Browser Speed Test Updates

It didn't take long before more testing results came in, and this time the testing was done by one of my favorite tech sites: Lifehacker. Basically they ran a more comprehensive set of tests on Safari 4 beta, Chrome, Firefox 3 and Firefox 3.1 Beta 2, IE8, IE7, and Opera 9.6 and the results look interesting. Apple wasn't lying when they said their JavaScript engine was 3x faster than FF 3, but they didn't come out on top. These tests show that Google's Chrome is the speed freak of the pack when it comes to JavaScript. Safari 4 beta did have the fastest CSS scores, but Chrome placed first in two out of the three tests conducted. Keep in mind, Safari 4 is still in beta and as such still has room for more improvement, but it looks promising none the less.

Safari 4.0 Beta

It's been a couple of days since Apple released Safari 4 for beta, and just from seeing the screen shots it looks really nice. It's what I would expect from Apple, elegant and robust; two features that I have yet to see from Microsoft. Some of the new features include: Cover Flow for bookmarks and history, Smart Address Field (similar to Firefox 3's address bar), a Web Inspector that will really come in handy for web developers, and the list goes on and on (Apple's Safari website lists 150 features).
Not only does it include really cool eye candy, but a revamped JavaScript engine which currently makes it the fastest browser in the market, beating even Mozilla's experimental browser Minefield. According to ZDnet.com, they ran the SunSpider benchmarking tests for browsers on Safari 4, Firefox 3, Minefield, Chrome, Opera 9.6, and IE8, and Safari 4 came out on top. It'll be a matter of time before more testing results come out and I can make a definitive conclusion about which browser is the fastest, but in the mean time I am going to proceed to download Safari 4 beta to my windows box and check it out. I'll keep you guys posted on my review.