We’re happy to announce that the WebXPRT
5 source code is now available! We’re offering the source code in the form of a
build package that contains all the necessary files and step-by-step instructions
for setting up a locally hosted version of WebXPRT 5. While you’re free to use
the code for purposes of review, internal testing, or experimentation, we do
ask that you publish only test results from the official version of WebXPRT 5
that we host at WebXPRT.com.
We’re offering the build package upon
request, rather than posting a permanent download link, to prevent bots or
other malicious actors from downloading it. This method also lets us engage
with folks who are interested in the source code and answer any questions they
may have.
To request the code, simply click the “Request WebXPRT 5 source code” link in the gray Helpful Info box on the WebXPRT 5 home page (see Figure 1 below). Clicking the link will allow you to email the BenchmarkXPRT Support team directly and request the code.
Figure 1: A screenshot showing the location of the link to request WebXPRT 5 source code on WebXPRT.com
After we receive your request, we’ll
send you a secure link to the current WebXPRT 5 build package.
If you have any questions about
accessing the WebXPRT 5 source code, let us know!
Recently, a member of the tech press
asked us if we were planning to offer a way for users to set up an offline
version of WebXPRT 5 for locally hosted tests. The short answer is “yes.”
The long answer is that the question
provides us with a good opportunity to talk about XPRT source code access and
let new users know how it works.
Since the early days of the
BenchmarkXPRT Development Community, we’ve provided free access to the
benchmark source code. We believe that by publishing XPRT code and allowing
interested parties to access and review that code, we’re doing our part to
encourage transparency and honesty in the benchmarking industry.
While we offer free access to the
XPRT source code, our approach to derivative work differs from some traditional
open-source models that encourage developers to alter products and even take
them in substantially different directions. Because benchmarking requires a
product that remains static to enable valid comparisons, we prioritize
maintaining the integrity and consistency of the benchmark over time. So, we
allow people to download the source, but we also reserve the right to control
derivative works. This approach discourages a situation where someone publishes
an unauthorized version of the benchmark and calls it an “XPRT.”
For WebXPRT 5, we’ll offer the code
in the form of a build package—containing all the necessary files and
instructions—that will be available upon request. By offering the code upon
request, as opposed to posting a permanent download link, we can prevent bots
or other malicious actors from downloading it. This method also lets us engage
with users interested in the source code and answer their questions.
With the WebXPRT 5 build package, you’ll
be able to set up your own WebXPRT 5 instance for purposes of review, internal
testing, or experimentation. We do ask that you publish only test results from
the official version of WebXPRT 5 that we host at WebXPRT.com.
We expect to have the build package
ready within the next few weeks. When it’s available, we’ll let readers know
here in the blog, and we’ll provide more details about the access and setup
process.
If you have any questions about
accessing the WebXPRT 5 source code, please let us know!
The big day
has finally arrived—WebXPRT 5 is now available!
You can
access the benchmark at WebXPRT.com or WebXPRT5.com. For longtime WebXPRT users, the WebXPRT 5 UI will have an
all-new look but a very familiar feel. The general process for kicking off both
manual and automated tests is the same as with WebXPRT 4, so the transition to
WebXPRT 5 testing will be straightforward. For legacy testing purposes, we will
continue to make WebXPRT 4 available on our site.
Here is a
quick overview of the differences between WebXPRT 4 and WebXPRT 5:
General changes
We’ve updated the aesthetics of the WebXPRT UI to make WebXPRT 5 visually distinct from older versions. We did not significantly change the flow of the UI.
We’ve updated content in some of the workloads to reflect changes in everyday technology, such as upgrading most of the photos in the photo processing workloads to higher resolutions.
We’ve updated the base calibration system for score calculations and adjusted the scoring scale. WebXPRT 5 scores will be in a lower numerical range than WebXPRT 4 scores. You should not compare these results to scores from previous versions of WebXPRT.
The workloads
WebXPRT 5 includes the following seven workloads:
Video Background Blur with AI. Blurs the background of a video call using an AI-powered segmentation model.
Photo Effects. Applies a filter to six photos using the Canvas API.
Detect Faces with AI. Detects faces and organizes photos in an album using computer vision (OpenCV.js with Caffe Model).
Image Classification with AI. Labels images in an album using machine learning (OpenCV.js and ML Classify with the SqueezeNet model).
Document Scan with AI. Scans a document image and converts it to text using ML-based OCR (Wasm with LSTM).
School Science Project. Processes a DNA sequencing task using Regex and String manipulation.
Homework Spellcheck. Spellchecks a document using Typo.js and Web Workers.
We’re thankful for all of the feedback we received during the WebXPRT 5 development process and Preview period, and we look forward to seeing your WebXPRT 5 results. If you have any questions about WebXPRT, please feel free to contact us!
Exciting
news: We’re currently in the final stages of preparing for the WebXPRT 5 GA
release and expect to take it live very soon!
The WebXPRT 5 Preview period has been very successful, and we appreciate the interest and
engagement that we’ve seen from around the world. When we released the Preview
and encouraged testers to submit and publish results, we said we’d try to limit
any changes in the GA release to areas that would not affect test scores, such
as the UI and non-workload features. We’re pleased to report that we’ve
achieved that goal. WebXPRT 5 Preview testing results will be comparable with
GA build results, so there will be no need to retest with the GA if you’ve
already recorded Preview build scores.
If you haven’t yet used the WebXPRT 5 Preview, we encourage you to
check out this blog post about the workload lineup. As we implied above, the seven core
workloads in the Preview build will remain unchanged in the GA release. Additionally,
while we are including a placeholder section for future experimental workloads,
we’re not yet ready to include one in the GA release. We are actively working
on candidate workloads for that section, but some of the underlying web
technologies are not yet ready for widespread use. Taking the time to get these
experimental workloads right means that there are really cool and all-new
WebXPRT 5 capabilities that are still on the way!
Keep an eye on this space and WebXPRT.com for the GA announcement. This new chapter in the WebXPRT story
will be the best one yet!
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been excited to see steady growth in the number of people running the WebXPRT 5 Preview—as well as how widely distributed those runs are around the world. To get a picture of WebXPRT’s approximate global reach, we run the IP address data from our database through a program that provides general city- and country-level location information. By tallying that location data, we can better understand where people are running WebXPRT. By the way, this is the most detailed information we have, and all test data will remain completely anonymous unless you submit it for publication.
Based
on that info—along with direct feedback from users—we’ve determined that OEM
labs, tech press journalists, and individual consumers have already run the
WebXPRT 5 Preview in more than 125 cities across 35 countries!
Test
run data is just one of the ways that we track the progress we’re making toward
our goal of providing all interested parties with benchmark tools that are
reliable, relevant, and free to use. Another important way we track progress
toward that goal is by paying attention to how much people use and discuss the
XPRTs. When the name of one of our apps appears in an ad, article, or tech
review, we call it a “mention.” Tracking those kinds of mentions helps us gauge
our reach.
From
time to time, we like to share a sample of recent XPRT mentions here in the
blog. If you just started following the XPRTs, it may be surprising to see our
global reach. Whether you’re a new visitor to the XPRT blog or a longtime
reader, we hope you’ll enjoy exploring the links below!
Microsoft’s Windows Performance Lab published a range of benchmark results that included WebXPRT 4 scores for the ASUS Vivobook S14 and a selection of Lenovo laptops.
Other outlets that have published articles, ads, or reviews mentioning the XPRTs in the last few months include the following: 3DNews.ru (Russia), About Chromebooks, Acer, Alza.hu (Hungary), BenchLife.info (China), Best Buy, CNET, ComputerBase (Germany), Dell, DGL.RU (Russia), Expert Reviews, Intel, ITC.ua (Ukraine), Komputronik (Poland), PConline.com (China), QQ News (China), The Tech Revolutionist, TechRadar, and Tweakers, among many others.
If you’d like to receive monthly updates on
XPRT-related news and activity, we encourage you to sign up for our XPRT newsletter.
It’s completely free, and all you need to do to join the newsletter mailing
list is let us know! We won’t publish, share, or sell any
of the contact information you provide, and we’ll only send you the monthly
newsletter and occasional benchmark-related announcements, such as important news
about patches or releases.
If you have any questions about the WebXPRT 5
Preview or the XPRTs in general, please feel free to contact us.
The WebXPRT 5 Preview has been
available for only a few weeks, but users have already started submitting test results
for us to review for publication in the WebXPRT 5 Preview results viewer.
We’re excited to receive those submissions, but we know that some of our
readers are either new to WebXPRT or may never have submitted a test result. In
today’s post, we’ll cover the straightforward process of submitting your
WebXPRT 5 Preview test results for publication in the viewer.
Unlike
sites that automatically publish all results submissions, we publish only
results that meet a set of evaluation criteria. Those results can come from OEM
labs, third-party labs, tech media sources, or independent user submissions.
What’s important to us is that the scores must be consistent with general
expectations, and for sources outside of our labs and data centers, each must
include enough detailed system information that we can determine whether the
score makes sense. That said, if your scores are different from what you see in
our database, please don’t hesitate to send them to us; we may be able to work
it out together.
The actual result submission process is simple. On the end-of-test results page that displays after a test run, click the Submit your results button below the overall score. Then, complete the short submission form that pops up, and click Submit.
When filling in the system information fields in the submission form, please be as specific as possible. Detailed device information helps us assess whether individual scores represent valid test runs.
That’s all there is to it!
Figure 1 below shows the end-of-test results screen and the Submit your results button below the overall score.
Figure 1: A screenshot of the WebXPRT 5 Preview end-of-test results screen, showing the Submit your results button below the overall score.
Figure 2 below shows how the results submission form would look if I filled in the necessary information and submitted a score at the end of a recent WebXPRT 5 Preview run on one of the systems here in our lab.
Figure 2: A screenshot of the WebXPRT 5 Preview results submission pop-up window after filling in the email address and system information fields.
After you submit your test
result, we’ll review the information. If the test result meets the evaluation
criteria, we’ll contact you to confirm how we should display its source in our
database. For that purpose, you can choose one of the following:
Your first and last name
“Independent tester” (if you wish to remain anonymous)
Your company’s name, if you have permission to submit
the result under that name. If you want to use a company name, please
provide a valid corresponding company email address.
As
always, we will not publish any additional information about you or your
company without your permission.
We look
forward to seeing your scores! If you have questions about WebXPRT 5 Preview
testing or results submission—or you’d like to share feedback on WebXPRT 5—please
let us know!
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