Chrome, Edge and Firefox browsers: the worst and most popular

Comparison test of the new version of Edge with Chrome and Firefox

Microsoft has changed its traditional technical route with its new Edge browser. It is curious: Does the new version of Edge based on Google Chromium have an advantage over the strong competitors Chrome and Firefox? In order to answer this question, the German professional magazine PC Magazin conducted a comprehensive comparison test on three mainstream browsers.

Comparison test of the new version of Edge with Chrome and Firefox

Test the speed of 3 browsers with Basemark 3.0 Web Benchmark

Microsoft has challenged Google with its new version of the Edge browser: We use your technology to build a better or even the best browser. Was the challenge successful? The new version of Edge needs to win or at least prove its value in comparison with Chrome and Firefox.

All 3 browsers have completed performance and security tests, including Jetstream2, Motion Mark, Speedometer, Basemark and WebXPRT3. In addition, test engineers used Panopticlick and Evercookie websites to test anti-tracking measures, and Sysinternals (Microsoft) Process Explorer to measure system memory consumption.

The testers used each browser to open 4 websites and waited for the occupied memory space to stabilize, then compared the various functions of the 3 browsers and gave scores to important functions.

Google Chrome Review

advantage

Safety
Update frequently

Disadvantage

Lack of ad rejection and anti-tracking features
Go deep into the underlying settings to surf anonymously on the Internet

in conclusion

PC Magazin/connect test result: Moderate (69%)

Tests show that Google Chrome had to give way to the challenger Edge. Both in terms of performance and system memory usage, Microsoft browser beats Google browser, even though the two competitors are actually based on the same technology.

In addition, in terms of features, Google is also far behind, because Chrome lacks Edge’s ad-rejection and anti-tracking features. Although you can browse relatively anonymously using Google products, you must go deep into the bottom layer to set it up.

Chrome also has shortcomings in terms of convenience and comfort: for example, the reading mode can only be activated through a command in the command line. In contrast, Edge provides many fascinating features, such as the Collections function-collecting interesting links and text paragraphs when searching online.

Chrome is one of the safest browsers on the market and will be updated frequently. Since almost all common browsers are based on Chromium technology, Chrome is a very compatible browser, and of course the new version of Edge is also.

to sum up

Chrome ranked last with moderate performance and poor features (especially inadequate privacy protection).

Microsoft Edge Review

advantage

By default, forwarding of anonymous usage reports is disabled
Effectively block the expansion of known spies and malware
Reading function
Start with your favorite website as an application

Disadvantage

There are only 3 preset options for blocking tracking and advertising
Allow third-party cookies by default

in conclusion

PC Magazin/connect test result: good (75%)

Obviously, Edge is using new technology: Contrary to the previous version, Microsoft’s new version of the browser has clearly won the performance comparison test with competitors.

In terms of system memory usage, the new version of Edge is also quite frugal, second only to Firefox. In the Panopticlick test, Edge also performed well and was able to block all trackers.

However, in terms of protecting privacy, Microsoft repeated the mistakes made by Internet Explorer. It can’t allow users to set the tracking and advertising features that they want to prevent like Firefox. He must choose between the three unclear options “simple”, “balanced” and “strict”.

Another unfortunate thing is that third-party cookies are allowed by default. Like Chrome, Edge cannot turn off hyperlink review. The browser informs the website visitor of the link to reach the website-this is what a web analyst wants.

One measure worthy of praise is to turn off the forwarding of anonymous usage reports by default. In addition, blocking the expansion of known spyware and malware is also effective.

In short: Compared with the previous version, the new version of Edge based on Chromium can significantly improve its security performance, but it can’t keep up with Firefox. However, Microsoft’s new browser has made many improvements in convenience and comfort, such as at least a dark mode (Dark Mode), so that users can protect their eyes.

The reading function is also very good. In addition, you can start your favorite website as an application. To this end, Edge created a shortcut on the desktop that directly linked to the site. The website opens in a streamlined browser window with no controls, so it looks almost like your own application.

Edge also has a convenient function for exchanging web links. This allows you to forward the URL to Microsoft products such as Cortana, OneNote, or Skype, or to your own smartphone.

to sum up

With performance advantages and protecting users from tracking and advertising harassment, Microsoft’s new version of Edge is the new rival of Google Chrome.

Mozilla’s Firefox Review

advantage

Hyperlink review
By default, turn off third-party cookies from social networks
Password manager with master password
Very little memory footprint

Disadvantage

Poor performance
Unable to create any rules for web sites
Lack of blocking functions for harmful extensions

in conclusion

PC Magazin/connect test result: good (79%)

In the test, Firefox especially gained a lot of points for its good privacy protection features, and its latest version can even resist fingerprint enrollment. Fingerprint enrollment is a technology through which the tracker on the network can identify the user’s browser based on the user’s technical characteristics (such as screen resolution, operating system used, or installed extensions).

Firefox is the only browser among the three that can turn off the hyperlink review function (that is, forwarding link pages), and is also the only browser that blocks certain third-party cookies (such as from social networks) under default settings.

Another unique selling point of Firefox is a password manager with a master password. In terms of convenience and comfort, Firefox can also rival the two rivals. It can read text aloud in reading mode and has a picture-in-picture function.

Firefox has some shortcomings in terms of performance, ranking behind Edge together with Chrome. But in terms of memory usage, Firefox is the most economical of the three browsers.

Another disadvantage of Firefox

Another disadvantage of Firefox is that users cannot create any rules for web sites, such as blocking JavaScript. But these rules have long been popular in the Chromium browser. Firefox users can only help themselves through the many powerful extensions in the Mozilla Add-on-Shop.

Considering the existence of a large number of extension software (Add-ons), blocking harmful extension software is a feature that people expect (Edge and Chrome have). In addition, Firefox cannot limit the license of the extension to certain specific sites-this feature is already provided by the Chromium browser.

to sum up

Firefox has won the duel between the three top browsers with its good security, convenience and comfort, but only showed insufficient performance in terms of performance.

Comparison test conclusion

Firefox won the comparative test ahead of Edge. This is mainly due to the special emphasis on safety functions in testing. In this regard, Mozilla browser has an absolute advantage, so it makes up for the lack of performance.

Edge ranks second, ahead of Chrome, and is notable for its outstanding performance and beautiful features (such as reading aloud, setting favorite websites as a pseudo-application). In addition, users can use Microsoft’s new version of the browser to simultaneously operate two extended software online shops-Chrome Shop and Microsoft Shop. Although the latter is not rich enough, after all, there are extensions such as uBlock Origin. It is worth mentioning that Edge provides interesting features for company users, such as being able to use Bing to search the company’s intranet. In any case, Microsoft is driving on the right path in order to make the new version of Edge an attractive standard browser.

Compared with competitors, Google products seem lackluster. Chrome does not have special features that distinguish itself from the other two browsers, and its performance is moderate. This is why Chrome ranks last in the comparison test.

The worst browser is the most popular

Market share of browsers used in desktop/laptop computers in August 2020

Statistics in July 2020 show that Chrome has absolutely monopolized the browser market with a market share of more than 71% for the first time. However, in the past August, Chrome’s market share fell slightly to 70.8%.

This is because Microsoft’s new version of Edge is growing steadily. Its market share reached 8.52% last month, an increase from July, and it continues to maintain its second place.

In third place is Firefox, which has been suffering from a continuous decline in the number of users since Microsoft released a new version of the browser-its latest market share dropped from 7.36% in July to 7.11% in August. It can be seen that the market share of Chrome, the third in the test, is 4.5 times that of the sum of Edge and Firefox.

If the browsers used by smartphones and tablets are also included, the top 10 most commonly used browsers on desktop/laptop computers, smartphones and tablets and their global market share in August 2020 are shown in the figure below.