4 ms·

Browsers aren't like Windows 98. You don't need to reformat or defragment from time to time.

by debacle 12y ago

mrisse 12y ago
Installing extensions can dramatically slow down browsers. I wonder if the lack of extensions is responsible for the quickness users experience with a fresh install.
- at-fates-hands 12y ago
  Absolutely. When I first starting using FF and all the developer tools, it would grind to a halt. Now that I'm a lot more comfortable with the FF toolset, I have a minimal set of extensions and it feels much snappier. I also use Aurora which is still super fast to me. I also develop with Chrome Canary and the stable Chrome version. Canary has times when its totally useless or when someone breaks the build and I can't use it for a week so until the next update comes out. All in all, yes, less overhead means a snappier browser to me.
- seanp2k2 12y ago
  That's my biggest reason for switching from AdBlock+ to Privoxy + https://github.com/skroll/privoxy-adblock https://github.com/skroll/privoxy-adblock . Same blocking rules but uses a ton less memory, since each tab isn't running all of AB+ .
  - ripdog 12y ago
    That's fine for image and flash ads, but provides no support for CSS blocking of elements. My understanding is that the CSS blocking is the slowest part, too. Of course, if you don't want that, you're sweet.
- acdha 12y ago
  Absolutely – there's really common cycle I see repeated all over: 1. “(Firefox|Chrome) is slow” 2. “Did you try removing Ad-Block Plus, etc.?” 3. “Now it's fast again!” I think we're well past the point where the browsers are going to need to start having some UI around monitoring and exposing slow extensions to make it easier for users to learn this.
espadrine 12y ago
Some things do accumulate. That is in fact the point of Firefox Reset[1]. The support page lists "Extensions and themes, website-specific preferences, search engines, download history, DOM storage, security settings, download actions, plugin settings, toolbar customizations, user styles and social features will be removed." [1]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fi...
hobs 12y ago
Already covered by other commentators, but this is straight up wrong if they are implemented in certain fashions. Here is a large history causing slow load times; https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=223476 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=223476 Here is their recommendations regarding download history, which I myself have experienced (too many downloads remembered forever slows down the browser) https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-hangs-or-not-responding#w_clear-download-history https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-hangs-or-not-re... There is nothing inherent in the design of A hypothetical browser that would make it slower over time, its just a matter of people make assumptions and those assumptions are often wrong, and then performance suffers.

Browsers aren't like Windows 98. You don't need to reformat or defragment from time to time.

by debacle 12y ago

Browsers aren't like Windows 98. You don't need to reformat or defragment from time to time.

Installing extensions can dramatically slow down browsers. I wonder if the lack of extensions is responsible for the quickness users experience with a fresh install.

at-fates-hands 12y ago
Absolutely. When I first starting using FF and all the developer tools, it would grind to a halt. Now that I'm a lot more comfortable with the FF toolset, I have a minimal set of extensions and it feels much snappier. I also use Aurora which is still super fast to me. I also develop with Chrome Canary and the stable Chrome version. Canary has times when its totally useless or when someone breaks the build and I can't use it for a week so until the next update comes out. All in all, yes, less overhead means a snappier browser to me.
seanp2k2 12y ago
That's my biggest reason for switching from AdBlock+ to Privoxy + https://github.com/skroll/privoxy-adblock https://github.com/skroll/privoxy-adblock . Same blocking rules but uses a ton less memory, since each tab isn't running all of AB+ .
- ripdog 12y ago
  That's fine for image and flash ads, but provides no support for CSS blocking of elements. My understanding is that the CSS blocking is the slowest part, too. Of course, if you don't want that, you're sweet.
acdha 12y ago
Absolutely – there's really common cycle I see repeated all over: 1. “(Firefox|Chrome) is slow” 2. “Did you try removing Ad-Block Plus, etc.?” 3. “Now it's fast again!” I think we're well past the point where the browsers are going to need to start having some UI around monitoring and exposing slow extensions to make it easier for users to learn this.

espadrine 12y ago

Some things do accumulate. That is in fact the point of Firefox Reset[1]. The support page lists "Extensions and themes, website-specific preferences, search engines, download history, DOM storage, security settings, download actions, plugin settings, toolbar customizations, user styles and social features will be removed." [1]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fi...

hobs 12y ago

Already covered by other commentators, but this is straight up wrong if they are implemented in certain fashions. Here is a large history causing slow load times; https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=223476 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=223476 Here is their recommendations regarding download history, which I myself have experienced (too many downloads remembered forever slows down the browser) https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-hangs-or-not-responding#w_clear-download-history https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-hangs-or-not-re... There is nothing inherent in the design of A hypothetical browser that would make it slower over time, its just a matter of people make assumptions and those assumptions are often wrong, and then performance suffers.