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[NEWS] Browser Speed Comparisons - Opera fastest - Not firefox

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Mr.Guvernment

Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2003
So, for those who fluant Firefox - appears it is no faster then IE - time to go to Opera?

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| Browser Speed Comparisons |
| from the on-your-marks-get-set-render! dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday February 11, @16:35 (The Internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/11/2016227 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

kfrench writes "[0]Internet browser speed tests for 'cold starts', 'warm starts', rendering CSS, rendering tables, script execution, displaying multiple images and 'history'. 'Opera seems to be the fastest browser for Windows. Firefox is not faster than Internet Explorer, except for scripting, but for standards support, security and features, it is a better choice.'"

Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=05/02/11/2016227

Links:
0. http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/browserSpeed.html
 
Wow i find this persons results flawed - FireFox cold start i got 4 seconds - not 20 / 11 seconds as he did! Going to have to compare some of his other results - post your if u can.


Also, ithink he should include that Opera has banners / ad's for it and is not free like FireFox is.
 
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Firefox loads for me in less than 2 seconds. Even faster once it has been cached.
 
The optimized MOOX binaries being slower than the stock Firefox binaries on all tests (except History where they tied)??? Probably didn't help that it "produced 2 errors while starting", and thus probably wasn't installed correctly :rolleyes:

You can get me to believe Opera is faster than Firefox. It's different software, and may indeed be faster. But when you say that that an optimized compile (that I've tested myself to see if it's faster than the stock compile) is slower, AND decide to include it's results even though it apparently had problems.... Well, that just shot down the integrity of the whole review.

JigPu
 
Just for kicks,

I timed FF v/s IE. {5 tries}
IE : slightly > 2 sec.
FF : 2 sec (avg)

That review looks to be deeply flawed according to my experience.
 
it may not be flawed. his system is very likely most like the AVERAGE system out there, that isn't well taken care of. However, from personal experience, i used Opera for years (from version 2 up) until i heard about firefox. after a reformat, i downloaded firefox, and have used it exclusively now for 3 months. Its really good, and does most of the things that opera did, well. However, i liked opera better for multimedia stuff (firefox isn't that friendly to multi-media plugins, i've found.)
 
^^^ love firefox, is MUCH faster then IE ever has been for me - and i see no reason to go to IE ever again - Opera i dont like because ideally - it is not free.
 
I personaly have been using opera for the longest time. I have always found that it loas faster then IE or FF. I also like the tabbed browsing in opera. FF can not touch the tabs that opera has. Also the banner aint bad when you crank up your resolution. I dont even notice it most of the time
 
^^^ how much different can tabb'd browsing be bewteen the 2?

iwould install Opera but i dont use programs that have adware in them -which is ideally what Opera uses as it included advertisments unless you buy it.
 
I use FF for the fact I can block ad if I choose. Opera adds them, due to I am not paying for something that can be gotten for free and work just as well.
 
Firefox is free and the design of it is plain/simple. I am using it on my old Pentium 1 with Win98SE, IE has crashed more times then I can count while Firefox has yet too.

It does take a few more seconds to start up, but hmmmmm "Have IE crash but load a few more seconds faster or have Firefox never crash but take a few more seconds to load" I choose firefox. I used Opera back when this computer was fairly new heh and I couldn't tell a difference.
 
Firefox has never been faster than IE for me, but I like it better because its easy to customize and tab browsing of coarse. Opera, never tried it, never will. I will never pay for a fee based browser, I know they offer a free version to...with ads I believe, but I still pass.
 
the 'ads' in opera, when at 1024x768... takes up maybe a 1"x2" slot in the upper right (where the spinnin' E in IE is). As for the 'spyware' or 'adware' with it, just run a decent adware type thingy (adaware, spybot, whathaveyoumakeupyourmind)..... it gets rid of it.

Then there is always the bit illicit 'cracking' of it to get rid of the ad.... but i won't get into that (don't wanna get in trouble with the mods)
 
Is Opera open source? Can it be tweaked like FF? To gain the most potential and ease of use for individual users.
I am currently on dial, and the size of getting a new app is important to me and bandwidth usage. How is Opera on that?
Obtaining, user deployment and usage requirements. FF is a 4.7 meg download. How big is Opera(13+ megs)? How long does it take to upgrade from an older version to a newer one? Bieng on dial this is the main reason I would not consider Opera.
The time a browser takes to open is subjective to how it is configured and the speed of the platform it is deployed on.
 
Enablingwolf said:
Is Opera open source? Can it be tweaked like FF? To gain the most potential and ease of use for individual users.
I am currently on dial, and the size of getting a new app is important to me and bandwidth usage. How is Opera on that?
Obtaining, user deployment and usage requirements. FF is a 4.7 meg download. How big is Opera(13+ megs)? How long does it take to upgrade from an older version to a newer one? Bieng on dial this is the main reason I would not consider Opera.
The time a browser takes to open is subjective to how it is configured and the speed of the platform it is deployed on.
[devil's advocate]
Actually, as long as you already have Java installed on your system, Opera is only a 3.6MB download. ;)

Also, while I never messed with it much (I stuck it on my old P133 box a year or so ago), I think there's a descent amount of custimization that can be done. One of the oft heard arguments from the Opera camp is that Opera comes with more features by default, whereas Firefox requires extensions for most things beyond basic web browsing. When you add in the huge array of extensions Firefox has available, it probably pulls ahead of Opera in terms of features, but by how much is up to debate.


And finally, for those complaining about ads.... I've NEVER been bothered by the ads Opera has displayed on the box I installed it on. Sure no ads is better, but it's not like they're a huge and instrustive monstrositiy that you want to slaughter. It's just a simple (I don't think it's even animated :thup: ) banner ad on the top right where your eyes rarely wander. I don't even notice it while surfing @ 1024x768.
[/devil's advocate]

The reason I use Firefox is pretty much because "it's what I have" :D I wouldn't uninstall Firefox just so I could have Opera, nor would I uninstall Opera if I had it just so I could have Firefox. Both are great browsers, and I don't mind using either. One slight benefit to Firefox though is that I already know what extensions I love and how they work ;)

JigPu
 
JigPu said:
[devil's advocate]

whereas Firefox requires extensions for most things beyond basic web browsing. When you add in the huge array of extensions Firefox has available, it probably pulls ahead of Opera in terms of features, but by how much is up to debate.



JigPu

That's another reason I like Firefox, I choose what I want, when I want...hopefully they will never change that concept, I like it lean and mean. :D
 
IE <2 seconds
Firefox <2 seconds
opera <2 second

mhh whats wrong with that guys machine.. she should defragment :)

and all browsers render pages VERY FAST... i cant tell the difference. the only thing you need to do for firefox is download some extensions to get it to work the way you want it.. thats why I dont use opera.. cause its a bit to bloated and not free... firefox i download what I need and some extensions are AMAZING like web developer..

OH and for firefox do this tweak.. it will make you web pages load much faster:
http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000803024910/
 
cornbread said:
That's another reason I like Firefox, I choose what I want, when I want...hopefully they will never change that concept, I like it lean and mean. :D

EXACTLY!! if i wanted a bloated browsers with all the extra "crap" i would not of switched from IE.

This is why i like Firefox - it does the one thing i need it to - view webpages.
 
I like simplicity from a browser. I tried Opera for a while, but moved over to firefox after a few weeks. The only thing I miss is clicking on the far left of a maximed window in Opera, thus enabling/disabling the sidebar. In FF I have to ctrl-B (unless I'm missing something.)

I haven't tried Mozilla, but wouldn't Mozilla be a closer comparison to Opera than FF is, featurewise?
 
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