Sigh. This review is really bad.
Michael Muchmore wrote:
But that score isn't the whole story. Far from it. HTML5Test.com merely checks that the feature is recognized, not whether it's correctly implemented.
The author of html5test.com has banned browsers that have claimed to support certain features but haven't actually supported them. Most notably, in July 2012 he
banned Maxthon.
Michael shouldn't suggest that web browsers other than Internet Explorer claim to support features which aren't "correctly implemented".
Michael Muchmore wrote:
Though it's often stated that Chrome and Firefox are ahead of IE in HTML5 support, some of the test drive demos show that those browsers haven't yet implemented every capability. One example is Touch Events, which lets a webpage respond to gestures.
First, IE Test Drive is an Internet Explorer marketing site. Of course it only contains demos that work with IE!
Second, as html5test.com shows, IE hasn't implemented every capability either. (In addition, even having full 500 points in html5test.com and passing all demos in IE Test Drive wouldn't mean having every capability.)
Chrome and Firefox are
much ahead of IE in HTML5 support. While html5test.com is not objective, it's independent and therefore I trust it.
----
On the performance testing page, Michael only ran tests that belong to browser vendors. SunSpider belongs to Apple, Octane to Google, Kraken to Mozilla and IE Test Drive tests to Microsoft. I think the most trustworthy browser performance test is Futuremark's
Peacekeeper, because it's independent.
In particular, I don't trust IE Test Drive results at all. I believe Microsoft knowingly tests things which are fast in Internet Explorer in order to make IE look faster than it actually is.
Michael Muchmore wrote:
The title of a recent blog post by our security guru Neil Rubenking pretty much tells the story when it comes to security in IE10: Windows 8's
Internet Explorer 10 Reigns Supreme in Browser Safety Test. IE continues to protect you against nefarious downloads, with its SmartScreen. The technology uses “download reputation” ratings to let you know which downloads are reliable. In a test by
NSS Labs, its Internet Explorer 10 browser detected and blocked over 99 percent of malicious downloads without any help from a third-party antivirus program.
Emphasis added.
NSS Labs is the same company that made
this "test".
Michael Muchmore wrote:
Another protection is that Internet Explorer Plugins run in sandboxes to prevent access to the rest of the system.
Google Chrome has sandboxing as well.
Michael Muchmore wrote:
IE9 introduced
Tracking Protection in late 2010, to block third-party websites that you never intended to visit from collecting your browsing history and building a profile on you. Soon after this, Mozilla came out with the Do Not Track, system which simply sends a small bit of text to website asking them not to allow tracking of you. When Microsoft announced that in IE10, Do Not Track would be turned on by default, the web ad business threw conniption fits, even though research had told Microsoft that 75 percent of users wanted the protection turned on by default.
First, Do Not Track is not protection. As you probably know, it just sends websites a header that means "please don't track me".
Second, Do Not Track is fully voluntary. Advertisers are not obligated to respect it.
If DNT is enabled by default in a web browser that has a
market share of 28 percent, the best case it that
advertisers will ignore the DNT header if the said browser sends it. The worst case is that they will ignore the DNT header no matter which browser sends it.
Third, Microsoft itself spies Internet Explorer users. Quoting IE8's privacy statement (emphasis added):
SmartScreen Filter is designed to help warn you about unsafe websites that are impersonating trusted websites (phishing) or contain threats to your computer. If you opt in to SmartScreen Filter, it first checks the address of the website you are visiting against a list of high traffic website addresses stored on your computer that are believed by Microsoft to be legitimate. Addresses that are not on the local list and the addresses of files you are downloading will be sent to Microsoft and checked against a frequently updated list of websites and downloads that have been reported to Microsoft as unsafe or suspicious. You may also choose to use SmartScreen Filter manually to verify individual sites with Microsoft.
And yes, SmartScreen Filter is enabled by default. (It's the very feature Michael praised on the same page for malware protection!)
I believe Microsoft simply abuses DNT's name here.
These "Express settings" will allow Windows 8 to send all kinds of information to Microsoft. But hey, look! These settings will enable Do Not Track in Internet Explorer! They will keep Microsoft from tracking which sites I browse with IE! (In reality, at best it keeps every company but Microsoft from tracking.)
Probably the worst browser review I have ever read...