Discussion on:

Five tips for faster Web browsing

You know, I really disagree with this:

"The top speed you will find, in the current crop of browsers, belongs to Google Chrome. If you???ve grown accustomed to Internet Explorer or Firefox, you???ll notice a dramatic increase in rendering time using Google Chrome."

Especially the part about "dramatic." I am a longtime Firefox and IE user, but I also have Chrome installed as a backup, and I have never observed a noticeable speed improvement (none at all, for that matter) using Chrome. In any case, I keep hearing people reporting that Chrome is just so much faster. When I read your quote above, I immediately launched the latest version of Chrome and went to CNN.com, at the same time doing so on Firefox. You know what? No difference. In fact, Firefox seemed to me to load the site faster. It only further supports my opinion that this talk of dramatic Chrome speed is nothing more than misinformation and or over exaggeration which cascades down the tech news channels.

"Google Chrome also helps speed things up by allowing you to enter search strings in the URL address bar."

You can do the same thing on IE and Firefox. For years now.

I have to agree, modern browsers are so close in load speeds that the speed of the server hosting the page tends to be more of an issue than the rendering times of the browser itself. The only people who really care about the speed differences between modern browsers are developers and performance geeks. The rest of us generally only care that the browser works the way it is supposed to and that it can be customized if we so choose.

I have found the opposite - Chrome is a lot faster than any other browser. A lot will depend on you hardware/software mix

I have several different computers that I am on regularly. One is running XP and has 512MB RAM. IE is worthless on this Firefox is alright but Chrome runs like IE and Firefox does on my Win7 4Gig DDR3. So yes Chrome is Slimmer.

Slimmer != Faster

"One is running XP and has 512MB RAM"

That's the problem here, not the browser that you're using.

Kinda sad that so many websites are so bloated now that you need more than this to browse the web.

with apps,etc., or anything will be a bit slower.

Which doesn't really make it any less sad.

I tend to agree with this comment, a novice here. I have Firefox and the only tool bar I use is the favorites and no other. It keeps my browsing at very high speed and haven't considered changing. Also tabs work best for me--it's quick and easy research without having to open and close whole windows. Haven't tried the RAM disc, a little above me, otherwise a good article and worth reading but leans towards Google Chrome, however, Google remains my favorite search engine--the most efficient and fast.

did you at least clear the cache on both browsers ? or firefox just loaded it from the cache? i'm just saying... if you didn't clean the cache on your browsers, clean it and to the test again. I for one have seen a clear difference between Chrome and Firefox and will say that Chrome is faster.

What brand of detergent do you use to clean your cache?

I have used the Tesco house brand now and again, but it's never as good with the FF cache.

I get tired of the "infomercials" for Chrome on TR.....

hmmm it's true that the latest firefox seems to load faster than chrome

Just open task manager and look at the mem usage for chrome. It's hogging about as much as Firefox

I have to agree. The only place I find that Chrome is significantly faster is when I'm on a Google site. On every other website its just about the same as all the other browsers.

Also, I've run into a number of compatability issues with Chrome. Things just don't quite work the same. So, I only use it occasionally.

Good tips, but they also apply to many browsers. If being fast, even by just a few milliseconds, is the most important factor, then the one plugged in the article is probably the best. Browser speed can be measured, but many are fast enough now that it really doesn't matter to the average user. Besides, other factors are involved in browser choice and speed is sometimes not as important as the others.

I agree. Chrome was the fastest when it first came out and people won't let go of that ideal. I read an article here on TR that stated IE9 is now the fastest browser beating Chrome by some small margin. Firefox 4 is due to come out very soon... My point is that the "Fastest browser" will change every week and everyone will sound the horns heralding the new king.

It all comes down to user experience. Pick the one that you like. I use multiple browsers. I like to set up an environment for a task that may not be ideal for my daily web browsing and vice versa. Let's end this pissing contest and focus on what we can control. (Which also may change rapidly, I know)

No body knows the world's fastest browser is Opera. They only support IE, Firefox or Chrome. This must be considered before deciding. Try Opera and then come to this conclusion.

I tried a bunch of different browsers and Opera came-up trumps, with Safari and Konqueror waay down the bottom. Firefox is average, Chrome is ironically dull, IE has the best security features and is supported by most third-party solutions, but...

I currently use Sleipnir. It's fast and customisable but doesn't have a Phishing filter (common sense works fine) and isn't compatible with McAfee Site Advisor (A pity for a Kaspersky fan!).

One thing I have experienced, very painfully is that your host DNS sucks, in my case Verizon, For example NY times 10 -15 secs, hotmail 3-5, Google 2 -4, with high rates of sites being not available, even when the site was open in a different window. To change your DNS, Goto.

http://blog.magofe.com/2010/07/speed-up-your-internet-connection-use-google-public-dns/

I think IE9 is currently the fastest for now..Google is a better option also

Sorry Jack,
For the most part this article is utter rubbish. Your claims about Chrome are just nonsense.
As a developer and IT consultant I run multiple browsers including Chrome, IE8 and Opera on a high spec machine.
I have noted NO APPRECIABLE DIFFERENCE between Chrome and IE8. It was no more or less stable than IE8 and speed felt virtually identical.
Opera felt marginally faster.

I recommend to my clients that unless they have a real tangible reason to switch browser they should stick to IE8 (IE9)

I was convinced I was the only one who ever had more than two tabs open at a time let alone the average 10 or so I have open at any given time. Years ago I downloaded firefox for it's ability to do just that, and it has always made tabs for the individual sites the thought of parent tabs scares me! More importantly I have kept the firefox browser for one specific add-on that has cut down my tabbage by at least half - CoolPreviews - it shows a small icon next to the mouse when you hover over any link and hovering over the icon will open the link in a smaller window within your current window, you can easily control if this window stays open or not and if you keep it open any links you hover over in the original tab will load to the small window giving you an instant preview of the page and saving you from clogging up your window with tabs you end up not using. I cannot believe it every time I see someone try to efficiently manage any more than 3 browser windows at a time, but I've learned to keep my trap shut about it because of the ensuing arguments and general misunderstanding of tabs in general. I wont use my iPhone to browse articles like this because of it's limit of only 8 tabs and how easily you can open a link in the same window when trying to open a new window - try browsing your iPhone history in search of a link you were on moments ago and tell me you don't agree. Without tabs I feel I would not get all the information I want out of websites. For example while reading this article I came across several links I wanted to open and/or bookmark but I wasn't even halfway through reading this. I open the links in background tabs that I go through when I finish that article. Call me crazy or a tech nerd - I agree this does lead to yet more tabs per tab but I use CoolPreviews for the most part and truly only open tabs for websites I feel I must save for later. I start out in the CoolPreviews window and if it looks good it has a one click button to open in another tab. I haven't noticed any slow down as opposed to safari but my network has and is extremely fast to begin with considering I rarely download anything, and use the web mainly to read articles. I will not ever switch browsers until another supports individual tabs, CoolPreviews add-on, not to mention I can and have set it to automatically open the tabs from my last session saving me from ever losing my tabs in a crash or even quit - I rarely finish browsing the web to where I close my last tab, I either have to do something else or god forbid lose access to the Internet. Whenever I open firefox I am immediately brought to exactly where I left off. Call me crazy but I don't know how I would efficiently browse the web any other way. I must know I have truly consumed an article or website and all it's necessary links before leaving it - I would get lost, distracted, or forget about it before I could find my way back to it.

Gave up with Chrome last week (Shockwave Flash plugin died) and have IE9 running; its not bad - provided you don't have too many tabs running.

Firefox 4 is the fastest browser ever

How quickly content loads is not just a result of your browser. There are a number of other things that can impact loading. These include
1.) Your Internet connection (e.g. Broadband, ADSL, SDSL, dial-up?, Wireless, etc.), Even the connection speed from your Internat access point to your browser (wired 100/1000Mb, WiFi 54Mbps, etc.)
2.) The content host's Internet connection (see above)
3.) The content host's server capabilities
4.) distance between Internet ingress points (i.e. the place where you and the host physically connect to the Internet.

You can use tools like http://www.speedtest.net/ to check your connection point to a response server. OK so it only uses ping, but it provides an indication. Test your connection with recommended server, and then run the test again with a more distant server. (Try this as a server on a different continent). The speeds can be dramatically reduced.

Draw your own conclusions.

Like other posts here. As browsers go I also think any speed advantage Chrome had has been eroded, and I have experienced a number of spcific web application environments that do not support, or have compatibility issues with Chrome. (eg. F5's SSL VPN and Avaya's one-X Portal browser based softphone to name two).
(btw http://www.speedtest.net/ have a Chrome advert extolling the virtues of Chrome.)

Please Try to do more research before posting info

I love IE 9. Simply a great browser. I have Chrome here just for testing purposes.

Chrome might be the fastest browser by the moment, but those couple of nanoseconds do not make real difference when browsing! Opera browser besides being as fast as Chrome is much better in all other aspects. You can customize (and I'm not taking about pretty skins and that sort of things) the browser to meet exactly your needs, without being a real computer expert; you surf the web much more easily with "mouse gestures" (no plug-in needed!); etc etc etc... There are so many things that you might think that were IE, FF or Chrome inventions and Opera just "copied" them...well, let me just say that it is exactly the other way around...and in the future it will still probably be!
Just give Opera a try...and I'm sure you won't regret it!

totally overstated chrome's speed and hey speed isn't all that matters, in which case firefox rules with its greater compliance for standards and offer of a more natural and exciting user experience!!! Back to the speed, i really do not notice the difference, I am in Africa and here the connection determines the speed leaving little for the browser to do but yet firefox has always performed faster than chrome any day such outrageous comments force me to carry out tests.

I'm using 11.0.696.16 beta in Ubuntu 10.10 well worth it for me.

I'm sure there will be plenty of arguments and discussions about which browser is fastest. The best browsers are all close in speed. But what we can all agree on, I think, is which browsers to avoid. For Windows XP users, you should run Chrome 10 or Firefox 4. Both of those browsers are noticeably faster than IE8. For Windows 7 users, IE9 has speed comparable to the latest version of Chrome.

The rest is somewhere between subjective, unverifiable, and trivial.

I've noticed that TR pushes a lot of Google products, especially in your daily emails for Google Apps. This article, along with other articles I've seen states that Chrome is simply the fastest without providing any kind of current bench marking.

Here's a link to a current bench mark from Tom's hardware, see for yourself how page loads rank for each browser (from 03/21/2011) - Spoiler, no one browser is simply the best.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/internet-explorer-9-chrome-10-opera-11,2897-5.html

I'm wondering are you posting these articles because you get paid to by Google, or if you are genuinely trying to write a tech article with no technical details.

PS: You completely skipped Opera. Despite it's obscurity Opera has been one of the best browsers around for a long time. Judging from other posts a lot of other people know that Opera has been, and continues to be, a very well designed browser.

are due to the ISP's.

Most ISP's do not have their networks configured properly to the internet backbone and/or internally on their system.

End of Story....

New Story...
Try and find a good ISP in AMERICA.
Can't......why....!!!

Their run by sporting white trophies on the wall, that.....are non-inclusive of wisdom...!!
End of second Story....!!!

You gota love America...
Home of the free & the brave & the IDIOTS...!!

It's not our network system sir, it must be a problem on your computer system..!!
Yea right..!!
Then they say.....

Sir it appears your the only one having a problem.!!!
When they say that, you know right off, their lying.!!

Third story......
I sent my ISP trace route data showing them they have a problem.
Sir our systems are running normally right now, it must be a problem with your computer.

What they failed to realize from the report I sent them, was the trace route's were to my IP and two friends on the their network system.

Three different IP address on their system all showing the same issue..!!

i.e.

2 gigaethernet0.baycarehs5.bbnplanet.net (63.208.3.2) 0 msec 0 msec 0 msec
3 * * *
4 72-31-194-9.net.bhntampa.com (72.31.194.9) [AS33363] 4 msec 8 msec 8 msec
5 * * *
6 tengig1-0-0-orld53-cts1.noc.bhn.net (72.31.194.33) [AS33363] 4 msec 8 msec 8 msec
7 * * *
8 * * *
9 * * *
10 * * *
11 * * *
12 * * *
13 * * *
14 * * *
15 * * *
16 * * *
17 * * * timeout !

Kinda says it all....doesn't it.!!
And of course browsing is a clear indication the problem exists.
They either have a lot of equipment down, or a mis-configuration..!!
Take your pick.!!
Been battling this for three years, in the last month it has gotten much worse, and I expect their network to go down at any time, hopefully.
Then they might fix it.!!
Then again, they might not.!!
Their IDIOTS WITH sporting white trophies on the wall remember.!!

YUP their Religiously RIGHT..!!
What else is new.....

Wow, you really have a chip on your shoulder about your ISP. Seeing as how I've worked as a Network and Systems Admin for 2 ISP's I'll clue you in on a few things.

1) If you believe your ISP is that bad you have the right to switch, seeing as how you're equipment states your in Tampa I'd assume you have more than one option.

2) Saying most ISP's have misconfigured there equipment is wrong, if that was the case then most ISP's would have been shut down by now. Saturation in the provider market is strong almost everywhere nowadays so one bad ISP will always be eaten by a better one based on customer satisfaction, I've seen it happen several times now, it's the nature of the game.

3) The traceroute you sent actually shows good return times. The most likely explanation is that your ISP has decided to block ICMP traffic at it's core. This is generally done to stop certain types of virus traffic, DDOS attacks, and a variety of other small attacks. It's usally only done at the core because that's your primary ingress point and will be the best place to block icmp without causing issues with tools monitoring the network.

4) You may know how to do a traceroute but that doesn't mean you actually know anything about WAN's. Include the fact that you've turned a simple forum thread into a bitch session and I'd say the reason no one wants to deal with you is because you have no clue as to what's actually going on and you're most likely the problem. Maybe you should take some time to run bandwidth tests both on and off network. I would also recommend shutting down your bit torrent client, netflix, pandora, and any bandwidth hogging programs.

5) Not once during your bitch session did you bother to mention what type of internet access you have and what package you've purchased. How fast is it, and how much bandwidth are you using regulary?

Finally, I'm not sure why I decided to respond to your rant, maybe it's years of listening to people like you pointing the finger. But the final call on this is if your ISP is that bad then switch, or maybe you don't want to because you're worried it is actually your problem and you just don't know what you're talking about.

@ jhinkle ..........Having a bad hair day are you.

Cable Internet and cable Digital TV pixilate's, even sometimes on the analog TV's.
LAST month they screwed something up and it's all in the trash now.

System here is fairly large and has been tested thoroughly.
They have been out here 70+ times to do their dog and pony show.
You know, as you worked for an ISP, they snip a wire, replace the
good end, change an amp, change whatever can be changed out, and
when all is said and done, still doesn't work.
Why...because the problem isn't on site, it's their network system.

It's the blind lead the blind, even the supervisors.!!

I have the same problems on customers & friends systems that use this ISP.
As far as us changing ISP's, not possible.
The other ISP's are way worse.!!
DSL & SAT aren't exactly premium options 2Mb down LOL.
But some of our customers did go DSL.
They were warned.!!

On a bad day I get 5Mb down, good day 38Mb down.
I pay for 40Mb.
Poor RF signal will give poor results.
Which is only one of the problems.
Signal has been good of late, they tweeked something on their
network and now thins aren't so good.

Fact...some...very few...traces complete, so if they do have ICMP
blocked then they don't have it blocked across the board.
Which again says they don't have things config'ed properly if ICMP
blocked is the case.

Keep in mind, I do have some experience, I remote admin systems
around the world.
Europe has one of the better systems.
Hops around Europe are single digit, hops from them to America
are mostly triple digit.
America sucks.!!
4G Cell phones, a joke!!

5) Not once during your bitch session did you bother to
mention what type of internet access you have

What you couldn't tell from the traceroute..!!
Here I'll give you a clue....bhn!!
Why did you work for two ISP's, they weren't good enough, or you
weren't good enough..!!
LOL
Like I said, their Religiously RIGHT..!!
IDIOTS..!!

These are not good tools, in general, for checking on internet stuff. Not sure what you think your traceroute means, but it kinda says nothing.

First thing, go back to school and learn the difference between "their" and "they're". Then, learn proper sentence construction and learn to proofread. Maybe then someone will take you seriously. I find it very difficult to lend any credence to someone who is obviously illiterate and definitely has a chip. Won't mention about his data being flawed. Too many morons with access.

ever hear of a typo? I always misspell their - there - and they're, because I fat finger the keyboard. Big deal!

This one is never mentioned but we have been using it on all workstations in our office and it runs very well. It has a clean interface and a built in email client which is another plus. Adding the NoScript add-on also makes it very secure and gives you complete control over what actually loads when you visit a page. For the small percentage of sites that refuse to work (usually those with active-x) we just default back to I.E. but for general browsing SeaMonkey with NoScript is fast and secure.

I agree 100% with the suggestion to remove toolbars. Every time I am cleaning up a pc for a client if I see lots of toolbars I suggest they be uninstalled. The clients are always pleased with how much cleaner and faster their browsers run, regardless of which one they use. Most of the time toolbars get installed along with some other software they installed and they don't even remember where they came from. Bundling un-needed crap with almost everything these days is one of my pet peeves.

I tried Google Chrome - nothing special there but good old Google of course had to put their Google Updater software on my computer. (like they do with ALL their crap). I have network of approx 300 computers and inevitably when I get a call from a user that their system is slow I find that they have installed Google Earth, or Chorme or Toolbar (usually from an Adobe download - thank you very much ADOBE) and Google Updater is busy hogging system resources.
Add to that all the poisened serach results you get when you use Google for your search engine and I simply have nothing good to say about them. Just as point of observation in my own environment - I estimated that approx 90% of the drive-by malware problems come from using Google as a search engine. At least Yahoo tried to do some filtering and warning of potential maliscious web sites.

My browser experience with IE and FireFox was significantly improved by switching to OpenDNS, rather than using the default AT&T supplied DNS.