According to a report from FairerPlatform, the latest version of Safari 5 beta, found within Lion’s latest developer preview, is benchmarking as the fastest-performing browser in HTML5 tasks.
Apple’s current implementation of Safari tends to lag a bit these days, though that may soon be about to change, with Safari evolving into a much faster and more streamlined browser that offers much better HTML5 capabilities.
From FairerPlatform:
When I last looked at the HTML5 test in March compatibility across the mainline Mac browsers, Chrome 11 earned top marks. Now, two months later, Google’s browsers have stalled and Safari 5.1, a beta version of Apple’s WebKit-based browser that ships with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Preview Release, has risen to the occasion, grabbing the brass ring at least for now.
— Available in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion beta only
• Chrome 12 beta — 280 (278)
• Chrome 11 — 280 (273)
• WebKit r86200 — 275 (273)
• Opera 11.1 — 260 (244)
• Firefox 4.01 — 259 (255)
• SeaMonkey 2.1 rc1 — 259 (na)
— SeaMonkey 2.0.12 — 142
• Safari 5.0.5 — 231 (228)
• iOS 4.3.3 Safari — 209 (206)
• Firefox 3.6.14 — 155 (145)
From these numbers, its quite clear that Apple has kicked it up a notch, gaining serious performance in the process.
Even with that in mind, however, the above HTML5 benchmark scores only indicate how well the browsers support the HTML5 standard and related spec, and does not check all the new features of HTML5, nor does it test speed or functionality of each feature – it is, in its essence, just a guideline.
Nevertheless, it’s great to see the various browsers challenging each other, indicating that competition between browsers is keeping them strong and active. You can run the test on your browser yourself, as well, via this link. If you’re running the Lion Developer Preview 3, run the test and let us know what you get! When I ran it, I got a score of 295!
What are your thoughts? Sound off in the comments!
