Google Chrome for Windows now loads up to 15% faster thanks to new optimizations

By taking advantage of Microsoft’s Profile Guided Optimization (PGO), Chrome for Windows now loads up to 15% faster. The optimization technology has been available for 64-bit Windows computers since the previous version of the browser and is now available to all as part of Chrome 54…

Google notes that Chrome is a huge software product with more than a million functions. With some used much more frequently than others, PGO tracks which code is commonly called on in order to guide optimization.

Startup time is now 16.8% faster, with the new tab page loading 14.8% faster compared to previous versions of Chrome. Additionally, page load times see a 5.9% boost.

The technology works by using data from runtime execution. A special version of Chrome tracks how often certain functions are used, with PGO optimizing high-use functions for speed by increasing the binary size. Less-used functions are shrunk, resulting in slightly slower code. However, the end result sees both higher overall performance and a smaller overall code footprint.

In similar fashion, memory location is optimized by moving rarely used functions away from frequently used ones. The result is a more optimal use of the CPU instruction cache by avoiding caching of less-used code, increasing overall performance.

The 64-bit version of Chrome for Windows has been using PGO since version 53, while 32-bit Chrome is just now taking advantage in the latest version. You can download the latest version of Chrome from Google. The browser updates itself automatically, and you can check which version you’re running (if you’re using Chrome) by clicking here.