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Microsoft Says Edge is Still More Power Efficient than Chrome and Firefox (neowin.net)

An anonymous reader quotes Neowin: Every time Microsoft releases a Windows 10 feature update, it runs some efficiency tests to prove that its Edge browser is significantly faster than the competition, which includes Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Then the company posts the detailed results on its Windows blog and YouTube channel, boasting about the power efficiency of its browser. Even though the company still has run battery tests, it has remained strangely silent about them, posting about it on GitHub only. While many thought that Microsoft's silence on the matter was due to Edge finally losing to the competition, it appears that this is not the case.

As spotted by Paul Thurrott, Microsoft has indeed run efficiency tests for Edge in Windows 10 version 1809, pitting it against the likes of Firefox and Chrome. Through these tests, the company has concluded that Edge lasts 24% longer than Chrome and a massive 94% longer than Firefox on average.

"While Edge appears to have won these efficiency tests easily as well, it is likely that the company did not decide to promote this achievement -- as it has always done previously -- because of the planned abandonment of EdgeHTML in favor of Chromium," the article concludes.

"It will be very interesting to see if Microsoft Edge is able to maintain its battery advantage once the switch to Chromium is complete."

47 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. If only... by bblb · · Score: 4, Funny

    If only it worked as well in the real world as it apparently does in tests.

    1. Re:If only... by jwhyche · · Score: 2

      Wouldn't this be the truth. I like the concept of Edge. A small little browser with out all the crud. Unfortunately, there are still to many little annoying bugs.

      --
      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
    2. Re:If only... by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      A small little browser with out all the crud.

      Yeah, I don't like CSS, either. Oh, wait!

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    3. Re:If only... by Leslie43 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Unfortunately, there are still to many little annoying bugs.

      Windows 10 is not a bug, it's a feature!

    4. Re:If only... by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

      It makes it even more power efficient since you don't use it.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    5. Re:If only... by KiloByte · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah. They bash Firefox as "slow" while it's the only browser among these three that can discard a meaningful part of ads and tracking. _All_ people I care about see no ads (either by being tech-minded on their own, or by having someone set it up for them), so a realistic test should have no ads and trackers included.

      And those cause more than 90% of slowness.

      Right now (family home), I'm sitting on a 32-bit Pentium4 with an ancient monitor, while the good monitor and 4294967296 SoCs sit unused (long story...), and Firefox works pretty adequately. Also got a super-restricted new laptop (Thinkpad T480) with me -- Chrome on it is _slower_ than Firefox on the P4.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    6. Re: If only... by drewsup · · Score: 1

      My windows 8.1 phone runs fast, of course I cant actually DO much with it other than make calls, ( apps unsupported, internet explorer cant be upgraded) but it runs fast, so there's that... Is this the same thing Microsoft ? Because like your phones, your browser has been left in the dust. If it wasn't for Office, and old IE dependent programs left out there, MS would be in the dustbin of history...

    7. Re:If only... by Deathlizard · · Score: 3, Informative

      To be fair I haven't run into game ending flaws in rendering using Edge recently, but that not the reason I don't use it. The main reason why I use Firefox (and Chrome) over Edge is it's user interface. Edge's interface is broken, idiot designed and needs to die in a fire.

      For example. I use a lot of bookmarks. The way I use them is I add the bookmarks toolbar, create a folder (IE: news, weather, games, etc) and then bookmark each site in the respected folder and sort them top to bottom from most to least used. Chrome, Firefox, even IE does this correctly while Edge still struggles to do this right. At first you couldn't even put a folder in the bar, then you could but couldn't sort them. Then you could sort then but the sync would sort them backwards, or worse duplicate them. Then sync stopped working altogether. then it would cut off long names, ETC

      On top of all that, they even got clicking on the folders wrong. In Chrome and Firefox, you click on a folder, the folder opens, and then you can just highlight other folders to see their contents. in Edge (and IE) you click on a folder and then have to double click the next folder (one click to close the one you were in. Another click to open the one you're currently on) to open it, which slows you down and is infuriating. This simple UI adjustment would make Edge almost on par with it's peers in usability and ease of use.

      This is just one of many stupid decisions they made to the user interface. I haven't even started on History management, extension issues and other UI things. To be fair some of them have been fixed over time (like importing and exporting bookmarks from other browsers since you'll be doing that a lot because sync is broken and using extensions with inprivate browsing) but there's still a lot to be desired.

      Simply put, If they would fix the interface issues instead of focusing on idiotic useless features like "I CAN DRAW ON THE SCREEN!!" they might have been a little more competitive.

    8. Re:If only... by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      So add an extension. Problem solved. Not everything needs to be (or should be) in the core.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    9. Re:If only... by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      Of course it's more power efficient, it's a zombie, they require no energy at all to keep moving.

    10. Re:If only... by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      Not everything needs to be (or should be) in the core.

      But... but... how would you use Pocket, Snippets or Reader Mode?

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  2. Strange... by beheaderaswp · · Score: 1, Interesting

    After all these years I have a hard time understanding why "browser wars" are still a thing.

    We've got plenty of options and more perhaps coming.

    --
    Another consultant who stuck it out.

    "We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx..."
    1. Re:Strange... by Anrego · · Score: 1

      Right.
      I mean people having strong preferences is fair. The web browser gets a lot of use, and minor things can make a big difference in experience.
      But who cares what everyone else is using. We're (at least mostly) past the point where it really matters. As long as no one gets enough market share where they can just start making shit up again like in the good ol' ie6 days, it shouldn't matter.

    2. Re:Strange... by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 1

      There have been three major options... IE/Edge (they are just different versions of the same engine, and I have personally seen them share bugs), Chrome, and Firefox. With Edge gone that may downgrade the engine to rarely used (since IE and any IE/Edge reskins can still use it), leaving us with just Chrome and Firefox. Easier for web developers as well as malware developers: a double-edged sword.

    3. Re:Strange... by ArhcAngel · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You're looking at the war from the wrong direction. History showed us what happens when a strong player in the market decides to implement special features without a standards bodies blessing. Web sites start using the feature making all other browsers behave badly on their site. Which drives users to the browser that works on the site. There are companies literally still using IE 6 because their mission critical intranet application will not work on any other browser. Fast forward to today. Google is the dominant player and Chrome is full of new features that have not been submitted to a W3C or any other standards group. Google is hoping to further edge out (pun intended) the competition. The war is for market share and there are real dollars on the line.

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    4. Re:Strange... by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 1

      Said the one guy in the thread who doesn't know what Chromium is.

    5. Re:Strange... by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

      No, one less coming. Browser development is way out of the realm of open source hackers. CSS and JavaScript are complicated, and that's ignoring optimization. Mozilla has fought this for years, and they were funded by Google all that time (clown shoes). Big money is where it's at now.

    6. Re:Strange... by StormReaver · · Score: 2

      Browser development is way out of the realm of open source hackers.

      That is very amusing, considering that Blink, the rendering engine in Chromium, is descended from Webkit, which is descended from KHTML, which is the rendering engine created by Open Source hackers for KDE's Konqueror Web browser.

      Blink is Open Source, so a skilled Open Source hacker could have a working Web browser running in a weekend if he really wanted to. Its rendering accuracy would rival Chrome and Firefox right out of the gate, so said hacker's job would be the usability of the Web browser rather than the nuts and bolts of getting pages to render right.

      One common renderer usable by anyone for anything is what we Web developers have been clamoring for in the last twenty five years.

    7. Re:Strange... by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      The ability to still control a browser, OS and block all ads and tracking.
      Thats what's its an OS and browser apart from "renting" as OS for "free" as a user.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    8. Re:Strange... by markdavis · · Score: 1, Informative

      >"After all these years I have a hard time understanding why "browser wars" are still a thing. We've got plenty of options and more perhaps coming."

      No we don't. We had four major browsers: IE, Firefox, Chrome/Chromium, and Safari. Everything else is now barely noise on a graph. Of those 4, only TWO are multiplatform (Firefox, Chrome) and open source (Firefox, Chromium). And only one (Firefox) is open development, browser-only company, open-source, and multiplatform.

      Google's hard-core Chrome marketing efforts (and Mozillia necessary overhaul of Firefox) have decimated Firefox (despite its now fantastic performance and modern abilities). And now Microsoft is almost handing their browser to Google.

      Make no mistake thinking you really have choice- I actually came across more than one site now that is NOT programmed to open/neutral standards and have become, essentially, "Chrome only" sites. Yes, flashback time. What is that site? Cox Communications. Now you can't even RESET YOUR ACCOUNT PASSWORD IN FIREFOX OR SAFARI. YOU MUST USE CHROME (and hours on the phone with tech support verified this insanity). And this is my ISP! So if you thought this kind of stuff was in the past (like I did), wake up and smell the new IE6.

      So, no, depending on your needs and platform, your *effective* "choice" is rapidly disappearing.

  3. Who Cares? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A browser that is so dysfunctional that no one uses it, who cares how efficient or fast it is?

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    1. Re:Who Cares? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      One interesting thing to note from the testing methodology though:

      Windows Update was temporarily disabled

      Okay Microsoft, I need to verify your results. How do I disable Windows Update completely?

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. Cue "Roll Safe Meme": by SeaFox · · Score: 1

    Your browser can't use much battery power on laptops...

    ...if no one ever uses it.

  5. If edge is so good by renegade600 · · Score: 1

    why is microsoft building a new edge browser using chromium?

  6. Is it really more power efficient? by Solandri · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Most of the time I run CCleaner on my laptop, I get a message saying it needs to close Edge to clean its cache files. I don't use Edge. So apparently Microsoft has gamed it so Edge runs in the backround even if you don't use it.

    That makes me wonder about the tests where Edge "beats" other browsers in power consumption. Maybe they were actually measuring the power consumption of Chrome + Edge, vs only Edge.

    1. Re:Is it really more power efficient? by Gruff+2005 · · Score: 2

      You're right about Edge running in the background, after the last update and going through settings I was surprised to see Edge turned on. I know I had it off plus I never use it, why does it need to be running?

    2. Re:Is it really more power efficient? by espenskaufel · · Score: 1

      I would guess Edge is used in a set of UWP apps and Windows UI elements. That is probably why you those results. As these will be the same for both tests, it shouldn't matter for the results (unless memory consumption is measured).

    3. Re: Is it really more power efficient? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Don't be surprised: Microsoft resets all your settings (and removes manually installed drivers) on every feature update.

    4. Re:Is it really more power efficient? by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Informative

      You're reading too much into it. On Windows 10 UWPs like Edge, the store, Pictures etc don't ever get closed but rather they get suspended. They sit in RAM but are otherwise blocked from executing any task until some external event (e.g. user running the executable) rewakes the process. If the system runs low on memory the suspended processes get dumped.

      This has the effect of only helping initial startup times. These suspended apps don't consume any CPU or power. They only reason they exist at all is because part of superfetch is that it pre-executes these apps so they are ready to go when you need them. Though I wish it wouldn't do it for those apps which are unused.

  7. And... by SurenEnfiajyan · · Score: 1

    yet they want to switch to Chromium engine.

  8. /use/bin/cat is even more efficient by aglider · · Score: 1

    But rendering sucks

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
    1. Re: /use/bin/cat is even more efficient by aglider · · Score: 1

      /bin is a symlink to /usr/bin

      --
      Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
    2. Re: /use/bin/cat is even more efficient by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Not on my system ... why would it?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    3. Re: /use/bin/cat is even more efficient by aglider · · Score: 1
      --
      Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
    4. Re: /use/bin/cat is even more efficient by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      A shame, isn't it?
      Hobbyists messing everything up and calling it "for compatibility sake", wold be funny if it was not so sad.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  9. It all comes down to... by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 2

    shared library shenanigans that boost Edge performance.
    They will switch to Chromium, remove the shenanigans and we're back to zero.

  10. Why by DaMattster · · Score: 1

    Why does Microsoft always double down on the shitty products it makes instead of admit failure, learn a lesson, and move on? Edge is shitty! It has a crappy UI and overall feel. I am NOT going to use it and there is no convincing me otherwise: I don't even like Chrome. I am a Firefox user. I don't even care if Firefox is marginally less resource efficient if it has a good UI and smooth experience.

  11. Still Sucks Though by Bigbutt · · Score: 1

    I bought my girlfriend a Dell laptop for Christmas. She’s a MS SQL DBA primarily and specifically said no MacBook (I’m a Unix Eng and have a MacBook :) ).

    Anyway, not long after getting her laptop up and configured, we removed MacAfee, it would popup every few minutes insisting she purchase the product, and then after hunting for a few things on the ‘net and having trouble with Edge’s results, asked me which browser I recommended. I had her install chrome even though I use Firefox (I’m used to the development console on firefox).

    [John]

    --
    Shit better not happen!
  12. irony... by Espectr0 · · Score: 1

    is that they are probably going to lose the power efficiency advantage once they switch to chrome's engine.

    i like the idea of having a barebones light browser that just renders good webpages. kinda like the original phoenix was supposed to do

  13. ms free by NikeHerc · · Score: 1

    Thanks to Ubuntu, I have been free of the influences of microsoft since July 4th of this year. There is no condition or event that could make me reconsider that decision, so I couldn't possibly care about their browser or o.s. or apps or whatever.

    --
    Circle the wagons and fire inward. Entropy increases without bounds.
  14. But what does the fox say ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... about market share?

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  15. I was expecting it. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    Last May Microsoft hired a bunch of Volkswagen diesel emission control software developers to work on the Edge browser. So it was just a matter of time before it nailed the benchmarks.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  16. Sure it is. by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 1

    Microsoft Says Edge is Still More Power Efficient than Chrome and Firefox

    Microsoft has said a LOT of things; doesn't mean it's a good idea to believe them.

    Also... SO? I don't generally choose which app I use based on energy efficiency. If I did, I'd run GNU/Linux in text-only/CLI mode, and browse the web with Lynx. Or maybe I'd use TWM and some incredibly simple, stripped down browser in an X session... like Lynx.

    Hey, Microsoft... is "Edge" more power efficient than Lynx? (Actually, I suppose it could be. I don't know if Lynx is optimized for power efficiency.)

    --
    Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
  17. Microsoft tweaks Windows to make Chrome look bad? by najajomo · · Score: 2

    Edge lasts 24% longer than Chrome and a massive 94% longer than Firefox on average

    Assuming this to be true, that would mean that Edge renders pages more efficiently that the others. If so, the most plausible reason for this would be that Edge is using different API calls than the rest. If so that would mean Microsoft is cheating on this test. It wouldn't be the first time softwares premier software innovator has done so. There even was a name for this back in the day, Microsoft Undocumentation.

  18. And my Honda Civic uses less gas by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

    ...but you're not going to haul sheets of plywood, or kids to a party, or anyone over 50 in the back seat, for that matter.

    Sure, build a browser with less power, and you'll get more efficiency. Good luck with all the broken sites you'll encounter!

  19. For users, the issue is moot - use what works. by az-saguaro · · Score: 1

    I use four browsers.
    I usually open Firefox as my first choice, but I end up using it about equal with Chrome, and together that is more than 95% of my usage.
    I infrequently, but sometimes, open Edge primarily. However, I allow Edge to remain as the OS default browser, so when I click on a link in an email or some other extra-browser origin, it opens in Edge. Thus, I use Edge with some regularity, but only for brief take-a-looks, and if I intend to play around at that website or save pages, I copy the url and open it in Chrome of Firefox.
    I also use Cliqz, built on Firefox, for more sensitive browsing.
    And. once in a blue moon, I use IE last version when pages will not load correctly elsewhere.

    I have no special allegiance or favoritism to any single browser. just using whatever is convenient at the moment.
    Several interesting observations (to me at least) come from this experience.

    1 - When MS fought and won the browser wars and vanquished Netscape, they had a product that worked and people wanted. I know all of the history and arguments and reasons against Internet Explorer (non-standardized features, poor security, unfair business practices), but for users, it was robustly featured, useful, and dependable. I am not defending MS or IE, but it makes me wonder how MS could sink so low from where they once were, the Gods of internet software, and now they can hardly make a Dick-and-Jane level product lacking in all of the features that made IE compelling in the earlier days.

    2 - Edge is not so entirely awful as many people like to complain about. On the other hand it is terrible in many ways. For instance, you cannot save a webpage from Edge. By using it to open email links and other trivial things, I get to keep an eye on whether it is improving, but not much progress. BUT, now and then there are pages that will not open or render properly on the other browsers but do so perfectly on Edge. One post here wonders if MS is using hidden or non-standard API's, so some pages written for Edge work but trash or crash elsewhere. While such practices, if true, would be disgraceful, it points out that in order to smoothly sail the Internet, having all browsers handy is what you need.

    3 - Edge can excel. On example that affected me this month concerns reading large PDF's. I am working on a manuscript that has about 800 pages and numerous graphics. In pdf format, which is a large file, Adobe Acrobat reader crashes, and others render slowly or choppy. Edge handles monster pdf's with grace and speed. Even if Edge does nothing else well, that alone makes it a worthy tool.

    4 - By the way, I also this week downloaded some huge pdf's from other sites (scans of historical works), each pdf on the order of 1 GB. Firefox uniformly trashed every one of those pdf's when downloading and saving them, corrupted files not reparable with any pdf repair utility. However, Chrome handled every one flawlessly. Likewise Google maps - Chrome does maps well, Firefox chokes. So, even when it comes to Firefox versus Chrome, neither is perfect. This brings us back to the important idea above - having all browsers handy is what you need.

    One post here recounts how MS won the browser wars in part by creating non-standard features that made a lot of web pages unreadable on standards-compliant browsers, and that now Google is doing the same. It would be nice if every company released products that were strictly standards compliant, but if they did so, there would be no distinction between the products, and thus no competition or advancement. As irritating and aggravating as some of the companies and their products and practices are at times, you have to decide if you want to campaign against the crappy this or that product, object on principles, or just accept that all do a good job with some things, and all are dogs in some ways.

    Have all of the browsers installed, and have all accessible from a shortcut, and when one does not render or save a page properly, try the next and then the next if needs be. No single browser can handle the whole internet, regardless what their marketing people say or what each of us thinks about the way things ought to be. Having all three just a click away makes your computing life workable.

  20. fool me once by roc97007 · · Score: 1

    I haven't brought up Edge at all ever. I won't willingly use a Microsoft browser again, except briefly to download an alternative browser. (and Windows 10 still for some odd reason has Internet Explorer, which I keep hearing is obsolete.) Microsoft has proven to my satisfaction in past years that they have no intention of creating a browser that adheres to industry standards, except by the market-speak that "we're Microsoft, whatever we decide to do is an industry standard".

    Fastest browser? I don't care. Firefox is fast enough and it's far more likely to do what I expect. Best battery life? Still don't care. In my workflow, only a small fraction of my time is spent in a browser, and that's usually only to check my work.

    There is always that small urge to try something new, but it's Microsoft -- again, they can't be depended upon to follow standards -- so any time I spend with a Microsoft browser is likely to be a waste.

    It's just not worth it. Sorry Microsoft, you've already shat your bed. Putting on a new comforter doesn't do anything about the smell.

    And I'll tell you what. Windows 10 continually begging me to try Edge instead because it's faster, or please please please try Cortana or try some other feature I have no interest in, only makes me long for the day when the last few Windows-only apps in my workflow finally have viable Linux alternatives, so I can at long last leave Windows and all its whining behind.

    An operating system manages resources and loads applications. I don't want it to be my friend or to help me shop or suggest places I could go on the internet. To the degree it does those things, I feel compelled to find a different operating system.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.