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Microsoft Says Edge Browser Is More Power-Efficient Than Chrome (windows.com)
An anonymous reader writes: It's no secret that Google's Chrome browser eats up a considerable amount of memory (and by extension, battery). On Monday, Microsoft announced that its Edge browser has succeeded on that front. Citing several tests, Microsoft claims Edge browser is a better choice for portable device owners. The company took four identical laptops running Windows 10 to see which of the four most popular browsers would be most efficient when it comes to battery life. Interestingly, Chrome was the first to kill the laptop in the video streaming test at 4 hours and 19 minutes. Firefox closely followed its rival at 5 hours and 9 minutes, while Opera (running on the same tech as Chrome) managed to hit 6 hours and 18 minutes. In Microsoft's tests, it was found that Edge was best of the bunch when it came to enjoying a video online, lasting for 7 hours and 22 minutes. That's worked out to be 70% longer than Chrome.In a blog post, Microsoft wrote: "We designed Microsoft Edge from the ground up to prioritize power efficiency and deliver more battery life, without any special battery saving mode or changes to the default settings. Our testing and data show that you can simply browse longer with Microsoft Edge than with Chrome, Firefox, or Opera on Windows 10 devices."
Stop trying to make "Edge" happen. It's not going to happen.
And Lynx was the most power-efficient of them all.
I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of killer sig, which this margin is too narrow to contain.
"Microsoft Says Edge Browser Is More Power-Efficient Than Chrome"
But then almost anything is more power-efficient than Windows. So Chrome on Linux probably beats Edge on Windows hands down. Propaganda is largely a matter of choosing what you want to emphasize and being carefully not to mention anything else.
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
Maybe it's faster when comparing to stock Chrome, but I'd bet that you throw an Adblocker on Chrome and it blows Edge's socks off in real-world usage. Since there are no add-ons for Edge, it's dead in the water.
The very first thing I do on my Win10 machines is to use Edge to go to the Chrome download page. Then I turn it off, unpin it, never open it again and set Chrome as my default browser. About 2 minutes in from Chrome startup, it starts using more and more power than Edge ever will on that machine. I can safely say it has now used north of 100kWh than Edge on those machines. And will happily increase.
They pick a bench mark test, run it, profile the code, and optimize it to beat the test. Sort of like how car companies tout a huge EPA MPG and then weasel out saying your mileage might vary. The real test would be to record normal browsing habits or a large cross section of people, and then repeat exactly the same mouse clicks and key board input to various browsers and then check the battery endurance.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Just think how much more efficient it could be if it didn't have to drag all that telemetry baggage with it all the time!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
"Microsoft Says Edge Browser Is More Power-Efficient Than Chrome"
Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy motherfucker.
They weren't even browsing. They were playing a video. They tested the power consumption of the -video player- and claimed it was great test of the -browser-. Why did they release this test? Probably because the ones that involved browsing showed Edge to be a major loser.
In my experience, functionality trumps cpu cycle efficiency. Also, MS's test are likely rigged in favor of their browser. (like in most other industries to be fair). It's curious how notice the Vivaldi browser wasn't included in these benchmarks, which is the fastest browser I've tried to date. MS seems so desperate to be relevant in a tech sector they have been consistently losing ground on for YEARS, first to Firefox, then to chrome. Even with a rigged OS favoring Edge/Bing, MS can't seem to shake the shadow of Google or Mozilla. Their investors should be demanding that they shop in this futile battle, and try something that is actually groundbreaking where they MIGHT have a chance to dominate if they get in before some smart 3rd university student get's in on the action. :D
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
Unfortunately, most users buy into the Microsoft propaganda machine, hook, line and sinker.
If Microsoft is crowing only about power usage, it is an implicit admission that the Edge browser really sucks at everything else, like browsing, its main purpose in life.
Personally, I am wondering how the results would stack up with Opera thrown in with the power saving mode turned on.
The article points out that Edge does pretty darn well without the need for any power saving mode. Like, ok, but perhaps it makes sense to have a full featured, powerful browser (which Opera is becoming again, though for a long time that was really questionable) with the ability to flip a switch that reduces the "power" (reducing activity of background tabs, wake CPU less often, pause unused extensions, etc) and increases battery life. Also there's the built in ad-blocker, which I'd think would substantially reduce power consumption.
Please re-run the test.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and benchmarks." --- Jon "Maddog" Hall, Atlanta, GA, 1999
Finding God in a Dog
First sentence of summary is a MASSIVE FAIL. Using RAM is not what wastes power. Using CPU wastes power.
We use Firefox, because it's customizable, can open a shit-load of tabs. The constant bitch about Firefox's GUI|Australis by a handful of users - is so a NON-ISSUE. Australis is more customizable than Firefox 4. Full Stop. Any missing "bars" can be added back - easily, incl additional addon-bars (as many as you want), status bar, bookmark bars. You need a bar? Firefox has you covered.
Edge is about as useful as the Windows Store.
One of the main problems with Firefox is they have put in next to zero effort to making it nice for enterprises to deploy and manage. Sure there are third-party group policy templates and you can get special builds from other sites with commercial support etc but Google and MS give you that free and properly maintained.
I like Firefox personally and use it. But I don't deploy it to users as a first or even second choice as that's just going to generate work in maintaining and support calls.
If Mozilla don't get this, that users get familiar with what they use at work and then use that at home they are failing to understand people.
The home user was always very relevant but it's a changing environment. I would be sad to see Firefox end up the shambles that was the demise of Netscape Navigator.
Edge is just not finding a place. It feels kinda beta and is not cohesive in the way you would expect... is there even an Edge for mobile devices? Edge is probably better described by what it isn't than what it is. And that's a dull place of forgotten IE icons burried where you go as a last resort after you try chrome and firefox. Probably for the 5 people left with a Lumia or windows phone but I've yet to see it on Android. Firefox is there, it may be far from the usage of Chrome on Android but at least it's there at all.
Edge and plugins is something they need to sort out fast. No plugins is a death knell for many home users.