
Delivering Fast JavaScript Performance in Microsoft Edge - rayshan
http://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2015/05/20/delivering-fast-javascript-performance-in-microsoft-edge/
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mkozlows
The performance boost from IE11 is nice, but the comparisons to other browsers
should be taken with a major grain of salt. Because the thing is, every IE
release has "beat the competition" in benchmarks leading up to its release
(links below).

But the thing is, other browsers don't stand still and IE releases are so
infrequent, that even if IE really is super-fast at release, within six months
it's an also-ran. Maybe Edge will break this pattern? It'd be nice.

IE11, from November 2013:
[http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Benchmarks/sunspider/Defau...](http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Benchmarks/sunspider/Default.html)

IE10, from 2012: [http://www.extremetech.com/internet/140337-ie10-on-
windows-7...](http://www.extremetech.com/internet/140337-ie10-on-
windows-7-benchmarked-how-does-it-fare-against-google-chrome)

IE9, from 2010: [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2010/03/18/the-new-
javasc...](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2010/03/18/the-new-javascript-
engine-in-internet-explorer-9.aspx)

~~~
sgv
While I completely agree that regular releases and an evergreen browser are
extremely important in today's world (and that is the direction that Microsoft
Edge is moving towards), I am not sure what point you were trying to make by
saying that comparison against competition should be with a grain of salt.

All three blogs that you point to talk about SunSpider benchmark (from Apple),
and since IE9, or the day the first blog was published, the story holds true.
Across platforms (32-bit or 64-bit), Microsoft Edge and IE remain as leaders
in that benchmark across all competing browsers. The nearest competitor is
around 40% slower. Here are the nos. across major browsers on SunSpider

MSEdge: 103 FF Nightly : 176 Chrome Canary: 171

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tnuc
And you need to install windows 10 to get the new browser.

Is Microsoft coupling their browser again?

~~~
TheSisb2
It seems like they are. To those people down voting this comment because it
comes off as a snark, it has some merit. Web developers need a new machine
just to test the new IE. We already have to use multiple VMs or some other
solution to test IE6-11 since you can't have more than one IE installed at a
time. This just makes web development that much more difficult since now if a
bug is reported in the new IE the engineer who is assigned that ticket needs
access to that environment. I really hope the Microsoft team gets the hint and
has one IE that is universal, across all OSs, with continued updates (Like
Firefox or Chrome). It's very rare that you actually need to dive into Firefox
versions or Chrome versions, but every IE issue needs the version listed
specifically.

~~~
grrowl
With modern.ie, you get free testing VMs and screenshots of any website
rendered in IE across many devices. To test Safari on Windows, Apple provides
you with many less options (certainly no free browser testing OSX VMs!).

They're going above and beyond to make up for past mistakes, for that I'm
grateful.

~~~
lewisl9029
OSX VMs... Now there's an idea.

I'd be more than willing to pay a large premium for an officially supported
version of OSX that runs in VMware/Virtualbox/Hyper-V/etc. But I suppose it
probably isn't in Apple's best interests to offer one.

~~~
mitchty
It exists now, you just need to run it on an OS X machine running OS X +
Fusion to be legal.

I have vagrant vm's for OS X back to 10.7. You might be able to run esx on a
mac then use vm's that way but I have no idea. In either case what you want
has existed for some time.

~~~
lewisl9029
I should have been more specific. I was hoping for an OS X VM that runs on
host OSes other than OS X.

~~~
mitchty
Technically possible but against the licensing.

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trose
Exciting stuff. It feels really weird for someone to write a blog in which
they discover that 95% of websites use minified JS though. I guess it's nice
to see Microsoft making some progress but you have to wonder what's going on
over there if they seem to clueless to the state of the modern web.

~~~
sgv
My understanding is that the same JavaScript code minified by different
minifiers will produce different performance results across any browser. This
is because minifiers often introduce code patterns that are very different
than the JavaScript code that the devs write. The point being made is not
about being non-aware of the web, but more about ensuring the web runs faster
across different code patterns that are encountered by the JIT compiler while
running the web.

