5 ms·

I usually have a fast connection and reasonable data limits available, so I don't worry too much about how much stuff my browser needs to pull down to render a

I usually have a fast connection and reasonable data limits available, so I don't worry too much about how much stuff my browser needs to pull down to render a website. However, there's another type of bloat that absolutely kills my browser and that is all of the JavaScript. One of my computers is a netbook-ish Lenovo x131e from a few years ago. It runs everything I need it to very well, except for web browsing in Firefox. Many pages cause the browser to completely choke for a few seconds while the JavaScript does its thing. I finally broke down and installed NoScript and it feels like I'm browsing the web on a brand new computer! Pages load fast and render quickly. If JavaScript is required, I can enable it on a site-by-site basis. There's also the privacy and security benefits, but my main issue was performance. I used to think that people who browse with JavaScript disabled were being silly, but now I understand why someone would want to do that. I know that part of the problem is Firefox and part of it is the under-powered computer. Browsing the same sites in Safari on a 6-year-old MacBook Pro isn't nearly as painful and, generally speaking, I leave the JavaScript alone on that computer.

retube 10y ago
As someone with a lightweight acer I do exactly the same. Amazon for example literally brings my machine to a halt. Turn off JS and bam it's fast again.
tracker1 10y ago
In fairness, your 6yo mbp probably has a much faster CPU and more ram than the newer netbook... It's a hard sell, especially now that newer cell phones even are starting to have beasts of CPUs... But I agree, JS is a huge issue... I notice it most on click-bait type sites on my cell phone. It's really pretty sad, all things considered.
- Mister_Snuggles 10y ago
  You're absolutely right. It's certainly not a fair comparison at all, they're very different machines and I was satisfying different needs when I purchased each one. For the sake of fairness, the rough specs are: The ThinkPad: * Lenovo ThinkPad x131e, 11.6", purchased late 2013 * Core i3-3277U processor * 8GB RAM (aftermarket upgrade) * 500GB spinny drive * OpenSUSE Leap 42.1 * Embedded graphics * Firefox browser The MacBook Pro: * Mid-2010 MacBook Pro 15" * Core i7 - dual core, not sure which model * 8GB RAM (aftermarket upgrade) * 512GB SSD (aftermarket upgrade) * MacOS 10.11.4 * Embedded and discrete graphics * Safari browser So yeah, it's hardly an apples-to-apples comparison.

retube 10y ago

As someone with a lightweight acer I do exactly the same. Amazon for example literally brings my machine to a halt. Turn off JS and bam it's fast again.

tracker1 10y ago

In fairness, your 6yo mbp probably has a much faster CPU and more ram than the newer netbook... It's a hard sell, especially now that newer cell phones even are starting to have beasts of CPUs... But I agree, JS is a huge issue... I notice it most on click-bait type sites on my cell phone. It's really pretty sad, all things considered.

Mister_Snuggles 10y ago
You're absolutely right. It's certainly not a fair comparison at all, they're very different machines and I was satisfying different needs when I purchased each one. For the sake of fairness, the rough specs are: The ThinkPad: * Lenovo ThinkPad x131e, 11.6", purchased late 2013 * Core i3-3277U processor * 8GB RAM (aftermarket upgrade) * 500GB spinny drive * OpenSUSE Leap 42.1 * Embedded graphics * Firefox browser The MacBook Pro: * Mid-2010 MacBook Pro 15" * Core i7 - dual core, not sure which model * 8GB RAM (aftermarket upgrade) * 512GB SSD (aftermarket upgrade) * MacOS 10.11.4 * Embedded and discrete graphics * Safari browser So yeah, it's hardly an apples-to-apples comparison.