HTML5 Test Reveals The Winners and Losers in Browser Wars

HELSINKI, FINLAND - DECEMBER 1, 2011 - Futuremark®, the world leader in performance benchmarking software, today released the latest version of Peacekeeper™, its free to use browser speed test. Peacekeeper has been rebuilt to take advantage of the latest HTML5 standards and can now be used to measure and compare the performance of any browser on any Internet capable device, from desktops and notebooks, to tablets and smartphones. http://peacekeeper.futuremark.com/

COMPARING BROWSERS WITH PEACEKEEPER

The new Peacekeeper offers an easy and accurate way to compare browsers on any Internet capable device, from desktops and notebooks, to tablets and smartphones.

Browsers ranked by performance on a Windows PC with an Intel Core i7-2600K processor (higher scores are better)

1.Chrome 15.0.874.121 - Peacekeeper score 4720

2.Opera 11.52 - score 4318

3.Firefox 8.0.1 - score 2554

4.Internet Explorer 9.0 - score 2471

5.Safari 5.0.5 - score 1752

Browsers ranked by performance on a 15'' MacBook Pro (early 2011) with an Intel Core i7-2720QM processor (higher scores are better)

1.Chrome 15.0.874.121 - Peacekeeper score 3660

2.Opera 11.52 - score 2747

3.Firefox 8.0.1 - score 2033

4.Safari 5.0.5 - score 1861

COMPARING DEVICES WITH PEACEKEEPER

For devices where the user cannot change the browser, for example some smartphones and tablets, Peacekeeper offers a straightforward way to compare the performance of competing devices. As a device's browser performance is strongly linked to the power of its CPU, comparing Peacekeeper scores can be an excellent way to evaluate competing devices.

Popular devices ranked by browser performance (higher scores are better)

1.Apple iPad 2 - Peacekeeper score 374

2.Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 - score 359

3.Acer Iconia W500 - score 343

4.Apple iPhone 4S - score 312

5.Samsung Galaxy S2 - score 255

6.LG Optimus 7 E900 - score 96

WINNERS AND LOSERS IN TWO AND A HALF YEARS OF BROWSER WARS

•2.6 million results submitted since Peacekeeper launched in March 2009.

•3140 different browser versions tested.

•Safari was fastest when Peacekeeper launched. It is now the slowest on Windows and Mac.

•IE has shown the greatest improvement with an average score increase of almost 450%.

•Safari has shown the least improvement, just 160% faster in two years on Windows systems.

•Firefox is most popular with Peacekeeper users, accounting for almost 30% of all results.

•Chrome has held the title of fastest browser since May 2009 but Opera is closing the gap.

Peacekeeper offers a simple and easy way to compare any browser on any device. The free service generates publicly available performance data for a huge range of browsers, devices and operating systems.

Try Peacekeeper now by visiting http://peacekeeper.futuremark.com/

INFORMATION FOR EDITORS

Peacekeeper measures browser performance by testing JavaScript functionality. JavaScript is a widely used programming language used in the creation of modern websites to provide features such as animation, navigation, forms and other common requirements. By measuring a browser's ability to handle commonly used JavaScript functions Peacekeeper can evaluate its performance. Peacekeeper scores are not influenced by Internet connection speed or latency.

Peacekeeper takes 5 minutes to run during which time it evaluate the browser's performance with a rendering test, WebGl test, HTML5 video test, HTML5 canvas test, HTML5 web worker test, data manipulation tests, DOM operations test and text parsing tests. For more detailed explanations of these tests see the FAQ: http://peacekeeper.futuremark.com/faq.action

Peacekeeper scores are in operations per second or rendered frames per second depending on the test. When browser X scores twice as much as browser Y on the same device it means that for a given test either:

•X ran twice as many operations as Y in the same time period

•Or X ran the test in half the time as Y

•Or X rendered the test with twice the frame rate of Y

In plain language, by choosing a browser with a high Peacekeeper score you are ensuring a faster and smoother web experience within the limits of your Internet connection speed. When choosing between devices, such as tablets or smart-phones, a higher Peacekeeper score indicates a more powerful and faster CPU.