Microsoft released build 10240 to the fast and slow rings today, testing out the production channels that consumers will receive Windows 10 through when it launches July 29th. This build is also notable as it is the first RTM build to go out to Insiders. Along with the typical changes, Microsoft noted a number of improvements to its replacement for Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge.
Microsoft's Gabe Aul, provided the statistics below, showing a definite increase in speeds:
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On WebKit Sunspider, Edge is 112% faster than Chrome
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On Google Octane, Edge is 11% faster than Chrome
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On Apple JetStream, Edge is 37% faster than Chrome
In the latest blog post, he noted that Edge outperforms Safari and Chrome both at each of the companies respective benchmarks adding that team is "pleased with those performance gains". Of course we have known of Edge's impressive performance, even before its name christening.
The SunSpider 1.0.2 results for the new version of Edge in Build 10240 rated it as nearly 1.4 times faster than Edge in the previous Build, 10166. Upon comparing this new version to the latest version of Chrome (43.0.2357.134), we find another significant boost compared to awhile back with the result showing Edge being 2.57 times faster than Chrome when it comes to JavaScript performance.
It's worth mentioning Chrome still has the edge (pun intended) when it comes to HTML5. A simple test using html5test.com gave Chrome of score of 526 out of 555, with Edge receiving comparatively low score of 402. Regardless, this is a major improvement over Internet Explorer 11 which scored 336.
Overall, it's great to see improvements in the browser and the performance improvements show Microsoft made the right call when it decided to put Internet Explorer on the back burner in favor of a newer, more modern browser and engine. There are still a lot of improvements we would like to see such as extension support and an improved HTML5 score. Microsoft has already said that it has a lot of plans in its pipeline, but with Windows 10 set to launch soon, it looks like we will be playing the waiting the game before we see any major new features.
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