In the reader responses to the last segment, a number of good points were raised.  One reader noted that no benchmark is 100 percent conclusive -- every benchmark has its biases.  This is certainly true.  Still other readers pointed out that just because Chrome and Safari may be faster in pure speed, but that speed alone doesn't necessarily equate to a better browsing experience.  Security and an optimal interface are arguably equally or more valuable to the customer than speed.  Even Mr. Baltuch, acknowledged this, informally, in his admission that he uses Opera 10.0 beta 2 -- not the very fastest browser, but a very user friendly one -- for his daily browsing.

However, that returns to the key question which a large number of the readers asked in one form or another -- "Why should I care about browser speed?"  Mr. Baltuch offers a very compelling argument as to just why home and business users should care.

For businesses Mr. Baltuch states, "Using a slower browser could cause your employees to lose up to 15 minutes per day due to page lag.  In a company with 5,000 people, that's what -- 1,250 hours?"

He goes on to point out that the cost of hiring 3 or 4 extra IT people (72-96 hours of effort) to support the extra security and management needed for a faster, but less manageable browser like Firefox or Opera, by far outweighs the losses of inaction in terms of employee compensation and power use.  He says there's simply no justification for businesses sticking to slower browsers like Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, or even Internet Explorer 8 -- just because they are easier to manage. 

He points out that at a large organization like the U.S. State Department, with over 50,000 employees (which recently rejected Firefox) could be saving 12,500 hours a day.  He states, "The average state department employee is making, around $50 an hour -- that's $625,000 a day lost."

For home users he says the argument for speed is particularly compelling on laptops, netbooks, and older computers.  Faster loads means less power consumed, typically.  On a netbook or older computer, both of which typically have slower processors, slower browsers perform particularly badly he says. They waste time and, in the netbook's case, battery life.  On faster computers, speed is certainly less of a real issue -- but many enthusiasts prefer the idea of having all their software be as optimized as possible.

At the end of the day the conclusion seems to be this -- while it's intriguing to see who has the fastest browser, users should base their decision on a combination of four key factors -- speed, security, user interface, and compatibility.  Taking these additional factors into account both helps and hurts some browsers. For example, Internet Explorer 8 is already hurting from being declared the slowest of the leading browsers and falls behind on compatibility, but it gains on security and it arguably breaks even on interface.  For others browsers -- Firefox and Opera, chiefly -- these additional factors lead to the conclusion that while they may not be the fastest browser, their combination of speed and other assets make them possibly the best browsers.