Recently, a DZone contributor, Brandon Zeuch ran a series of JavaScript tests to put to rest the debate: Which web browser is the 'fastest'?  Here are the results and his anecdotal input:

Here you can see the speed differences between the Windows 7 IE and the Windows 8 Desktop and Metro browser.

I also added Chrome to the test because it is still the fastest browser out today, but IE has improved big time.

Now, from the Start up times IE hasn't changed in desktop mode but in Metro it is much faster.

I am installing Visual Studio 2012 professional for development and will let you know the results on anything we find in there.

Computer Spec.
16 GB RAM
6 core Processor 3.20 GHz

Test Results

Windows 7 Chrome

============================================
RESULTS (means and 95% confidence intervals)
--------------------------------------------
Total:                 222.9ms +/- 1.0%
--------------------------------------------

 3d:                   34.0ms +/- 2.6%
   cube:                9.8ms +/- 4.6%
   morph:              10.9ms +/- 3.7%
   raytrace:           13.3ms +/- 5.1%

 access:               17.4ms +/- 4.4%
   binary-trees:        1.5ms +/- 25.1%
   fannkuch:            7.4ms +/- 5.0%
   nbody:               5.7ms +/- 6.1%
   nsieve:              2.8ms +/- 10.8%

 bitops:               16.6ms +/- 3.0%
   3bit-bits-in-byte:   1.1ms +/- 20.5%
   bits-in-byte:        5.2ms +/- 5.8%
   bitwise-and:         3.3ms +/- 10.5%
   nsieve-bits:         7.0ms +/- 4.8%

 controlflow:           2.4ms +/- 15.4%
   recursive:           2.4ms +/- 15.4%

 crypto:               18.4ms +/- 4.2%
   aes:                 6.9ms +/- 9.1%
   md5:                 5.4ms +/- 6.8%
   sha1:                6.1ms +/- 3.7%

 date:                 20.6ms +/- 2.9%
   format-tofte:       10.0ms +/- 3.4%
   format-xparb:       10.6ms +/- 3.5%

 math:                 18.3ms +/- 1.9%
   cordic:              3.1ms +/- 7.3%
   partial-sums:       11.0ms +/- 0.0%
   spectral-norm:       4.2ms +/- 7.2%

 regexp:                9.3ms +/- 3.7%
   dna:                 9.3ms +/- 3.7%

 string:               85.9ms +/- 1.1%
   base64:              5.3ms +/- 6.5%
   fasta:              10.1ms +/- 2.2%
   tagcloud:           23.9ms +/- 4.1%
   unpack-code:        32.5ms +/- 1.9%
   validate-input:     14.1ms +/- 1.6%




Windows 7 (latest IE)

============================================
RESULTS (means and 95% confidence intervals)
--------------------------------------------
Total: 3679.3ms +/- 0.5%
--------------------------------------------

3d: 454.2ms +/- 1.5%
cube: 185.3ms +/- 2.3%
morph: 137.5ms +/- 1.5%
raytrace: 131.4ms +/- 1.2%

access: 759.6ms +/- 0.9%
binary-trees: 117.2ms +/- 3.4%
fannkuch: 368.3ms +/- 0.5%
nbody: 148.1ms +/- 1.8%
nsieve: 126.0ms +/- 1.0%

bitops: 749.2ms +/- 1.2%
3bit-bits-in-byte: 222.5ms +/- 2.4%
bits-in-byte: 277.9ms +/- 1.2%
bitwise-and: 78.6ms +/- 1.6%
nsieve-bits: 170.2ms +/- 1.7%

controlflow: 175.4ms +/- 1.8%
recursive: 175.4ms +/- 1.8%

crypto: 361.1ms +/- 0.7%
aes: 107.8ms +/- 1.0%
md5: 134.7ms +/- 0.7%
sha1: 118.6ms +/- 1.7%

date: 170.5ms +/- 1.1%
format-tofte: 91.6ms +/- 1.1%
format-xparb: 78.9ms +/- 1.8%

math: 509.2ms +/- 1.2%
cordic: 253.7ms +/- 1.4%
partial-sums: 109.7ms +/- 1.4%
spectral-norm: 145.8ms +/- 1.2%

regexp: 9.9ms +/- 2.3%
dna: 9.9ms +/- 2.3%

string: 490.2ms +/- 0.6%
base64: 63.1ms +/- 1.2%
fasta: 136.0ms +/- 1.1%
tagcloud: 94.1ms +/- 1.4%
unpack-code: 126.9ms +/- 1.6%
validate-input: 70.1ms +/- 1.5%


Windows 8 (desktop mode)
============================================
RESULTS (means and 95% confidence intervals)
--------------------------------------------
Total:                  354.0ms +/- 6.6%
--------------------------------------------

 3d:                    25.5ms +/- 22.7%
   cube:                 7.9ms +/- 17.3%
   morph:                3.6ms +/- 86.9%
   raytrace:            14.0ms +/- 37.7%

 access:                35.7ms +/- 14.2%
   binary-trees:         3.6ms +/- 29.9%
   fannkuch:            21.2ms +/- 17.7%
   nbody:                9.5ms +/- 37.1%
   nsieve:               1.4ms +/- 26.4%

 bitops:                27.7ms +/- 30.7%
   3bit-bits-in-byte:    0.0ms +/- NaN%
   bits-in-byte:         7.3ms +/- 73.4%
   bitwise-and:         10.5ms +/- 53.1%
   nsieve-bits:          9.9ms +/- 48.8%

 controlflow:            2.3ms +/- 41.6%
   recursive:            2.3ms +/- 41.6%

 crypto:                48.5ms +/- 29.4%
   aes:                  8.0ms +/- 43.4%
   md5:                 11.1ms +/- 56.8%
   sha1:                29.4ms +/- 34.7%

 date:                  42.2ms +/- 18.7%
   format-tofte:        14.3ms +/- 31.3%
   format-xparb:        27.9ms +/- 19.0%

 math:                  54.4ms +/- 25.1%
   cordic:               2.6ms +/- 123.1%
   partial-sums:        47.7ms +/- 26.5%
   spectral-norm:        4.1ms +/- 29.0%

 regexp:                17.4ms +/- 30.6%
   dna:                 17.4ms +/- 30.6%

 string:               100.3ms +/- 8.6%
   base64:              11.9ms +/- 45.6%
   fasta:               25.8ms +/- 18.3%
   tagcloud:            24.1ms +/- 4.9%
   unpack-code:         19.0ms +/- 6.4%
   validate-input:      19.5ms +/- 28.7%



Windows 8 (Metro Mode)

============================================
RESULTS (means and 95% confidence intervals)
--------------------------------------------
Total: 337.7ms +/- 7.8%
--------------------------------------------

3d: 29.2ms +/- 24.0%
cube: 6.8ms +/- 12.9%
morph: 7.5ms +/- 50.9%
raytrace: 14.9ms +/- 24.8%

access: 38.7ms +/- 27.9%
binary-trees: 5.7ms +/- 43.5%
fannkuch: 7.7ms +/- 11.6%
nbody: 12.1ms +/- 33.3%
nsieve: 13.2ms +/- 69.2%

bitops: 22.2ms +/- 23.2%
3bit-bits-in-byte: 0.0ms +/- NaN%
bits-in-byte: 6.3ms +/- 53.5%
bitwise-and: 10.4ms +/- 49.5%
nsieve-bits: 5.5ms +/- 43.9%

controlflow: 5.2ms +/- 90.7%
recursive: 5.2ms +/- 90.7%

crypto: 20.9ms +/- 47.0%
aes: 7.7ms +/- 17.0%
md5: 10.8ms +/- 94.3%
sha1: 2.4ms +/- 28.8%

date: 50.8ms +/- 16.3%
format-tofte: 19.5ms +/- 27.3%
format-xparb: 31.3ms +/- 16.4%

math: 47.6ms +/- 24.9%
cordic: 1.2ms +/- 205.9%
partial-sums: 40.4ms +/- 22.6%
spectral-norm: 6.0ms +/- 53.0%

regexp: 10.4ms +/- 24.3%
dna: 10.4ms +/- 24.3%

string: 112.7ms +/- 7.3%
base64: 8.6ms +/- 43.7%
fasta: 27.6ms +/- 13.0%
tagcloud: 29.2ms +/- 18.4%
unpack-code: 19.6ms +/- 6.0%
validate-input: 27.7ms +/- 12.2%

What's your reaction?  Surprised?  Did you predict this?  Let us know in the comments!