Appendix to What's the Fastest Browser on the Mac? Across Platforms?
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Dan Knight - 2005.02.14
The charts below are adapted from Browser Speed Comparisons and reduced to fit this page. "Supplementary" browsers are not shown, and colors are used to differentiate operating systems. Color code:
- Mac OS X: red
- Mac OS 9: green
- Linux: yellow
- Windows XP: blue
On each of these graphs, the shorter bar represents faster performance. Click any chart to see a full-sized version (size about 40K per chart).
The fastest-launching browser is Camino 0.8 for Mac OS X, and three of the four fastest launching browsers are OS X-only. iCab 2.9.8 for Mac OS 9 also makes the top ten. The Mac does very well in this test.
Windows can leave programs partially memory-resident after you quit them, letting them relaunch faster than a cold start. That said, the fastest browser relaunch comes from Konqueror 3.2 (KDE) on Linux - and iCab 2.9.8 takes second place. Internet Explorer 5.1 under OS 9 also makes the top ten, but none of the OS X browsers do.
That said, once you launch a browser in OS X, there's really no reason to quit and relaunch it - you can just leave in inactive in the background.
When it comes to displaying a page that uses Cascading Style Sheets, top honors go to Safari 2.0 for Mac OS X 10.4 (based on the current prerelease version). The next-fastest OS X browser in this test is Safari 1.2, which takes 12th place. As Safari 2.0 demonstrates, there's lots of potential to improve speed on the other Mac browsers.
A lot of pages on the Web are created as tables - that's the old fashioned way and the way we still do things at Low End Mac. Opera 6.03 for Linux is fastest here, followed by the Windows version. Opera 8.0 is the fastest OS X browser and holds 7th place, and Safari 1.2 rates 10th. OS X browsers generally lag well behind Windows browsers, so there's real room for improvement here.
Scripting is very common on the Web, and when it comes to running scripts, Opera is king - the top five browsers in this test are versions of Opera on Linux, Windows, and OS X. Opera 8.0 for OS X takes 5th place, and Safari 2.0 for OS X 10.4 takes 10th. This is one area where Mac browsers really need to improve.
Displaying images is where Mac OS X excels. The four browsers that scored fastest on the multiple images benchmark were all OS X ones, and seven of the fastest 10 browsers run on OS X. This is where AltiVec really pays off, because the G4 tested runs at only half the clock speed of the Pentium 4 in the Windows and Linux machines.
Hitting the Back button in your browsers may display the last page nearly instantaneously - or it may take several seconds to redisplay it. Opera 8.0 for Windows wins this test, with Opera 8.0 for Mac taking third place and the Linux version holding the fourth spot. Three of the ten fastest browsers in this test run under OS X - so do four of the slowest five.
Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.
Recent Mac Daniel columns
- Bringing G3 iMacs and other G3 Macs into the Tiger Age, Dan Knight, 12.07. Tips on hard drives, memory, WiFi, and getting Mac OS X 10.4 installed on G3 iMacs and other older G3 Macs.
- Multiple users on the same Mac at work, Dan Knight, 11.15. How to set up a Mac so multiple users can log in and use it - and use the same pool of work files.
- 1 working eMac from 2 broken ones, Dan Knight, 11.14. A pair of matching eMacs, each with a different failure, results in one working eMac and lots of leftovers.
- Problems running Classic mode in Tiger, Dan Knight, 11.08. After upgrading to Tiger, the old Classic installation stopped working. Where to find the pieces to get everything up to date.
- More in the Mac Daniel index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: PowerBook 170, Oct. 1991 - At 25 MHz, the PB 170 was at the top of the original PowerBook line.
- List of the Day: The iPhone List Low End Mac's forum for discussing and supporting Apple's iPhone.
- August 30 in LEM history: 99: The truth about USB speed - 00: Could Eazel kill the Mac? - Mac OS 8.1 on a IIci and LC III - 01: Beyond MHz and GHz - Getting a handle on email - Thanks for the IBM PC, Dad - Apple's anniversaries - 02: Mac OS X v10.2 - iBook video out - 04: Things that freak out my students - 06: Nvu and SeaMonkey can't replace Home Page - 07: DVD-RAM support
Recent Content on Low End Mac
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- New 'Books Likely in September, 17" PowerBook Display Fault Site, SSD Security, and More, The 'Book Review, 08.29. Also 6 ways to speed up your MacBook, next generation MacBook Air CPU, MacBook Air Update, LapStrap carrying solution, rise and fall of ultraportables, bargains from $220 to $2,699, and more.
- iPhone 3G Reception 'Completely Normal', AT&T International Data Plans for iPhone, and More, iNews Review, 08.29. Also longer life for iPod earbuds, an alternative to MobileMe, new cases and apps for iPhone, AppStoreGems website launched, and more.
- Best Power Mac G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.29. Used 450 MHz AGP, $75; 500, $99; 800 QS, $199; 1.25 GHz MDD, $375; 450 MHz dual, $179; 867 dual, $300; 1 GHz dual, $395; 1.42 dual, $575.
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- Best iPod nano Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.29. Used 2 GB iPod nano, $89; refurb 3G 4 GB, $99; new, $140; refurb 8 GB, $149; new, $179.
- 10 Mac Browsers Compared, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 08.28. A look at Internet Explorer, Radon, Opera, Safari, Shiira, iCab, Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Flock, and Camino running in Leopard.
- Clone and Boot: Another Advantage of the Mac OS, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 08.28. Unlike Windows, Apple makes it possible to clone a bootable drive (Classic Mac OS or OS X) and use it with another supported Mac.
- Best MacBook Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.28. Used 1.83 GHz, $799; 2.0 black, $875; refurb 2.1 GHz, $899; 2.4, $1,099; black, $1,299; new 2.1, $1,019 after rebate; 22, $1,094; 2.4, $1,219 a/r; black, $1,394 a/r.
- Best iMac G5 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.28. Used 17" 1.6 GHz Combo, $499; 1.8 SuperDrive, $530; 2.0, $600; 1.9 iSight, $625; 20" 1.8 GHz, $580; 2.0, $650; 2.1 iSight, $700.
- Best classic Mac OS Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.28. System 6, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5.1, $4; Mac OS 7.6, $13; 8.0, $13; 8.1, $48; 8.5, $25; 8.6, $20; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $20; more.
- CrossOver Strikes Out, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 08.27. Running Windows apps on a Mac without paying for Windows is great in theory, but actually getting Windows software working is another story.
- MacDrought: 4 Months with No New Macs, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 08.27. The most recent Mac update was over four months ago, and the Mac mini has been unchanged for over a year.
- Resurrecting a Dead Pismo, Spotlight Search Tip, and EasyFind a Good File Finder, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 08.27. Lots of tips on bringing a comatose Pismo back to life, a Spotlight file name search tip, and EasyFind as an alternative to Spotlight.
- Best Intel iMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.27. Used 17" 1.83 GHz, $625; 20", $599; 2.16, $749; 24", $950; refurb 20" 2.4, $999; 2.66, $1,299; 24" 2.4, $1,299; 2.8, $1,549; new 3.06, $2,094 after rebate; more.
- Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.27. Used 1.25 GHz Combo, $600; SuperDrive, $650; 1.33 Combo, $640; 1.5, $680; SD, $725; 1.67, $730; hi-res, $800.
- Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.27. 500 GB Time Capsule, $294; 1 TB, $468; AirPort Extreme Card, $39; 802.11n Base Station, $166; 802.11g AirPort Express, $60; 802.11n, $98.
- More links in our archive.
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