Performance improvements in Firefox 3

[Azmodan]

Interesting article that reveals the current work on Firefox 3's performance.

... I’ve compiled the results of the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark test for each of the different browsers. All of the tests below were performed on the same Windows machine, and the Firefox 3 nightly builds definitely came out on top. Here are the results sorted from best to worst (each one is hyperlinked to the full stats):

1. Firefox 3 Nightly (PGO Optimized): 7263.8ms

2. Firefox 3 Nightly (02/25/2008 build): 8219.4ms

3. Opera 9.5.9807 Beta: 10824.0ms

4. Firefox 3 Beta 3: 16080.6ms

5. Safari 3.0.4 Beta: 18012.6ms

6. Firefox 2.0.0.12: 29376.4ms

7. Internet Explorer 7: 72375.0ms

Very interesting, however I haven't compiled the latest nightly build to check it's performance. My results elaborate that Opera champs over Firefox 3 Beta 3. What about you guys?

Source: Cybernetnews.com

[OPaul]

Has memory usage improved?

[Azmodan]

Has memory usage improved?

Yes, in Beta 3 you can see the improvement on memory management, usually the browser used (2.x) to sit on larger memory but now's very humble and eats less resources. Haven't tested Safari because it won't install on Vista (throws an error while loading), but Opera beats Firefox 3 Beta 3 in memory usage and loading rates.

Here's another benchmark list,

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001023.html

[bigmehdi]

According to the benchmark , there's less motivations for using opera (No more the "fastest browser on earth").

Also safari is boasting its superior speed...

Great to see how far is Firefox is improved.

Also Firefox is almost the same under linux, so if one day you want to make the switch..

[+Mystic MVC]

Great, can't wait to see the public release of this! Memory usage has always bugged me, so I hope it is like evyerbody says it is.

[Colin-uk Veteran]

sounds interesting, will have to take a look sometime :)

[+Mystic MVC]

I forgot to post this earlier, has there been any release dates talked about?

[Azmodan]

I forgot to post this earlier, has there been any release dates talked about?

According to http://wiki.mozilla.org/Releases, Firefox 3 Beta 4 launches March 10-14.

[+Mystic MVC]

According to http://wiki.mozilla.org/Releases, Firefox 3 Beta 4 launches March 10-14.

Hmm, so not a clear actual public release date in sight for a while then? I am hesitant to use betas because of all the plugins I am currently using. I would hate having to go back to about zero plugins/add-ons working.

[Azmodan]

Hmm, so not a clear actual public release date in sight for a while then?

Just this: "Early 2008 (TBD): Firefox 3 released, Firefox 2.0.x.y supported for next six months" on: http://wiki.mozilla.org/ReleaseRoadmap . Not every clear but according to this, they're mentioning it's launching in the first half of 2008. ;)

[+Mystic MVC]

Just this: "Early 2008 (TBD): Firefox 3 released, Firefox 2.0.x.y supported for next six months" on: http://wiki.mozilla.org/ReleaseRoadmap . Not every clear but according to this, they're mentioning it's launching in the first half of 2008. ;)

Great, I can't wait!

[1Frothy]

I've started running the nightlies and I'm happy to see the improvements are FX moves towards Beta 4.

[PyX]

I don't know if it's been reported, but Webkit pawns this test with 3804.2 ms

I tested this on my 24-inch iMac though, so I have good specs, and don't have Windows. I don't know if it's really significant though. Maybe I should have tried Safari before posting this here haha.

Wow, this test is on webkit.org, now call me stupid x_x Sorry!

But Safari is MUCH slower. Like 5 times.

[Evolution]

Does it have protected-mode yet like IE7 in Vista does?

[CoolCatBad]

Memory usage will be greatly improved when jemalloc is intergrated, it is already included in the Linux trunk builds.

http://blog.pavlov.net/2008/02/27/jemalloc...-linux-edition/

[+Mystic MVC]

Memory usage will be greatly improved when jemalloc is intergrated, it is already included in the Linux trunk builds.

http://blog.pavlov.net/2008/02/27/jemalloc...-linux-edition/

Ha, they could have just implemented that in FF 3 and that would have been good enough for me. :D I don't know how many times I can post about how happy the reduced memory usage will work out for me!

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Memory usage will be greatly improved when jemalloc is intergrated, it is already included in the Linux trunk builds.

http://blog.pavlov.net/2008/02/27/jemalloc...-linux-edition/

Within certain limits, it can't magically stop storing things it needs in memory (images take up a crap load of memory, a 1MB jpeg can take up 70MB of RAM)

Edit: I read somewhere about storing the compressed form in memory, and only keeping the uncompressed form around for a small amount of time, should help.

[Argi]

Does it have protected-mode yet like IE7 in Vista does?

It's on the to-do list for Firefox 4 I've heard. :sleep:

[Warboy]

My Tests in Firefox 3 Beta 3 - 5868.2ms

[x-byte]

According to the benchmark , there's less motivations for using opera (No more the "fastest browser on earth").

Also safari is boasting its superior speed...

Great to see how far is Firefox is improved.

Also Firefox is almost the same under linux, so if one day you want to make the switch..

This is one test ... How can you tell a browser is "the fastet" overall when it's just with java script.

[+Cryton Subscriber²]

Memory usage will be greatly improved when jemalloc is intergrated, it is already included in the Linux trunk builds.

http://blog.pavlov.net/2008/02/27/jemalloc...-linux-edition/

Jemalloc got turned on for windows nightly trunk builds just after Beta 3 was released.

[Hum]

Have they fixed that bug where Firefox simply locks up and uses near 100% cpu until you shut down Firefox completely ? :huh:

[duntkno]

^ no. thats also on the to-do list for firefox 4.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Just tried the latest nightly on my system, got 5149.8ms

I'll try the latest WebKit nightly soon.

Edit: I've tried 3 times, the test just randomly stops working in the latest available nightly for WebKit (I'm not compiling it myself)

Edited March 1, 2008 by The_Decryptor

[moogoat]

Awesome, can't wait for this new release! I've always hated how Firefox used up so much memory after leaving it on after a while.