Free Browser Comparison

Introduction

This is a comparison of free browsers. These are all the windows browsers at this wikipedia comparison of browsers that an average user can use. The computer running these tests has 2GB of RAM and 3.4GHz CPU. Multitrack stopwatch was used for all timed tests. These tests were preformed on each browser:

Start time

This includes:

• Cold start, how long it takes for the browser to start after the computer is restarted
• Warm start, how long it takes for the browser to start when the browser has already been run and then closed
• Hot start, how long for another window of the browser to open

Each test is separate. The browser with the lowest time gets 1 point, the one with the highest gets -1.
I invented the term “hot start”

Acid2 test

The acid2 test will test the browsers adherence to standards of HTML and CSS. I measure it on a 1 to 5 scale:

• 1:you can’t tell it’s a face
• 2:you can tell it’s a face
• 3:you can tell it’s a smiling face
• 4:it looks how it should except for scroll bars or a few missing pixels
• 5:it is exactly how it should be

Browsers with 5 get 1 point, Browsers with 1 get -1

Javascript speed test

This is how fast the browser completes this javascript speed test The browser with the lowest time gets 1 point, the one with the highest gets -1.

Table speed test

This is the time it takes the browser to completely show a 27MB table. The browser with the lowest time gets 1 point, the one with the highest gets -1. Some browsers use incremental reflow, where it loads the page as it is downloaded, making it look faster than it is; it will be noted if that is the case.

Memory/CPU test

This measures memory and CPU usage on a blank page, 10 tabs(if applicable) with google in them, and at this GIF-filled page(more than 100 GIFs). The browser with the lowest time gets 1 point, the one with the highest gets -1.

Browser security

This tests the browser’s security, using default settings. I used the Scanit security test. None of the browsers had any vulnerabilities, so points wont change. After it was apparent that none of the browsers would fail the test, I tested the major 3 browsers on 2 more tests; I could not get them to fail.

Other information

I will tell you if a browser is open source, what it’s layout engine is, additional features, and my personal opinion of the browser. None of these things will affect the final score.

Browsers are color-coded by layout engine:

• green:gecko
• blue:trident
• white:presto
• grey:text-only or specialized layout engine. These won’t be compared to the other browsers

Data

	tests
browsers	cold start	warm start	hot start	acid2	javascript speed	table speed
amaya	4.0	2.5	1.0	1	N/A	N/A
AOL	3.8	1.1	0	1	162	110(but it froze shortly afterwards)
Avant	1.6	1.0	.8	1	166	45
ELinks	0	0	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
K-meleon	.6	.6	0	2	172	678, incremental reflow
Lynx	0	0	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Maxthon	1.9	1.6	1.0	1	164	46
firefox	1.5	1.0	0	2	182, but there was an error on part of the test	608, incremental reflow
Netscape(new)	7	3	0	2	160	783, incremental reflow
off by one	0	0	0	N/A	N/A	more than 15 minutes(when I stopped it)
Opera	.8	.5	0	5	212	36, incremental reflow
seamonkey	1.2	1.0	0	2	169	620, incremental reflow
Internet Explorer 7	1	0	0	1	185	53
flock	2.4	2.1	0	2	192	725, incremental reflow

	tests
browser	RAM blank page	RAM 10 tabs	RAM GIF page	CPU blank page	CPU 10 tabs	CPU GIF page	Security
amaya	44,344	69,820	N/A(doesn’t animate GIFs)	0	4	N/A	N/A
AOL	33,736	35,000	45,000	2	6	9	0
Avant	42,876	43,800	100,000	0	8	50	0
ELinks	2,256	2,256	N/A	0	0	N/A	N/A
K-meleon	28,000	28,752	161,000	0	0	7	0
Lynx	2,256	N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Maxthon	22,468	24,628	67,000	1	1	5	0
firefox	24,620	26,840	94,000	0	1	4	0
Netscape(new)	53,600	54,784	104,900	0	1	7	0
off by one	8,120	N/A	30,000	0	N/A	2	0
Opera	17,604	21,920	27,080	0	0	0	0
seamonkey	29,336	29,928	55,000	0	0	4	0
Internet Explorer 7	40,410	50,160	85,620	0	0	7	0
flock	32,552	33,752	72,000	1	1	3	0

	info
browser	open source?	layout engine	features	notes	points
amaya	yes	specialized	WYSIWYG editor	This is a web page editor built by the W3C. It can function as a limited browser, but it doesn’t support javascript and it thinks you’re trying to edit the page instead of navigate it.	0
AOL	no	trident	AOL integration RSS reader	AOL explorer is a good looking internet explorer adaptation that supports integration with your AOL account.	-2
Avant	yes	trident	online account storage customizable look autofill RSS reader gestures	Avant is a feature-packed but bulky IE adaptation. The “features” get kind of annoying; I had to restart it 4 times before it would start without asking me something.	-2
ELinks	yes	text-only	tabs	Elinks is an easy-to-use text-only browser. It displays tabs along the bottom of the text window.	0
K-meleon	yes	gecko		K-Meleon is a firefox adaptation, with a few trivial built-in extras. The biggest change is that it is slightly faster.	3
Lynx	yes	text-based		Lynx is the text-based browser. It’s absolutely incompatible with any new web technologies.	0
Maxthon	no	trident(by default, can also use gecko)	customizable	Maxthon is a bulky adaptation of IE with more customization.	-2
firefox	yes	gecko	many ways to customize	Firefox is slow and can get pretty bulky, but it makes up for it with it’s extensions, which can greatly expand it’s capabilities. Firefox doesn’t have many built-in features, and someone who expects it to be perfect “out of the box” will be disappointed. Out of the three major browsers, firefox is the most customizable.	2
Netscape(new)	no	gecko(can switch to trident)	integrated security AOL integration autoswitches to trident layout engine	The netscape browser is firefox version of the AOL browser. Security center is very integrated, and it autoswitches to the trident layout engine if it detects the site needs that.	0
off by one	no	unique(minimalistic)		Off by one is a minimalistic browser that only displays text and images. You’d think it would be fast, but it’s slower than normal browsers. It has nice memory usage, but I still wouldn’t use it.	0
Opera	no	presto	bittorrent gestures widgets	Opera is the speediest browser with regular pages, beating trident-based browsers, and it includes incremental reflow. While not as powerful has firefox’s extensions, opera allows you to customize with widgets. It is also perfectly compliant with standards. The only downside to opera is it’s slow javascript time	8
seamonkey	yes	gecko	mail IRC RSS reader HTML editing	This is a suite of applications, including email, IRC, and an HTML editor. The browser doesn’t really stand out.	3
Internet Explorer 7	no	trident	tabs phishing filter	Internet explorer 7, while an improvement over 6, doesn’t stand out. It was just updated to include the things people expect from a browser nowadays.	4
flock	yes	gecko	linking to various online accounts	Flock is basically firefox with built-in extensions.	0

Summary

It’s clear from these results that Opera was the best browser, followed by Internet explorer 7. Then came the gecko-based browsers, and finally the other trident-based browsers. Which browser you choose depends on your taste, if you must have extreme customization, go with a gecko-based browser like k-meleon or firefox. If you’re looking for the absolute fastest, smallest browser, go with opera. IE 7 is a fine, slim browser, but it’s speed doesn’t stand out. Other than IE 7, you should avoid trident-based browsers. I currently use firefox, but I’m not at all impressed with it’s speed or resource usage. The only reason I keep using it is that I’m so used to my extensions; it would be a major change to live without them. If firefox 3 isn’t a major improvement, I will seriously consider switching to opera.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this comparison, tell your friends. If you find any errors, please comment. You can link here using browser.theymos.com