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A Faster Firefox 13

Lewis

Lewis

Member
Between its use of SPDY by default and speed gains through Mozilla's “Project Snappy,†Firefox 13 has been generating excitement for some time already. Now, the final version of the software is here at last.
pcw31820newart_firefox_logo_180-5203464-5241042.jpg

Mozilla on Tuesday launched this latest version of its popular free and open source browser, which comes packed with numerous significant new features that promise to make life better for users in myriad ways. If you already use Firefox, this new update will likely be on its way to you automatically through Mozilla's now nearly silent update process, which debuted in the Windows version of Firefox 12.
If you've been using something else to browse the Web, though, this would be a great time to give Firefox a fresh look. The video below offers an overview of what's new, but here are a few key reasons why Firefox 13 is well worth checking out.

1. Speed
Though SPDY has been included in Mozilla's browser since Firefox 11, Firefox 13 marks the first time it's been enabled by default. Designed as a successor to HTTP, SPDY reduces the amount of time it takes for websites to load, so “you will notice faster page load times on sites that support SPDY networking, like Google and Twitter,†according to today's official announcement on the Mozilla blog.

2. Security
SPDY also delivers a boost in security to Firefox 13 thanks to the fact that it encrypts all communication with SSL so as to make browsing more secure.

3. A New Home
Those of us who have been using Firefox for some time will notice a freshly redesigned home page in version 13. Now included, for example, are icons at the bottom of the page that provide easy access to bookmarks, history, settings, add-ons, downloads, and sync preferences via one-click shortcuts.


4. A New Tab Experience
Firefox 13 also offers a better experience when you open a new tab, similar in many ways to how Google's Chrome browser does it. Specifically, you’ll see thumbnails of your most recently and frequently visited sites. The software also lets you customize the New Tab page by adding or removing thumbnails based on the pages you visit most.

5. More Speed
I wrote last month about Mozilla's “Project Snappy,†and several key improvements from that effort combine to give Firefox 13 yet more speed. For example, when restoring a browsing session, Firefox first loads the tab you are currently viewing, then it loads background tabs on demand when you click them. “It’s an improvement that makes Firefox start faster and use less memory,†Mozilla explains.
Also resulting from Project Snappy are an improved mechanism for reducing Firefox's memory usage, a faster “first paint†when the browser is launched, and several other improvements.

6. It Speaks Your Language
Last but not least, Firefox 13 adds support for the Khmer language, making the browser accessible to an additional 15 million users around the globe. Firefox is now available in more than 85 languages.
Want to see the full release notes for Firefox 13? They're available on the Mozilla site. Want to give the software a try? It's a free download for Windows, Linux, or Mac.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscent...reasons_to_download_firefox_13.html#tk.hp_new
 
Firefox works the same here on Linux as Microsoft. You can't tell the difference. However, when the browser slow-ups over time, is that the browser's fault, or the OS? I think it's the latter. I know that with Linux whatever speed it goes upon installation is the same speed it will work a month or year from now until updates are available.

The same browser tricks used to speed things up are the same here on Linux as on my Microsoft computer, but the latter for some reason slows up over time nevertheless. I'm wondering why it's the software writers of the browser that have to carry that load? I guess because people look at whatever browser they're using as the problem, so even if they are fixing other problems they have to stay on top of things and speed things up.
 
Different types of web browsers

There are literally dozens of browsers that have existed since the "birth" of the internet. Not including mobile browsers (such as browsers found on some of the earlier cell phones), the list of major browsers that have existed are as follows:
WorldWideWeb
ViolaWWW
Erwise
MidasWWW
MacWWW
Mosiac
Cello
Lynx
Arena
AMosiac
IBM WebExplorer
Netscape Navigator
SlipKnot
MacWeb
iBrowse
Argo
Minuet
Internet Explorer
OmniWeb
UdiWWW
WebRouser
Grail
Arachne
Opera
PowerBrowser
Cyberdog
Amaya
AWeb
Voyager
iCab
Mozilla
Konqueror
K-Meleon
Galeon
Phoenix
Links
Safari
Epiphany
Firefox
AOL Explorer
Maxthon
Shiira
SeaMonkey
Camino
Avant
Sputnik
Netsurf
Flock
Chrome


These are in roughly chronological order, as presented by Wikipedia Other browsers have existed, but due to their low popularity were not included on this list. Low popularity, of course, is relative to the time era; WorldWideWeb never had as many users as Chrome does today, but was used by the majority of the Internet users in the world at the time it came out (as it was the first real web browser). In the real world, only a few browsers are considered serious contenders of the "market", as the rest are either obsolete, only fill a niche market, or have not yet gained popularity; the latter usually comes about because people are hesitant to "try" a new browser since their current browser has served their purpose for a significant length of time
 
Lewis,

I'm not sure about the rest on that list, but Netscape Navigator is officially unsupported. It's been that way since the end of 2007, when AOL dropped it. They (Netscape) concentrated on their Mozilla suite and we all know what happened from there. :thumbsup
 
It was just in the list Vic, but I will and sometimes I do use Safari and Opera and Maxthon
 
It will pass the ultimate test if this site speeds up! :lol

The speed will be great if it really makes a difference. But, who uses Firefox as their home page? I'm all about reading lame stories that appeal to the "Entertainment Tonight" crowd, so I usually keep Yahoo as mine. mmm... not so much, really. I do like Yahoo's wide array of overall stuff, but I minimize those annoying stories off my board.

Thanks for the new and wonderful "Speed Dial" on the home page, which has been available for years as an add-on and works just fine. Is Firefox also going to give me an icon for my email now, too? :)

I like that it will spend less time launching all the tabs upon start, but there are countless tab add-ons, so there's another yawner.

Firefox is terrific, but I don't see anything here that will make an already very nice browser any better... besides speed!
 
I don't see anything here that will make an already very nice browser any better.
Click to expand...
How 'bout a better OS? :D



This is a sidebar for Tim... I had to boot up my Windows partition to do some photo editing/restoration. My Paint Shop Pro is so much easier and faster to use than Gimp. I wanted to power down the PC for the night but didn't want to save all my edits anc close the apps. So instead of leaving the PC on (it's on a UPS) I turned on Standby.

It seems Windows standby mode doesn't work well with Windows disk write delay. The following day, the PC came up from Standby with write delay failure errors and corrupted some files.

Now my Windoze installation runs like it's installed on an old 486 cpu. :toofunny

But my Ubuntu 10.04 installation (I dual boot) runs like an old Timex watch. It keeps on ticking. So I have to finish the photo restorations with Gimp. :lol Go figure.

I use standby all the time with Ubuntu and this have never happened. :thumbsup
 
Vic C. said:
How 'bout a better OS? :D



This is a sidebar for Tim... I had to boot up my Windows partition to do some photo editing/restoration. My Paint Shop Pro is so much easier and faster to use than Gimp. I wanted to power down the PC for the night but didn't want to save all my edits anc close the apps. So instead of leaving the PC on (it's on a UPS) I turned on Standby.

It seems Windows standby mode doesn't work well with Windows disk write delay. The following day, the PC came up from Standby with write delay failure errors and corrupted some files.

Now my Windoze installation runs like it's installed on an old 486 cpu. :toofunny

But my Ubuntu 10.04 installation (I dual boot) runs like an old Timex watch. It keeps on ticking. So I have to finish the photo restorations with Gimp. :lol Go figure.

I use standby all the time with Ubuntu and this have never happened. :thumbsup
Click to expand...

Ya know, Vic, I'm not much into photo editing, but I will admit GIMP is not a favorite of mine. I liked the MS programs better, but then again, more software writers target MS and you pay dearly for it, too. However, in Linux I found a simple paint-like program (Kolour paint) for simple stuff without all the bells and whistles. If I want to create my own pictures, I use that, but saved the GIMP for resizing and manipulating or adding effects, whatever. It's powerful and I'm still learning it and I'm sure I can do a lot once I know it well. But it's not overly intuitive to use. But then again I may have just been brainwashed with MS all these years. :lol

My experience (where some things seem more difficult to do) is a major reason people won't switch to Linux, but then the price to pay for staying in the MS comfort zone is just that: price. And registrations of software for them to work (feeling like my privacy is invaded when their ads come up), and the slow-ups and the viruses and blue screens of death and so on and so forth with constant aggravation. I rather just use my brain a little and learn something new as time permits. Linux takes me a little out of my comfort zone, but that's only temporary. I rather be uncomfortable than furiously aggravated all the time. But when it comes to browsing, videos, emails, office-type documents, creating HTML web pages, playing simple games like chess, etc, I'm very comfortable on Linux and it works just as easy. The "harder" stuff seems to be specific application programs.
 
I just got Firefox 13 yesterday hoping it wouldn't get stuck all the time like Firefox 11. But it does. In fact, I was only on this site for less than 5 minutes and it got stuck. I did everything to get it unstuck. I couldn't even click the browser off to start again. Finally I had to use the task manager to get everything off. I had 4 tabs open, but if we can only have one open without it getting stuck, then why have the tabs?
 
Blev,

What add-ons and plug-ins do you have installed? Some poorly written add-ons can cause memory leakage and cause Firefox to consume an awful amount of memory. That could cause Firefox to lock up, especially in a MS Windows environment.

You could uninstall Firefox and reinstall it. Then add the add-ons one at a time and run with it for a while.
 
Thanks. I have lots of memory. I didn't have 13 after all like I thought so I upgraded to 13 and its 95% better
 
I'm noticing a nice difference in 13's speed. One of my laptops is a beater, and YouTube videos lagged before. No more lagging. :)
 
Just installed Firefox 13 tonight. Definate improvement in speed :)

However I can't play any videos with firefox! Whenever I try, it always says "an error occurred" in the flash object. Weird. This has been happening a few days before the update, so I think I'll try a clean reinstall. :shrug
 
Nick said:
Just installed Firefox 13 tonight. Definate improvement in speed :)

However I can't play any videos with firefox! Whenever I try, it always says "an error occurred" in the flash object. Weird. This has been happening a few days before the update, so I think I'll try a clean reinstall. :shrug
Click to expand...

Nick, try here for some solutions:

http://www.google.com/search?q=FLAS....,cf.osb&fp=c1e99b5acbebabce&biw=1464&bih=833

If you are using Ubuntu or other Debian Linux systems, load this and follow the directions to properly configure it. It worked for me like a charm! :thumbsup

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/flash-aid/

Classik said:
IE still the Grandmaster
Click to expand...
Yeah, the grandmaster of of leaky browsers. :shame
 
Nick said:
Just installed Firefox 13 tonight. Definate improvement in speed :)

However I can't play any videos with firefox! Whenever I try, it always says "an error occurred" in the flash object. Weird. This has been happening a few days before the update, so I think I'll try a clean reinstall. :shrug
Click to expand...

I've been having the same problem. Just with my laptop, though. It seems to work on the other computer.
 
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