Mozilla Claims 25% Improvement in Firefox Startup Speed

By Wolfgang Gruener
published

Mozilla developer Taras Glek promises a big performance boost for Firefox 18.

Scheduled for release on January 1, 2013, Firefox 18 will bring a startup performance that is improved by 20 - 25 percent, according to Glek. In a blog post, he noted that half of the speedup was achieved by accelerated library loading.

It appears that Firefox 18 and 19 will deliver in comparison to Firefox 17, which will be released on November 20, more performance improvements. Glek referred to a streamlined tab strip in which the amount of tab closing animations taking more than 400 ms was reduced from a share of about 20 percent to just 3 percent. The overwhelming share of tab animation closings now has a time of about 150 ms.

The IonMonkey Javascript engine also appears to be on schedule for debut in Firefox 18. Mozilla currently rates the IonMonkey browser as the fastest JavaScript browser in the Sunspider benchmark, as a close rival to Chrome in Kraken and behind Chrome and Safari in Google's v8 benchmark.

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Wolfgang Gruener
45 Comments Comment from the forums
  • deadlockedworld
    Good for them. I want a few services to survive that aren't owned by Apple/Microsoft/Google!
    Reply
  • Murissokah
    It's even faster if don't ever use it.
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    MurissokahIt's even faster if don't ever use it.
    Enjoy your partially abandoned IE9.
    Reply
  • dudewitbow
    Firefox is generally aimed at users who utilize alot of add-ons, as it has most of the add-on support. If you are using Firefox naked, then you aren't using its potential.
    Reply
  • Parsian
    As of this moment, it is also fastest to crash. I want my old FF stability and performance back.
    Reply
  • boulbox
    Well the bigger the competition the better right?
    Reply
  • soundping
    I notice when I first start FF 19 Nightly the cash will take time to build. After that FF loads much faster.
    Reply
  • rocknrollz
    I love FF, very nice to use. The only gripe I have on it is the UI. Chrome is the browser I use not only because of the speed but because pf its modern UI. Please Mozilla, update firefox to a more modern UI.
    Reply
  • HDmac
    A Bad DayEnjoy your partially abandoned IE9. There are more than just two browsers you know....
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    HDmacThere are more than just two browsers you know....
    I was defaulting to a 2003 survey that stated that IE6 had a little over 98% of the market share b/c he didn't specify which browser he was comparing FF to.
    Reply