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The Reason I Choose Chrome over Opera
Like most of the internet users, the default web browser has became an integral part of our daily and yet not necessarily miserable life (unless you are an avid otaku who wants nothing and nothing but anime). Otaku aside, a few of the internet users are quite picky when it comes to picking the right browser for them. Unfortunately, I’m one of these few people who got nothing better to do but trying out different browsers.
Since the previous browser comparison, I admit I was slightly attracted with Opera. Then I tried using Opera with no Chrome whatsoever for about a week and I end up being with Chrome again. Search all you want, for the time being Opera holds the title of being the world’s fastest browser. But my weekly experience of Opera tells me otherwise.
The fastest browser on earth. *With broadband internet connection.
They should’ve put that asterisk in the Opera website. Truly, I tried Opera when my internet connection have been shaped, as I’ve told you previously. At first I thought it was because I was downloading something that the page is damn slow to load, even though I’m using Opera Turbo. But when I tried using Chrome again, it was blazingly fast! I dunno what the heck happened with Opera, but you should NOT ever put the title being the fastest browser if you gotta be supported by broadband connection. Heck, my home country doesn’t even have broadband speed yet!
The fastest browser on earth. Period. *Nothing else is good.
Well, apart from the sleek interface, it got nothing else. When I was in slow connection mode, Opera failed to render several websites correctly. Now, I really don’t mind if it failed to render some unknown website, but this is YouTube I’m talking about. I felt like I was way back in the first time I learned HTML years ago with no CSS whatsoever. So hideous. And added the fact that Opera is a world-class browser who emphasizes on user interface, it’s just like adding more wood to the fireplace.
The fastest browser on earth. *With below average Flash support.
Although I myself dislike Flash-based website navigation much, I do like the idea of Flash-based web application. Without Flash, there would be no YouTube and we will all wouldn’t be able to stream our movies. It seems that Opera is somewhat sided with Jobs with this one, and it’s probably why they got through to publish Opera in the Apple devices. They decided to put the Flash support a bit below average. Again, from several times I use Flash-based web application, I only succeeded enjoying the website two or three times. Heck it doesn’t even load on slow connection.
The fastest browser on earth. *If only you know how to use it.
Well probably the reason why Opera failed me is because I don’t know how to use it. Count me as a first-time user for Opera. But then again, so many people being exposed to the concept of internet and browsers everyday, what’s the point of being the fastest browser if you’re losing market share? I compared all the browsers and here’s why Opera is difficult for first time user, their system is complicated and damn messed up.
First of all, I love the idea of syncing my bookmarks and stuffs, but you don’t have to sync your bookmarks with your mobile devices. Who in their right mind will try to download a full DVD movie that they bookmarked in their PC earlier from their cellphone? Second, I love the idea of having a cloud storage, but why the heck would you use Opera now you already got Dropbox? And third, if you try to open Firefox, Chrome, Safari, even the archenemy of web developers, Internet Explorer, you can always see the bookmarks bar on your first run. Not in Opera. End users are left to wonder where the bookmarks are, and where the menubar is.
Well the point is, even though Opera is the fastest browser on earth for the time being, it’s just not doing it right. Being a web browser is much more than just being fast. It also means that the web browser have to be easy to use, intuitive, support the web standards, simple, and yet get the job done beautifully. For me Opera, you might be the fastest browser, but definitely not the right one.
jovee~
Browser Comparison 2010
UPDATE: Since there were many browser release such as Safari 5 and Chrome 8, this post is somewhat outdated. I will update it as soon as I return from my overseas trip. *sorry for the delay*
Hi guys. Since the last update that I gave you, I have been quite busy as hell. Got a submission this week, as well as mid-term exam on the same day. Best bit? It’s all about C++ programming which I have left several years ago. I gotta admit that I’m probably being too spoiled using object-oriented modern languages such as Java that has its own garbage collector, but what do you know, after all these years I finally understands the beauty of C++.
Anyways, enough of the (mid?) weekly update. I was planning to give these results on March but weren’t able to do so. Nowadays there are so many browsers out there, and by browsers I meant web browsers. Some of them you might not know of, such as Konqueror (Kubuntu users probably will smack me), or Midori. Some, you might have it installed in your computer. But here is the thing: of those widely known browsers, which one is the best?
Well, to tell you the truth, it really comes down to your own personal experience (NOT personal preference, though, which I will explain a bit later on). Some browsers might have their own strengths, such as Firefox with its plugins, Chrome with its simplicity, Opera with its damn good user experience, and so on. But the thing is, they all have to be able to do the most important thing: delivering the web content to the user.
JavaScript Execution Time
Let’s face it, the world’s most visited website is facebook (pun SEVERELY intended). Whether you realize it or not, most social interaction sites such as facebook, twitter, linkedIn uses AJAX for processing request-response interaction. To put it in a simple way, everytime you clicked on that ‘Share’ button on facebook, or tweeting, you use JavaScript to send the text you’re about to share, and the other people will get the text using JavaScript as well. It all happens in the background.
The test, measuring the JavaScript execution time using the SunSpider JavaScript benchmarking test, is intended to measure the time it takes to fully executes the most used JavaScript components. The test itself has an error latency of less than 10%, which in my opinion its more-than-average accurate. Faster JavaScript execution means faster user response time, meaning your status will be updated straightaway the moment you click the ‘Share’ button.
DOM Selection Speed
No, I’m not talking about the DOM in the Gundam universe, but rather, the Document Object Model, a representation of objects used in the browser language (HTML, XHTML and its derivatives). Most of the web 2.0 applications such as the online Photoshop, or even this WordPress dashboard uses DOM as the object model. As such, DOM is in a way a standard in web development. The test measures the DOM selection speed by using jQuery using the SlickSpeed Selector test. It is worth noting that using Dojo instead of jQuery to simplify the interaction between AJAX and HTML pages is faster, however it only runs perfectly in Google Chrome. The faster the selection speed is, the more responsive the web application would be.
Impressions