10-27-00
We recently ran a series
of tests on Web browsers for the Mac. These tests included
benchmarks of common functions: downloading, page rendering,
scrolling etc. One of the tests was Java performance where Netscape
fell seriously behind the competition, performing 5 times as
slow. The latest incarnation of Netscape, version 4.76, added
the option of using Mac
OS Runtime for Java, or MRJ for short. By default, Netscape
still uses its own Java implementation. To use MRJ (currently
at version 2.2.3) you will need to download
MRJ from the Apple site as well as the required MRJ
plugin off the Mozilla site. The plugin, at version 1.0b1
as of this writing, is functional but not officially supported.
We ran several Java applets in addition to the test applet without
a hitch. If you do find a bug with the beta plugin you can file
a report on the Bugzilla
site. To use the plugin you simply check the appropriate
box in the "advanced" preference panel.
To perform our Java benchmarks, we used the online test CaffeineMark
3.0 from Pendragon Software. CaffieneMark tests 9 different
aspects of the Java virtual machine, returning scores based
on the number of instructions executed within a given time
limit. Visit this
page for specific information on each test. The results
of these tests are posted below along with the final score
assigned by CaffieneMark. Our tests were run an a Wallstreet
PowerBook with a Newer Technology G3/466 upgrade card installed.
Look for a review of this card in the near future. The PowerBook
has 128MB RAM installed and is running OS 9.0.4, MRJ 2.2.3
and the MRJ plugin 1.0b1.
We ran CaffeineMark three times for each configuration and
averaged the resulting scores. We then made the scores relative
to the MRJ 2.2.3 setup which was assigned a score of 100%.
Higher scores are better for all tests and, as you can see
below, MRJ 2.2.3 easily bested the other setups on all tests.
While we didn't expect any significant differences, we tested
Netscape 4.75 for the sake of comparison. Post your comments
on these scores below.
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