What is Digg?356 Comments
- blu3bird, on 09/22/2008, -8/+407Move from 56k to dsl/cable.
- neopherine, on 09/22/2008, -20/+417Just a caution, don't ***** with your default settings and copy and paste ***** from any website. Some of this will seriously break your browsing. There is a reason why default setting are the way it is.
- vinceislegend, on 09/22/2008, -5/+329LUDICROUS SPEED!
- cwmather, on 09/22/2008, -4/+283Firefox has been outperforming IE in every department for years, and version 3 is speedier than ever.
But tweak the right settings and you could make it faster still, more than doubling your speed in some situations, all for about five minutes work and for the cost of precisely nothing at all. Here's what you need to do.
1. Enable pipelining
Browsers are normally very polite, sending a request to a server then waiting for a response before continuing. Pipelining is a more aggressive technique that lets them send multiple requests before any responses are received, often reducing page download times. To enable it, type about:config in the address bar, double-click network.http.pipelining and network.http.proxy.pipelining so their values are set to true, then double-click network.http.pipelining.maxrequests and set this to 8.
Keep in mind that some servers don't support pipelining, though, and if you regularly visit a lot of these then the tweak can actually reduce performance. Set network.http.pipelining and network.http.proxy.pipelining to false again if you have any problems.
2. Render quickly
Large, complex web pages can take a while to download. Firefox doesn't want to keep you waiting, so by default will display what it's received so far every 0.12 seconds (the "content notify interval"). While this helps the browser feel snappy, frequent redraws increase the total page load time, so a longer content notify interval will improve performance.
Type about:config and press [Enter], then right-click (Apple users ctrl-click) somewhere in the window and select New > Integer. Type content.notify.interval as your preference name, click OK, enter 500000 (that's five hundred thousand, not fifty thousand) and click OK again.
Right-click again in the window and select New > Boolean. This time create a value called content.notify.ontimer and set it to True to finish the job.
3. Faster loading
If you haven't moved your mouse or touched the keyboard for 0.75 seconds (the content switch threshold) then Firefox enters a low frequency interrupt mode, which means its interface becomes less responsive but your page loads more quickly. Reducing the content switch threshold can improve performance, then, and it only takes a moment.
Type about:config and press [Enter], right-click in the window and select New > Integer. Type content.switch.threshold, click OK, enter 250000 (a quarter of a second) and click OK to finish.
4. No interruptions
You can take the last step even further by telling Firefox to ignore user interface events altogether until the current page has been downloaded. This is a little drastic as Firefox could remain unresponsive for quite some time, but try this and see how it works for you.
Type about:config, press [Enter], right-click in the window and select New > Boolean. Type content.interrupt.parsing, click OK, set the value to False and click OK.
5. Block Flash
Intrusive Flash animations are everywhere, popping up over the content you actually want to read and slowing down your browsing. Fortunately there's a very easy solution. Install the Flashblock extension (flashblock.mozdev.org) and it'll block all Flash applets from loading, so web pages will display much more quickly. And if you discover some Flash content that isn't entirely useless, just click its placeholder to download and view the applet as normal.
6. Increase the cache size
As you browse the web so Firefox stores site images and scripts in a local memory cache, where they can be speedily retrieved if you revisit the same page. If you have plenty of RAM (2 GB of more), leave Firefox running all the time and regularly return to pages then you can improve performance by increasing this cache size. Type about:config and press [Enter], then right-click anywhere in the window and select New > Integer. Type browser.cache.memory.capacity, click OK, enter 65536 and click OK, then restart your browser to get the new, larger cache.
7. Enable TraceMonkey
TraceMonkey is a new Firefox feature that converts slow Javascript into super-speedy x86 code, and so lets it run some functions anything up to 20 times faster than the current version. It's still buggy so isn't available in the regular Firefox download yet, but if you're willing to risk the odd crash or two then there's an easy way to try it out.
Install the latest nightly build (ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/), launch it, type about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Type JIT in the filter box, then double-click javascript.options.jit.chrome and javascript.options.jit.content to change their values to true, and that's it - you're running the fastest Firefox Javascript engine ever.
8. Compress data
If you've a slow internet connection then it may feel like you'll never get Firefox to perform properly, but that's not necessarily true. Install toonel.net (toonel.net) and this clever Java applet will re-route your web traffic through its own server, compressing it at the same time, so there's much less to download. And it can even compress JPEGs by allowing you to reduce their quality. This all helps to cut your data transfer, useful if you're on a limited 1 GB-per-month account, and can at best double your browsing performance. - wheresjim, on 09/22/2008, -0/+258That 500 internal server error loaded up right quick!
- jmp478, on 09/22/2008, -1/+243503 BAD GATEWAY
Oh God, what have I done?! - cday, on 09/22/2008, -2/+130@neopherine, That's excellent advice and needed to be said. Backing things up before experimenting is wise too, as well as only making one change at a time, then make sure everything works before trying something else.
But, I wouldn't leave it there because it's good to encourage people to try new things, rather than to scare them off. Too many people are afraid of their computers, and default settings aren't ALWAYS the best for everyone, so learning how to change or customize things is good (it can be fun...maybe even a little addictive :o). - cpsutcliffe, on 09/22/2008, -2/+115My fantastically fast Firefox is waiting for your sluggishly slow Site.
- withincontext, on 09/22/2008, -0/+109My browser has gone plaid. :(
- GoEKniGhtofNi, on 09/22/2008, -2/+91Sandurz: Prepare for light speed.
Helmet: No, no, light speed is too slow.
Sandurz: Light speed too slow?
Helmet: Yes, we'll have to go right to...Ludicrous speed!
Sandurz:Ludicrous speed! Sir, we've never gone that fast before. I
don't think the ship can take it.
Helmet: What's the matter, Colonel Sandurz...CHICKEN?! - CarnivalOfDust, on 09/22/2008, -0/+89My carrier pigeon is not gonna like this.
- sbassin, on 09/22/2008, -2/+77I just moved up from 14.4K! I have to move again?
- rrife, on 09/22/2008, -1/+74So by "ridiculously fast" they mean "marginally faster"?
- Tychee, on 09/22/2008, -20/+92This is just what I've needed, my Firefox is slow as hell. Thanx
- kerms, on 09/22/2008, -3/+72Mirror: http://www.pcanswers.co.uk/node/4627
- TheLichKing, on 09/22/2008, -5/+61I would, but I don't like being spammed by ads on every single web site.
- cricketsymphony, on 09/22/2008, -2/+54and we all know how slow hell can be, especially during rush hour
- hantata, on 09/22/2008, -8/+55You've identified the problem.
- Vodd9, on 09/22/2008, -22/+63I'm just posting to say ***** Chrome.
- delecti, on 09/22/2008, -6/+44None of those tweaks seemed useful enough to be worth the mentioned risks or extra effort.
- germanson, on 09/22/2008, -1/+39i found firefox slower on linux..
- kday, on 09/22/2008, -12/+48I just noticed how your username is very similar to mine.
- dixhuit, on 09/22/2008, -0/+35Myyy braaaiins aaarre goooing iintoo myyy feeeeeeet!
- TVarmy, on 09/22/2008, -1/+34Hey kid, I'm a browser. Stop all the pipelinin'!
- realestateloop, on 09/22/2008, -0/+33Oh man i remember the days of AOL pay-per hour and 14.4K it would take 10min just to download one picture of Pamela Anderson naked... :) good times!
- bennovw, on 09/22/2008, -0/+30Its the damn pipelining...
- inactive, on 09/22/2008, -4/+34step 1, stop downloading 10 gb of porn while trying to surf
- ligyron, on 09/22/2008, -3/+32Sir, we've never gone that fast before. I don't know if this browser can take it
- inactive, on 09/22/2008, -0/+28Somebody tweaked the server's default settings, it seems.
- kornolio13, on 09/22/2008, -3/+31unpremeditated DOS attack on techradar.com succeded! thank to pipelining advice ))
- error2k2, on 09/22/2008, -0/+27Fasten all seat belts, seal all entrances and exits, close all shops in the mall, cancel the 3-ring circus, secure all animals in the zoo!
- jarelkamar, on 09/22/2008, -8/+35502 Bad Gateway
- sdub74, on 09/22/2008, -0/+25I don't think there are many people out there who are willingly on 56k.
- KableKiB, on 09/22/2008, -1/+25@SeaMowse - Read what you're replying to.
- WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -2/+26With a side of "possibly won't work at all."
- KaJuN4, on 09/22/2008, -0/+23We can't stop, it's too dangerous. We have to slow down first.
*****! - TehDoctor, on 09/22/2008, -0/+22"No no no no, Light Speed's too slow"
"Light Speed too slow?!"
"Yes, we're gonna have to right to.... Ludicrous Speed!"
*gasps* - mllawso, on 09/22/2008, -3/+24I've known some people in college who've "Backed things up and experimented".
- blueice2511, on 09/22/2008, -2/+22Anybody else sick of people calling anything they want "hacks"?
- brad3378, on 09/23/2008, -0/+18Digg.com is BY FAR the worst website I've ever used when it comes to CPU consumption when using Firefox. Thank goodness for tabbed browsing so I can easily read one page while loading another!
- Winston84, on 09/22/2008, -7/+25"Default Settings" should be called "Mediocre Settings" ..
- bigstinky, on 09/22/2008, -1/+19I once got busy in a Burger-King bathroom.
- douglasr007, on 09/22/2008, -0/+18STOP THIS THING! I ORDER YOU, STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP
- SmilingJess, on 09/22/2008, -3/+21some good ideas here - not sure I will implement them all, but a few are sure winners.
- Greengoo, on 09/22/2008, -0/+17Turnnnnnnnnnnn itttttttttttt offffffffffffffffffffff.
- ArkAngel06, on 09/22/2008, -5/+22It's odd that a website that is showing you how to speed up a browser cant even keep up with digg.
- Vadi0, on 09/22/2008, -3/+18Only used the first tip. The rest don't seem to be that great and are most likely to screw things up.
- betheturtle, on 09/23/2008, -0/+15HOW MANY ***** ARE THERE ON THIS SHIP!
- ieee, on 09/22/2008, -3/+17I hear the code name for the next version is "Orwell"
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