Love Firefox but sorry it's slower!


Recommended Posts

I love firefox.. my favorite browser.. and it's always been some what speedy to me.. but the 3.5 release just seems very slow and some what laggy(slow loading menu's, start up/exit). Has anyone else noticed things like this? Also I'm not running any Extensions.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/792304-love-firefox-but-sorry-its-slower/
Share on other sites

I've had this happen to me. It seems after a while, something happens, and the browser doesn't respond as quickly. I can close the browser and then continue on, and it'll be fine, but it's annoying when I've got windows open

Don't remember this happening before with 3.1

I've had no problems at all. It's sped up a little bit for me, but it was already bloody fast to begin with. On my computer and laptop, it's faster than Safari 4, and Google Chrome 3. Yes, I know the benchmarks say that Chrome is faster than Firefox, but not here! :p

I've had this happen to me. It seems after a while, something happens, and the browser doesn't respond as quickly. I can close the browser and then continue on, and it'll be fine, but it's annoying when I've got windows open

Don't remember this happening before with 3.1

I was on 3.0.11 and it was fine, never had an issue.

Firefox has suddenly hung for a second or two. However, I don't know what's causing it, and it's only happened twice so far, the first when it was still labeled RC3.

At all other times though, it's been much faster than Firefox 3, so I'm pretty sure whatever the next few patches bring will fix the minor hang issue. But in the meantime, I'm considering just starting over with a, "Clean" install anyway.

Firefox can get laggy when the Places database (all your history, bookmarks, etc.) get too big. Mine's close to 100MB (this isn't the cache--this is history, bookmarks, etc.!); there's a world of difference when I start Firefox with a fresh profile (but with the same settings, extensions, etc.) than with my existing profile. Making sure that the places db is defragged helps a bit (b/c it's accessed and written to every time you hit a URL of any sort).

If you cut all the nice features Firefox has and other browsers don't, it would be very fast. Sorry, but absolutely nothing is perfect for everyone. Get used to it and stop bashing this wonderful piece of software with silly milliseconds comparisons. This is purely childish behavior.

3.5 is slow here too. Not a lot slower but it is noticeable.

I certainly don't know why they're claiming all these performance improvements and IE8 seems faster than Firefox at this stage.

Because for many of us, Firefox 3.5 has been much faster than it used to. I'm really curious as to how it's actually noticeably slower than usual for you guys. I've experienced nothing but good results on the number of computers I've installed it on, including those crappy $300 Compaqs. :pinch:

I know it shouldn't matter at all either, considering I've upgraded from 3.0 -> 3.5 on a few of them as well, but have you tried a clean install?

Edit: Also, I run a number of addons, but that has never really slowed the performance at all.

I have to agree. Not only is the initial loading a little slower, but the browsing experience seems sluggish.

Also, I've been having trouble loading my usernames and passwords from FF3.0.11.

And a lot of extensions that I use still don't work (yes, I've done the maxVersion trick and installed Nightly Tester Tools, but they just force the extensions to install, but it doesn't mean they'll work properly).

3.5=epic f4il.

Firefox can get laggy when the Places database (all your history, bookmarks, etc.) get too big. Mine's close to 100MB (this isn't the cache--this is history, bookmarks, etc.!); there's a world of difference when I start Firefox with a fresh profile (but with the same settings, extensions, etc.) than with my existing profile. Making sure that the places db is defragged helps a bit (b/c it's accessed and written to every time you hit a URL of any sort).

Yeah, I've noticed. I was wondering why Firefox ran slowly... when I realized I had history entries dating back months ago :|

After going to Chrome, Firefox feels bloated! 3.5 fixed some issues but Chrome still beats it by far. Once it gets dedicated extension support (the process to install adsweep is lengthy and complicated for your average user), and gets the ability to manage filetypes, it will be the best browser out there!

Firefox could learn a thing or two from Google, especially the idea of making each tab its own process so you don't crash all your tabs, but rather you can close that one and keep the remainder running

3.5 is slow here too. Not a lot slower but it is noticeable.

I certainly don't know why they're claiming all these performance improvements and IE8 seems faster than Firefox at this stage.

Because it is faster, if you're having slow downs the only things I can suggest are trying safe mode or a new profile.

Performance hasn't gotten worse for me, but I notice that memory usage is still crazy.

Memory usage is pretty good for what it has to store, better than other browsers.

And if it doesn't use the memory, it's wasted.

...

Firefox could learn a thing or two from Google, especially the idea of making each tab its own process so you don't crash all your tabs, but rather you can close that one and keep the remainder running

You know IE also does the "process per tab" thing, right?

They are working on it though, sharing code with the Chrome guys (open source is nice that way)

Found this:

What finally produced a dramatic increase in speed of loading was erasing (just about) everything from my Users\AppData\Local\Temp folder that Richard suggested. Then Firefox loaded in about two seconds. I had something like 15,000 files in that Temp folder.

Also seems suggested to go to your IE options and clear your cache/temp files there too. Hope that helps.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Nice. September/October GA?! I'll keep following it, but won't install any preview or beta versions.
    • Wow, that could have been dangerous, certainly not ready for these things. They have to be 100% or pretty well close to it. Not that I will see one i doubt, never mind ride in one, they may have them in London, but I doubt they will come to where I live.
    • Nothing kills CMF Phone 2 Pro's successor due to rising memory prices by Hamid Ganji Storage and RAM prices have been rising over the past year, leading to a significant increase in the cost of electronics for customers around the world. Many companies are now revising their plans for upcoming devices due to higher component costs and overall production expenses. CMF is the latest company to cancel the successor to one of its best-selling phones due to rising memory prices. CMF is a sub-brand of Nothing and focuses on making budget smartphones for growing markets. The brand launched the CMF Phone 2 Pro last year with some eye-catching specifications and an affordable price. While many customers may have been waiting for a successor this year, one of the company’s executives has announced that CMF will not release a new smartphone this year. And AI is to blame. As Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis announced on X, the company has been working on a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro, but with current memory prices, it cannot “build a phone that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF.” So, no new CMF phone will be launched this year. Meanwhile, Evangelidis said the company still has several new products in the pipeline, including some in entirely new categories. He added that the Nothing brand will also continue launching new products through 2026. Budget smartphones are among the first victims of the surge in RAM and memory prices, as they have become more expensive to build. The sharp increase in memory costs could also reshape the traditional price ranges associated with budget phones. Apple CEO Tim Cook also recently said that price increases for some of the company’s products are unavoidable because RAM and memory have become significantly more expensive this year. Analysts estimate that the base price of the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro could rise to $1,399 due to current market shortages.
    • Nudge me when they bring back hardware audio acceleration so I can get my EAX 5 back. We've evolved graphics to real-time path tracing, but regressed audio some 15 years back in time with this stupid software audio stack.
    • Ocenaudio 3.19.4 by Razvan Serea  Ocenaudio is a full featured, fast and easy to use audio and music editor. It is the ideal software for people who need to edit and analyze audio files without complications. Ocenaudio also has powerful features that will please more advanced users. To assist ocenaudio development, a powerful toolset of audio editing, analysis and manipulation called Ocen Framework was created. ocenaudio is also based on Qt framework, a well known library for cross-platform development. Cross-platform support ocenaudio is available for all major operating systems: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Native applications are generated for each platform from a common source, in order to achieve excelent performance and seamless integration with the operating system. All versions of ocenaudio have a uniform set of features and the same graphical interface, so the skills you learn in one platform can be used in the others. VST plugins support Ocenaudio supports VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plugins, giving its users access to numerous effects. Like the native effects, VST effects can use real-time preview to aide configuration. Real-time preview of effects Applying effects such as EQ, gain and filtering is an important part of audio editing. However, it is very tricky to get the desired result by adjusting the controls configuration alone: you must listen the processed audio. To ease the configuration of audio effects, ocenaudio has a real time preview feature: you hear the processed signal while adjusting the controls. The effect configuration window also includes a miniature view of the selected audio signal. You can navigate on this miniature view in the same way as you do on the main interface, selecting parts that interest you and listening to the effect result in real time. Multiselection for delicate editions To speed up complex audio files editing, ocenaudio includes multi-selection. With this amazing tool, you can simultaneously select different portions of an audio file and listen, edit or even apply an effect to them. For example, if you want to normalize only the excerpts of an interview where the interviewee is talking, just select them and apply the effect. Eficient edition of large files With ocenaudio, there is no limit to the length or the quantity of the audio files you can edit. Using an advanced memory management system, the application keeps your files open without wasting any of your computer's memory. Even in files several hours long, common editing operations such as copy, cut or paste happen almost instantly. Fully featured spectrogram Besides offering an incredible waveform view of your audio files, ocenaudio has a powerful and complete spectrogram view. In this view, you can analyze the spectral content of your audio signal with maximum clarity. Advanced users will be surprised to find that the spectrogram settings are applied in real time. The display is updated immediately when altering features such as the number of frequency bands, window type and size and dynamic range of the display. Ocenaudio 3.19.4 changelog: Adds fallback fonts so every language and symbol displays correctly Improves autosave and session recovery stability Improves region navigation and display Fixes a crash when the level meter is used on displays with a scaling greater than 200% Fixes memory corruption when using the silence selection tools Fixes crashes when closing a file while effects are still being processed Fixes a freeze when applying effects to many files at once (macOS) Fixes crashes related to audio devices on Windows Fixes invalid file names when exporting regions whose label is used as the file name Other bug fixes and improvements Download: Ocenaudio 64-bit | Portable | ~40.0 MB (Freeware) Download: Ocenaudio for Linux and Mac OS View: Ocenaudio Homepage | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
  • Recent Achievements

    • Collaborator
      ryansurfer98 went up a rank
      Collaborator
    • Week One Done
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      Skeet Campbell earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Sharbel earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      541
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      187
    3. 3
      Michael Scrip
      78
    4. 4
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      75
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!