Subjectively, it 'feels' fast, which might be the advantages of 64-bit operation. Chrome held a consistent edge, but Waterfox is fast, too. Raw speed tests with CNET's Bandwidth Meter produced much closer results.

Waterfox bested Firefox but not Chrome, both in speed and HTML5-rendering capability, though the results were close enough to make it a matter of choice.

This online benchmarking tool separates the smartphones from the gaming desktops with a series of increasingly grueling tests that took some 5 minutes to run through. For the most revealing results, we threw Peacekeeper's HTML5 torture test at each, pitting Waterfox against the site's Chrome benchmark and our own copy of Chrome. We could tell with just a few quick trips to familiar sites that Waterfox is fast, so we visited some of our favorite browser speed test sites to see how it stacks up against the competition, including Firefox and our current default, Chrome. Our add-ons, extensions, and plug-ins worked in Waterfox, too, including Microsoft's Office and Silverlight plug-ins. Otherwise, Waterfox looks and functions like Firefox, including its various customizable features and options. Waterfox has a family resemblance to other Mozilla-based browsers, with a dark blue Start button instead of Firefox's orange. When it comes to looks and extras, Waterfox doesn't disappoint in a side-by-side comparison with the latest Firefox release. When we first opened Waterfox, it displayed our bookmarks and other personal data from Firefox. As the Waterfox Web site states, speed is its mission. Just converting Mozilla's source code for 64-bit Windows doesn't do enough to make Waterfox stand apart from Firefox and other Firefox-based Web browsers other unique tweaks help it exploit the speed of 64-bit systems. Software designed for 64-bit Windows editions can take advantage of faster RAM and processing speeds and greater stability in 64-bit systems. The browser's developers modified the Firefox source code specifically for machines running 64-bit versions of Windows.

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