RSSWithout the fastest JavaScript, can Opera 10 RC still lay claim to speed?
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published August 26, 2009, 11:51 AM
"At Opera, we love speed," reads the beginning of a March 2009 blog post from Opera Software Product Analyst Roberto Mateu. "We work hard to make our browser faster with features that speeds you up."
That particular lead-in was for a post discussing the inclusion of Opera Turbo, a feature originally created to expedite rendering in mobile browsers, in the latest Opera 10 desktop edition. Up until recently, Opera was the browser noted for elegance, adherence to accepted Web development standards, and speed; and with regard to the latter, the company is still touting Turbo as the top addition to the first release candidate of version 10, released yesterday.
On Opera Mini, Turbo can be a real lifesaver, especially in limited bandwidth situations. It uses a connection to Opera's own proxy servers, where contents are cached or rendered with higher-speed processors than you'd find on the usual smartphone, to produce legible pages faster. But in the PC world, broadband is becoming more common (especially in its native Norway, much more so than in the US); so for users there, Turbo mode is likely to come in handy only as a fallback during high traffic times or near-outages.
Betanews tests Wednesday morning on the latest build of Opera 10 RC reveal very heavy pixilation in downloaded images, probably due to the quality factor of JPEG rendering being turned down to expedite page loads. However, our initial tests do show that when Turbo Mode is turned on, and its default acceleration factor reads "x3," page load and render times are as much as 358% the speed as when Turbo is turned off, 58% faster than what the mode actually indicates. This is the case even when rendered pages do not contain images.
Already, Opera 10 may be the fastest rendering browser for Windows being tested in the field. In our tests this morning, build 1733 running in Windows 7 RTM showed it could render pages with Turbo Mode turned off at 426% the speed of Internet Explorer 7 running in Windows Vista SP2 (the index browser for our relative tests). By comparison, the latest development build of Google Chrome 4 we've tested renders the same test pages about 28% slower than Opera 10 RC, with a performance score in rendering of 3.76 versus 4.26.
But just as broadband plays a bigger role in people's lives these days, JavaScript plays a bigger role in more people's Web pages. And that's where Opera simply hasn't competed against any of the other Windows browsers, not even Firefox -- last year, Opera's performance against Firefox won it critical accolades. In overall test scores on the Windows 7 RTM platform, the latest dev build of Google Chrome 4 scored 15.20 on our index versus 5.36 for Opera 10 RC, meaning the latest Chrome delivers 284% the general performance of the latest Opera.
Users who remain loyal to Opera -- and there are many -- have had to remain content for now that the company may devote new attention to its JavaScript interpreter for round 11 of its browser.
As far back as last February, Opera developer Jens Lindstrom acknowledged that the company's once venerable Futhark JavaScript engine isn't up to modern standards: "When Opera's current ECMAScript engine, called Futhark, was first released in a public version, it was the fastest engine on the market. That engine was developed to minimize code footprint and memory usage, rather than to achieve maximum execution speed. This has traditionally been a correct trade-off on many of the platforms Opera runs on. The Web is a changing environment however, and tomorrow's advanced Web applications will require faster ECMAScript execution, so we have now taken on the challenge to once again develop the fastest ECMAScript engine on the market."
Half a year later, we've heard very little about the progress of the new JavaScript/ECMAScript engine that Lindstrom dubbed "Carakan." But the company may have to clear out its Opera 10 development cycle before it can devote full resources to the engine that could get Opera back in the game.
yep, without any feature other than a lil bit more speed in a technology almost nobody uses and without addons nor any functionality, chrome still claims to be a real browser.
Score: -1
|If Opera has any chance of gaining significant market share they must be able to maintain a browser that is just as fast as Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Unfortunately Opera is slower at JavaScript and page rendering. It use to be the fastest browser several years ago but Opera hasn't been able to reclaim that title for some time now.
It's a feature rich browser that does a lot out of the box but it must get faster. Opera to me is noticeably slower when I use this latest release compared to Safari 4 and Firefox 3.5.
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|So much worry and thumb twiddling over things that take a blink of an eye.
Score: 1
|you might not care about , but hey something to do. Chrome is still faster but that's because it's bare bones. Opera is second fastest. IE way too far behind. my Flock is being a pain in the a**. Mostly with twitter. Not sure why. And thats the latest update with Flock (a social version of Firefox) But Opera has been the best browser to download with bar none. nobody else touches it unless you have an addon and nobody beats Opera in mouse gestures. Sure I have a plugin for it on firefox, but it's not precise.
Score: 2
|I don't consider Chrome a browser. It's a kids toy. It can do only one thing, display anything thrown at it the fastest. But a browser has to be more than just speed.
Nothing can beat Opera, FTW. You need tens of addons to firefox to even come close to the features built-in Opera. Heck, they even have a webserver now..(Unite)...and close to 15 years, they have been setting standards on what a browser should be...rest are copying...only Opera innovates.
Score: 0
|Honestly, i'm sick of these articles talking of browsers' speed based on Java tests.
They induce to think that these speed tests are an indication of the real general speed of a browser, and that speed is the ultimate thing to care about, and there's no effort in dismissing that.
They really make Betanews look as trustworthy as a fanboy site.
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|thartist "Honestly, i'm sick of these articles talking of browsers' speed based on Java tests."
.. and you took the time to tell us, also looks like three of your friends read the article and gave you a thumbs up, now that's what I call dedication.
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|Why do we get weekly updates on the browser speed war? A war nobody cares about i might add. It's only when major changes take place the I and most people give a hoot. Find something actually worth informing us about then the latest build and how faster or slower it is. It's just a waste of time.
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|bigsexy022870 "It's just a waste of time."
But what about Opera, you forgot to mention Opera !
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|Everybody forgot to mention Opera. :)
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|How much of web relies on the need of browsers ability to render their Javascript very fast ? Very
few and that too mostly google's own sites. Nothing of importance outside that.
Opera is full featured browser that has one of the best JS engines. What matters is a whole lot and speed is just one of the components. Chrome has only speed but nothing else.
Score: 1
|You're right, I guess blackboard.com (used by many colleges and universities world-wide) doesn't need to work in opera. I also guess the Cisco Unified Call Manager (Java) doesn't need to work in opera either. Good call. I guess as an administrator and a working college student I don't need a browser to work quickly to render for me. I guess I can wait and my work will just have to hold a small second to me waiting on my browser to render multiple pages at a time.
Score: 0
|Then yeah FixXxer, use any other than Opera.
Score: -1
|that's not opera's problem, that's blackboard's problem. i should know. i tried using opera on blackboard and it always rendered and functioned in opera like crap, and this has been at least 4-5 years ago. more times than not it always told me to use internet explorer.
to your general issue, i don't, can't, and won't blame opera if nearly 90% of all web designers design to one or two specific browser instead of to web standards.
Score: -3
|It's funny how it works fine in safari, chrome and firefox thou. Just pointing that out.
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|Not sure what you guys are talking about. Blackboard works just fine for me, and I'm on Opera.
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|I don't know. I was just testing Blackboard.com and it works fine in Opera 10 RC.
forget that, so basically what you are saying is that Acid3 specs are junk just because some websites don't want to conform to standards...
It's not Opera's fault if websites don't follow the standard. Opera is the most standards compliant browser out there...
Score: -1
|like i said, this was 4-5 years ago. maybe blackboard has actually decided to go standards compliant in that time period. i have no idea.
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|BlackBoard.com works fine for me with Opera 9.64, almost immediate page render...
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|Some think JavaScript is all it matters. And that Chrome is the fastest. Yeah, well in JavaScript benchmarks. But those don't involve all the content we usually find on webpages. And thats where Opera is usually faster than others.
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|The JavaScript benchmarks that have become the central focus for many thanks to Chrome are just numbers for many (like how Google is rushing to inflate the Chrome version number). There are presently very few opportunities outside of Google's own apps to take advantage of such enhancements to the JS engine. Most sites are pretty light on JS, which makes the rendering engine far more important.
Score: 2
|How are you basing your claim that most sites are light on JS? Considering that most sites that were done in this century have some sort of menu system, breadcrumbs, AJAX and the like, I would disagree whole heartedly about that claim. Almost every financial web site is using JS for something. Not to mention all the social networking sites.
Score: -1
|I'm totally puzzled by this article. Opera Turbo is designed for slow internet connections. Otherwise, according to Opera, it slows down loading. Just, for example, loading this site with Turbo in automatic, was very slow. In fact, after getting tired of waiting, I switched Turbo back to Off and tried again. Site loaded straight off. Did it again with same results, even after closing Opera.
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|duh man, it's for 56k or low speed connections... don't use it otherwise
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|Opera users a minority? I'm not worried about that because Opera is the best solution for me and I like minorities.
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|You just have to try it and see how fast this Opera is. Like most who frequent this place I have the 4 main browsers installed. I also have the best laptop of any who post here, but then that's just showing off. Opera seems the fastest, and if it seems the fastest it would be daft to use something that doesn't.
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|Now you've got my interest. What kind of laptop? =)
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|"I also have the best laptop of any who post here, but then that's just showing off."
Wrong!
Mine is smaller, lighter, faster, more rugged, better looking, has more storage, better graphics, came with a mistress, a Lexus, and a compound in the Canary Islands.
Beat that!
...but I'm just bragging. ;)
(And Opera runs like crap on it...)
Score: -3
|You can keep that laptop, I'll settle for its accessories.
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|Well mine would fart in its general direction.
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|Beautiful, Paul!
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|I think the issue raised about the JavaScript performance is correct one, however, I never felt it being too slow, even on old systems, and I am running it next to Chrome and FF. Where Opera shines is with its many very smart built in features, that I just cannot live without anymore. But eventually, I think Opera needs to focus more on speed.
BUT one thing is more important than speed, and that is security, and contrary to user "garretthylltun" I have never had any problem with virus or malware and Opera. And according to Secunia, Opera is one of the most secure, if not, the most secure browser out there. Thats something I miss being mentioned in the article. Nobody patches and fixes security issues faster than Opera.
Score: -1
|I used to be an Opera user, since version 3.something. But stopped using Opera when it without question let malware be installed on my computer last year when I visited a free font site. I'll miss Opera, but for me security over speed is paramount.
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|garretthylltun "stopped using Opera when it without question let malware be installed on my computer"
Doubt it, more likely to be down to the software you had installed to stop the malware being installed without question on your computer, you did have something installed to stop this malware being installed without question on your computer didn't you ? If so what was it , then we would all be able to avoid using it ourselves ?
Score: -1
|I've been using Opera for a good while, and there are some features that it is that I just couldn't live without... Opera Sync is huge for me, and more and more Unite is becoming part of my day to day usage too.
To each their own. I like my Opera, and I'll stick with it.
Score: -1
|Javascirpt speed is not the be-all and end-all of browser speed. Launch times, tab creation times, refresh times, draw times, and many other factors all need to be taken into account.
...and what the F*, Scott.... no graphs?? ;)
Score: 6
|PC_Tool "...and what the F*, Scott.... no graphs?? ;)"
Hi, gave you a thumbs up for the joke, quite amusing I thought.
Score: 0
|I'd give you a thumbs up for giving me a thumbs up, but....
Nah...
I'd have to move the mouse that extra few millimeters. :p
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|"Users who remain loyal to Opera -- and there are many"
Amongst the smallest share, and getting smaller, Chrome taking its place.
Score: 1
|I've spent a fair amount of time between IE8, FF 3.5, Opera 10 beta and RC, and Chromium versions 3 and now 4. For the most part, FF has been my mainstay, in large part because of the invaluable extensions available. However, I have to say the shear speed of Chromium is addictive, and no it's not merely "all in my head." Chromium removes the last palpable bottleneck in my system. Opera is close, but just not as speedy. And for me, Opera just seems somehow "weird." Sometimes I get frustrated with the lack of plugins available for Chromium and go back to Firefox, but keep coming back to the new browser.
Score: 1
|Faster your internet connection the better, would matter what browser you use. Mozilla Firefox in my opinion is the best browser because of security and useful addons also it is fast.
Score: -1
|Which plugins do you prize for FF that Opera doesn't already have built in?
Score: 0
|How about we ignore plugins and talk about core functionality:
Auto-complete (Notes is NOT a substitute for proper auto-complete)
Password Editing
3rd Party Add-in Support
Proper form filling
Score: -1
|as soon as you start adding a bunch of extentions firefox becomes LESS secure then IE, Opera remains the most secure browser, part of why i use it and will keep using it.
another part is the ease of tweaking the browsers layout, i keep my tabs and addy bar at the BOTTEM, I know, it sounds weird, but once you start using it this way you dont want to go back :)
I can live with slitly slower speed with java for the better tab creation speed and other features opera offers OUT OF THE BOX that do not have any negitive effect on security(like ff extentions)
opera10 all the way :D
Score: 0
|If you go to options -> wand or password manager and fill in your info opera will remember it for every website you visit, as if you have already visited them all.
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