Fastest browser for OSX?

[Les Kern]

I can't understand how there are so many differences in replies here.
For me Safari screams, FF is slow but extensible so I use it, Chrome is useless. But that's not the point. There simply cannot be that many valid differences. In every test I have seen, Safari is faster in every way. Wasn't that the original question?

 

[bigjobby]

I would like to know the command for it to switch to tab 1, tab 2 etc...

Second question is, my personal bar (bookmarks) just goes missing sometimes. How do I bring it back?

to scroll through tabs: alt + cmd + left/right arrow

personal bar is on View>Toolbars>Personal Bar

 

[Alvi]

Safari, It's the default browser of OSX, and it isn't crappy like IE on Windows, It integrates with many OSX apps and i actually really like it, Chrome can be faster, but i don't really feel it

 

[7thMac]

I don't notice speed issues with any of the browsers. I do like Chrome but won't move to it until they add a print preview function.

 

[Patrick J]

In every test I have seen, Safari is faster in every way. Wasn't that the original question?

What????

Any amount of sites will show you are 100% WRONG, using a simple google search

 

[MacKeeper-fan]

I can't understand how there are so many differences in replies here.
For me Safari screams, FF is slow but extensible so I use it, Chrome is useless. But that's not the point. There simply cannot be that many valid differences. In every test I have seen, Safari is faster in every way. Wasn't that the original question?

Can you post links on these tests, where Safari is faster in every way....it will be very interesting to see..

 

[Patrick J]

Can you post links on these tests, where Safari is faster in every way....it will be very interesting to see..

8 sites in the post above show exactly the opposite.

EDIT: even in the first post the thread starter states that Chrome is actually faster. QED_

 

[chuckflip53]

Hey all, please check the 1st post as I've updated it with some new information that may be interesting to read..

 

[wnlawther]

Chrome personally has always seemed more responsive, and battery life has not been a substantial issue whatsoever. I have a question though. Does anyone know why Google Chrome has two processes for rendering?

If you go into Activity Monitor and look at Google Chrome, it has the application itself, two 'Google Chrome Renderer', and Google Chrome Worker. Combined the two renderers use 100 MB of real mem., which is not an issue, but just curious as to why there are two...Thanks.

 

[Patrick J]

Chrome personally has always seemed more responsive, and battery life has not been a substantial issue whatsoever. I have a question though. Does anyone know why Google Chrome has two processes for rendering?

If you go into Activity Monitor and look at Google Chrome, it has the application itself, two 'Google Chrome Renderer', and Google Chrome Worker. Combined the two renderers use 100 MB of real mem., which is not an issue, but just curious as to why there are two...Thanks.

You wouldn't happen to have two tabs open now would you?

 

[MacKeeper-fan]

Chrome personally has always seemed more responsive, and battery life has not been a substantial issue whatsoever. I have a question though. Does anyone know why Google Chrome has two processes for rendering?

If you go into Activity Monitor and look at Google Chrome, it has the application itself, two 'Google Chrome Renderer', and Google Chrome Worker. Combined the two renderers use 100 MB of real mem., which is not an issue, but just curious as to why there are two...Thanks.

Google Chrome creates three different types of processes: browser, renderers, and plug-ins.

Browser: There's only one browser process, which manages the tabs, windows, and "chrome" of the browser. This process also handles all interactions with the disk, network, user input, and display, but it makes no attempt to parse or render any content from the web.

Renderers: The browser process creates many renderer processes, each responsible for rendering web pages. The renderer processes contain all the complex logic for handling HTML, JavaScript, CSS, images, and so on. Chrome achieves this using the open source WebKit rendering engine, which is also used by Apple's Safari web browser. Each renderer process is run in a sandbox, which means it has almost no direct access to the disk, network, or display. All interactions with web apps, including user input events and screen painting, must go through the browser process. This lets the browser process monitor the renderers for suspicious activity, killing them if it suspects an exploit has occurred.

Plug-ins: The browser process also creates one process for each type of plug-in that is in use, such as Flash, Quicktime, or Adobe Reader. These processes just contain the plug-ins themselves, along with some glue code to let them interact with the browser and renderers

 

[mansanas]

i liked chrome, its like the best of safari and firefox in one browser, but the gfx switching bug (where it doesnt switch back to intel) bugged me, and i cant seem to find the plug ins for it. i cant even watch netflix on chrome or read pdf files as pdf.
so i went back to firefox, but according to the ts, chrome is almost 2x as fast, now im confused!

 

[bigjobby]

Here you go guys. Now argue at will.

http://lifehacker.com/5575407/browser-speed-tests-safari-5-firefox-36-and-opera-106-beta

Edit: Just noticed tests were performed on Windows. Oh well.. guess there are other sites you can refer to.

 

[tflournoy95]

I think I'll stick with firefox. I've used it for years and I havnt had one comaint yet. Plus it's open source so I like it even more.

 

[Patrick J]

I think I'll stick with firefox. I've used it for years and I havnt had one comaint yet. Plus it's open source so I like it even more.

And slow. It bogs down after a few months.

 

[mrsir2009]

I use Firefox. I'm not going to switch to another browser just because someone ran a test and another browser got a slither of a higher score

Firefox isn't the fastest for Mac OSX, but it gets the job done with NO noticeable difference from Chrome, Safari or Camino.

 

[mrsir2009]

And slow. It bogs down after a few months.

My firefox hasn't. You just need to reset it, clear the history and clear the cache every month or so.

 

[Patrick J]

My firefox hasn't. You just need to reset it, clear the history and clear the cache every month or so.

Which makes the "awesome" bar pretty awesomely useless, as it doesn't have any history to search.
Chrome just works.

 

[chuckflip53]

i liked chrome, its like the best of safari and firefox in one browser, but the gfx switching bug (where it doesnt switch back to intel) bugged me, and i cant seem to find the plug ins for it. i cant even watch netflix on chrome or read pdf files as pdf.
so i went back to firefox, but according to the ts, chrome is almost 2x as fast, now im confused!

Hey don't forget I'm on a 13" MBP so I don't have the graphics cards switching ability. A lot of people have talked about the intel-to-nvidia switching problem with Chrome so for you another browser may be better
Also, the test I ran (and you can too) only tested for javascript capabilities - it does not test other functions of a browser such as flash

 

[rasmusDoh]

On my Chrome, I have it set up so that if I type wiki Frankenstein it will automatically pull up the wikipedia article on Frankenstein. No clicking involved.
Likewise, I have shortcuts like imdb and pirate (piratebay).

How do you do that? It sounds pretty nice!

 

[Patrick J]

How do you do that? It sounds pretty nice!

First visit the sites and use the proper search boxes. Then go to Chrome->Preferences>
Under the Basics tab, click manage.

Now you can see all the search engines that Chrome has picked up. You can change the default one. Double click any search engine, and you can change the keyword, which is what you type before the search term to invoke the site specific search. By default it is the site address, but you can change it so something much shorter.
Good luck

 

[rasmusDoh]

First visit the sites and use the proper search boxes. Then go to Chrome->Preferences>
Under the Basics tab, click manage.

Now you can see all the search engines that Chrome has picked up. You can change the default one. Double click any search engine, and you can change the keyword, which is what you type before the search term to invoke the site specific search. By default it is the site address, but you can change it so something much shorter.
Good luck

Thanks!

 

[bender o]

First visit the sites and use the proper search boxes. Then go to Chrome->Preferences>
Under the Basics tab, click manage.

Now you can see all the search engines that Chrome has picked up. You can change the default one. Double click any search engine, and you can change the keyword, which is what you type before the search term to invoke the site specific search. By default it is the site address, but you can change it so something much shorter.
Good luck

wow great tip man thanks

 

[singhjeet29]

Safari 5 for me.

Any slight speed bump that I find from Chrome is neutralized by the cleaner UI, Coverflow Search History, Reader.

Would love if Safari had the Tabs on Top Option again. Only thing that really erks me about Safari after the 4 beta.

 

[wnlawther]

Google Chrome creates three different types of processes: browser, renderers, and plug-ins.

Browser: There's only one browser process, which manages the tabs, windows, and "chrome" of the browser. This process also handles all interactions with the disk, network, user input, and display, but it makes no attempt to parse or render any content from the web.

Renderers: The browser process creates many renderer processes, each responsible for rendering web pages. The renderer processes contain all the complex logic for handling HTML, JavaScript, CSS, images, and so on. Chrome achieves this using the open source WebKit rendering engine, which is also used by Apple's Safari web browser. Each renderer process is run in a sandbox, which means it has almost no direct access to the disk, network, or display. All interactions with web apps, including user input events and screen painting, must go through the browser process. This lets the browser process monitor the renderers for suspicious activity, killing them if it suspects an exploit has occurred.

Plug-ins: The browser process also creates one process for each type of plug-in that is in use, such as Flash, Quicktime, or Adobe Reader. These processes just contain the plug-ins themselves, along with some glue code to let them interact with the browser and renderers

Thanks for such a detailed answer, much appreciated. This was kind of off topic so I'll end it here, and thanks Patrik J but MacKeeper-fan seemed to provide a full answer. Chrome is the way to go, just clear the cache once and awhile, and I have the conviction it is the best browser out there; though there is no disputing taste.