Conclusion

Now that we've seen the final results in performance, efficiency, and standards compliance testing, as well as overall placing, let's break down how the Web browsers perform in individual categories.

Category/Test Winner Also Strong Weak Performance Testing Startup Times IE9 Opera Page Load Times IE9 JavaScript Chrome Opera, IE9 Firefox Peacekeeper Chrome Opera Firefox DOM Opera Firefox HTML5 IE9 Opera Flash Opera IE9 Java Opera Firefox Silverlight Chrome IE9 Efficiency Testing Memory Usage (Light Load) IE9 Chrome, Firefox Memory Usage (Heavy Load) Firefox IE9, Chrome Memory Management IE9 Chrome, Firefox Opera, Safari Standards Conformance Testing HTML5 Chrome CSS3 Firefox, IE9, Opera, Safari Chrome JavaScript IE9 Acid3 Chrome, Opera, Safari IE9, Firefox

Internet Explorer 9 manages to pull ahead, regardless of whether you look at individual categories or the overall placing. IE9 comes out on top in seven categories, while Opera and Chrome only top five each.

Despite Firefox losing so terribly, the biggest upset in WBGP3 has to be Chrome. Since the release of IE9, Firefox 3.6 is the oldest Web browser here, and it is about to be replaced with the much-anticipated and long overdue Firefox 4. Chrome 10, on the other hand, is only as old as IE9.

IE9 really put the hurt on Chrome. Disciplines like page load times, JavaScript performance, and memory management have traditionally been bastions for Chrome's success. This time, IE9 excelled in all three. Chrome also gives us disappointing results in HTML5 performance, the CSS3 Selectors Test, and it was unable to run Dromaeo DOM.

Opera, though not as terribly battered by IE9 as Chrome, also gives up some ground to Microsoft's newest Web browser. IE9 demonstrates excellent performance in areas where Opera is also strong, such as HTML5 and Flash.

Not only does IE9 manage to beat previous WBGP champions Opera and Chrome with regard to performance, but it also succeeds in strutting its stuff in efficiency and standards compliance. IE9 is the clear winner of Web Browser Grand Prix 3, and we at Tom's Hardware approve of Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.

By beating the stiffest competition (Opera and Chrome) in areas where the competition has historically dominated, Microsoft has made IE a real contender. But with the launch of Mozilla Firefox 4 just over the horizon, the company's arch-nemesis in the browser wars might pose the gravest threat to IE9's WBGP championship.

Follow Adam Overa on Twitter @adamovera.