Fakt faktem, FF ma ogromną bazę wtyczek i spore community, i te dwie rzeczy to wszystko co jeszcze trzyma tą przeglądarkę na rynku. Pod względem szybkości i wydajności nie dość, że wyleciał z czołówki, to teraz jeszcze wyprzedza go IE. Community Chrome'a rozwija się cholernie szybko, wtyczki powstają na potęgę, spokojnie w tej kwestii za jakiś czas przegonią FF. Opera właśnie dzisiaj ogłosiła, że od najbliższej wersji będzie obsługiwała wtyczki, w dodatku są nastawieni na łatwe portowanie z innych przegladarek. A wynik 10.7 z rysunku wyżej to zasługa caracana, o którym polecam sobie poczytać:
Four years ago, Opera Software lit the fuse that sparked the whole "speed is good" argument in the Web browser field. But Mozilla, Google, and Apple all answered back, leaving Opera behind as an also-ran, even fueling speculation that Opera could just simply quit. IndyCar fans will appreciate this analogy: If Firefox 3.5 was Danica Patrick, Opera 9 was Milka Duno.
Then last spring, Opera changed drivers, changed engines, and changed everything. It introduced a JavaScript engine code-named Carakan that replaced its stack-based processing system with a full slate of registers and a bytecode generator, which is the difference between a pocket calculator and an iPhone. Suddenly Opera had an engine with the ability to digest JavaScript into native code for processors, one big step ahead of the intermediate bytecode that managed code interpreters typically produce. When Opera first announced Carakan in February 2009, developers promised the ability to effectively digest entire segments of JavaScript programs into something that resembled assembly language.
Opera's developers have been more quiet these days than they were last year, but based on what we're seeing from the snapshots, it's because they're very busy. Ingenus' tests indicate that those "entire segments" of code selected for heavy pre-digestion, in the next version 10.7, will include many of the open source JavaScript libraries used by Web apps developers to generate world-class, in-browser applications such as word processors, photo paint utilities, and even movie editors. Web developers who build AJAX apps that listen for local events are adopting the jQuery library more and more; and Opera 10.7's performance with jQuery and several other libraries is nothing short of astonishing.
For its latest tests, Ingenus re-engineered the open source SlickSpeed selectors test to account for the newest versions of JS libraries, and also to give each one more of a workout. The new test battery, which you can see and try for yourself on this page, gauges the amount of time it takes for a browser to process 64 different standard CSS3 selectors, both natively and with the aid of the most recent versions of ten different libraries including jQuery, the popular MooTools, and the latest build of selector engine Sizzle by jQuery creator John Resig.
Opera 10.7's SlickSpeed scores are nothing short of astonishing. Here's the full scale of it in a nutshell: Not long ago, the average CSS3 selector took the jQuery library about 250 ms to execute. When Microsoft unexpectedly threw its support behind jQuery, it improved IE8's performance with that library to approach par for the course. Now IE8 executes a selector with jQuery 1.4.2 in 228.72 ms. Firefox 3.0.19 (the index browser) takes 171.9 ms on average, and Firefox 3.6.10 accelerates that speed all the way to 39.83 ms.
Throwing down the gauntlet, Google Chrome's performance with jQuery of late has seen posted times of between 11 and 12 ms, which just last month would be called astonishing. Opera 10.62 performs well at 20.34 ms, but well behind even Apple Safari 5.0.2 at 16.02 ms.
Here's where Opera 10.7 picks up the gauntlet and throws it overboard, posting an average time of 3.69 ms on average. Other libraries also share in Opera's switch from impulse to warp drive: Sencha's Ext 3.2.1 JS library performance boosts from 20.66 ms (10.62) to 2.98 ms (10.7); NWMatcher 1.2.2 performance surges from 19.79 ms (10.62) to 3.61 ms (10.7); and Resig's Sizzle library finds its powder keg, blasting from 19.4 ms (10.62) to 3.1 ms (10.7).
It's surges like these that lead to Opera 10.7's unbelievable relative score of 20.407 on the new SlickSpeed battery, compared to its nearest rival, the latest stable Google Chrome 6.0.472.63 with 8.822. The latest daily development build of Firefox 4 Beta 8 (less stable than the "public" Beta 6, though still openly downloadable) manages only 3.353 on this same battery.
Next: Opera 10.7's play for efficiency...
Przyszłość FF nie wygląda zbyt kolorowo.
