snappy it is compared to the older 2.x version, and how well they have redesigned its user-interface. But, how does it compare to the highly touted Safari by Apple?
Note: The above tests were run on a 2.16ghz MacBook Pro with 2GB of memory.
Of course these are not extensive tests in regards to the robustness and overall performance of each web browser, but it does give us a sense of how they compare. According to Apple’s estimates, on average Safari pushes the envelope and runs ~3x faster than Firefox 2.
I would have to agree with Apple’s assessment when comparing the old version, but I believe Firefox 3 has raised the bar and should give Safari a run for the money in many areas. It is also important to note that Firefox has numerous spectacular plugins, skins, etc! The one aspect where Safari consistently beat Firefox 3 was in loading the application itself after a cold startup of the computer.
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