We have just covered the two new browsers, and a few days have passed. Now we have yet another one around, tossing its name in the goblet. So I decided to summarize the three tests in one post.
The test for all three browsers was the same. It is a really quick end user test to see if our app fails at basic operations, such as browsing the content repository or editing portlets. The app we used for testing is the AJAX based GUI of our open source Portal & ECMS.
In our test we used the following versions:
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Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 (exact version 8.0.6001.18241)
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Mozilla 3.1 (codename Minefield, exact version 3.1a2pre)
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Google Chrome (the very first version that could be downloaded: 0.2.149.27)
The app we used for testing has been optimized to be compatible, and runs pretty well on IE7, Mozilla 3.0 and Safari, both on Windows and on a Mac.
Here is the summary of the test, which included ten functions you can not miss to use the software. The test was conducted in order of appearance.
| Sense/Net Portal Engine TNG function | Minefield (Firefox 3.1) | IE8 beta | Google Chrome |
| PRC drag and drop | OK, faster and smoother, works fine | Not continuous | OK, fast & smooth |
| PRC functions | OK | OK | OK |
| Page edit mode (Webpart edit mode) | OK, faster, works fine | No drag and drop, (it is also buggy with SharePoint, the target zone does not show up) | Portlet (webpart) drag and drop is slightly buggy |
| Webpart custom editor | OK | Page hidden when dialog is open | OK |
| Portal Explorer load | OK, faster | OK, Faster | OK, fast |
| Portal Explorer tree | OK | Screen flickers, freezes after few clicks | OK, fast |
| Portal Explorer list | OK | Screen flickers, freezes after few clicks | OK |
| Portal Explorer dialogs (copy, move, new) | OK | OK | OK |
| Dialog drag and drop | OK, same as before | OK, same as before | OK |
| Rich text editor) | OK, much faster, absolutely usable | Behaves randomly, unusable, especially when two editors are on the same page | OK, fast, absolutely usable |
| Conclusion: | 10 OKs | 4 OKs | 9 OKs |
The Rich Text Editor works with modified version of TinyMCE. http://tinymce.moxiecode.com
Portal Explorer works with ExtJS. http://extjs.com
In Mozilla 3.1 we experienced no difference. Compared to previous versions, it felt a little bit faster and worked fine. It was not surprisingly fast, except for the Rich Text Editor. Turning Tracemonkey, the Javascript JIT compiler did not significantly affect the user experience.
In the IE8 beta, it was buggy. PRC drag and drop did not work, and the Portal Explorer flashed randomly, freezing after a few clicks. Only F5 helped. The rich text editor was totally unusable.
Google Chrome did really well, except for the Webpart drag and drop, without which you can live for a while. It actually worked for one guy, but did not work for me.
So the Winner of the Triwizard Tournament for Browsers is Firefox, but Google Chrome’s very first public release did extremely well, too. For IE8, we recommend another year in Hogwarts.
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