Is it Time to Switch from IE to Chrome?
By Bob Rankin
Google Chrome has dramatically increased its share of the global browser market over the past year, steadily rising from 20 percent to about 35 percent of users. Meanwhile, Microsoft Internet Explorer’s share has steadily dropped, until IE is now in second place by an inch. (Firefox is in third place and its share is shrinking.) Should you consider switching from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome? Here’s how they compare…
Chrome Inches into First Place in Browser Wars
According to this chart of browser market share, Google’s Chrome browser is the most popular in the world, in use by 34% of all users. In the USA, though, Chrome takes second place with just 23% to IE’s 42%. So which browser really is best, and should you switch?
I don’t think the choice matters to the vast majority of Web surfers, except from an ideological standpoint. The latest versions of IE and Chrome are neck-and-neck in performance, ease of use, security and privacy options. If you hate Microsoft, you may choose Chrome. If you’re afraid that Google is taking over the world, Internet Explorer is one way to resist assimilation by the Borg.
That said, let’s look at some of the differences between the two browsers, where differences exist.
Performance-wise, all of the major browsers render ordinary Web pages at about the same speeds. Gamers looking forward to HTML5-based online games will be interested to know that Chrome renders HTML5 content faster than IE, according to tests run by PC Magazine using the Sunspider JavaScript benchmark. Chrome scored 5502 on this benchmark, vs. IE’s 4797 using a PC’s standard integrated graphics card. The two browsers’ scores on the Sunspider JavaScript benchmark were too close to matter. If your computer has a lame graphics card, Chrome will speed things up appreciably.
Google’s minimalist, no-clutter approach to user interfaces has become standard in all browsers. Chrome’s search and address boxes have been combined into a dual-purpose “omnibox.” Just start typing search terms and Google displays a list of results from which you can choose. You never have to remember or type a URL again. But Internet Explorer 9
Excerpt shared with permission from Bob Rankin.
