Web Browser Grand Prix 7

Although it's only been one month since Web Browser Grand Prix VI: Firefox 6, Chrome 13, And Mac OS X Lion, the browser wars show no signs of subsiding. The last 30 days were just as feverish as those that came before. But before we get down to business, let's get all caught up on the latest in this epic saga.

Recent Events

08/30/11: Opera updates from version 11.50 to 11.51

09/16/11: Google Releases Chrome 14

09/27/11: Mozilla Releases Firefox 7

09/29/11: Futuremark releases an open beta for the next version of Peacekeeper, announced exclusively here on Tom's Hardware.

Ongoing: Microsoft Internet Explorer market share continues to plummet, while Google Chrome market share continues meteoric rise.

Recent Drama

05/04/11: Google releases "fixed" versions of Apple's SunSpider and Mozilla's Kraken JavaScript benchmarks. We missed this the first time around.

09/01/11: David Storey, emblematic Opera developer and evangelist, leaves Opera for a new gig at Motorola, which quickly gets eaten up by Opera's arch-rival Google. Doh. Good luck, Dave!

09/20/11: Yet another Mozilla developer incites fear and chaos by suggesting a five week (or shorter) Firefox release cycle.

09/21/11: This idea is quickly rejected.

09/22/11: Another camp inside Mozilla proposes Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) for enterprise use. ESR is to be five times slower than the standard Firefox releases.

9/29/11: Even more absurdity from Mozilla developers, this time floating the idea of banning Java to thwart security threats.

What's New In Web Browser Grand Prix 7?

We've added more composite scoring, brand new startup time tests, and retired the raw placing tables. Essentially, the benchmark suite receives yet another handful of additional refinements aimed at updating tests, enhancing accuracy, improving analysis, and most noticeable of all, yielding faster results. Hey, Firefox 7 was just released the day before yesterday! With 40+ benchmarks, multiple iterations per benchmark, and five Web browsers, this is nothing short of a monumental effort.