David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
New Firefox Quantum Twice as Fast, 30% Less Memory
by John Lister, infopackets.com
November 15, 2017
Mozilla has launched a new version of the Firefox browser aimed at winning over Google Chrome users. It says the new version is twice as fast as earlier versions of Firefox that were available this year.
The key is the "web rendering engine," which is the part of the browser that interprets the code on a website page and visually combines it on the user's computer. Mozilla has replaced its old engine with a new one dubbed Firefox Quantum. It's also put together videos showing that Firefox is now quicker than Chrome to fully load most (but not all) of the more popular websites.
Independent reports suggest these claims are viable. They also note that the new browser feels faster in several other aspects such as typing website addresses. (Source: gizmodo.com)
Browser Does Two Things at Once
Part of the difference is that unlike previous editions, Firefox is set up to work better on computers that have multi-core processors. These systems are able to work on multiple tasks simultaneously because more CPU cores means more available 'hands' to get work done. The new browser splits out the various tasks involved in displaying and using a web page and assigns these tasks to different cores.
Mozilla also took aim at Chrome by saying Firefox now uses 30 percent less memory. It's unclear if that will be the experience of all users as it may vary widely depending on their computer and web use. However, it's certainly fair to say that heavy memory use and resulting freezes and slowdowns is the most common criticism of Chrome. (Source: mozilla.org)
New Firefox Interface Decluttered
Other changes include a cleaning up of the browser so that there's less clutter on the screen beyond the actual webpage. This includes using the same space for both typing website addresses and carrying out searches - something that's already common on most rival browsers.
Firefox also now has a single "Library" button that gives access to tools such as bookmarks, a downloaded files and browser history, rather than have multiple menu options permanently displayed on screen.
Firefox 57 (Quantum) Kills Many "Legacy" Addons
The new Firefox Quantum also includes the WebExtensions API (application programming interface), which manages Firefox addons. The biggest change means that older extensions which have not migrated to the WebExtensions API will no longer be compatible going forward. In other words: many addons will simply be disabled until (and if) the author decides to migrate to the new format.
by John Lister, infopackets.com
November 15, 2017
Mozilla has launched a new version of the Firefox browser aimed at winning over Google Chrome users. It says the new version is twice as fast as earlier versions of Firefox that were available this year.
The key is the "web rendering engine," which is the part of the browser that interprets the code on a website page and visually combines it on the user's computer. Mozilla has replaced its old engine with a new one dubbed Firefox Quantum. It's also put together videos showing that Firefox is now quicker than Chrome to fully load most (but not all) of the more popular websites.
Independent reports suggest these claims are viable. They also note that the new browser feels faster in several other aspects such as typing website addresses. (Source: gizmodo.com)
Browser Does Two Things at Once
Part of the difference is that unlike previous editions, Firefox is set up to work better on computers that have multi-core processors. These systems are able to work on multiple tasks simultaneously because more CPU cores means more available 'hands' to get work done. The new browser splits out the various tasks involved in displaying and using a web page and assigns these tasks to different cores.
Mozilla also took aim at Chrome by saying Firefox now uses 30 percent less memory. It's unclear if that will be the experience of all users as it may vary widely depending on their computer and web use. However, it's certainly fair to say that heavy memory use and resulting freezes and slowdowns is the most common criticism of Chrome. (Source: mozilla.org)
New Firefox Interface Decluttered
Other changes include a cleaning up of the browser so that there's less clutter on the screen beyond the actual webpage. This includes using the same space for both typing website addresses and carrying out searches - something that's already common on most rival browsers.
Firefox also now has a single "Library" button that gives access to tools such as bookmarks, a downloaded files and browser history, rather than have multiple menu options permanently displayed on screen.
Firefox 57 (Quantum) Kills Many "Legacy" Addons
The new Firefox Quantum also includes the WebExtensions API (application programming interface), which manages Firefox addons. The biggest change means that older extensions which have not migrated to the WebExtensions API will no longer be compatible going forward. In other words: many addons will simply be disabled until (and if) the author decides to migrate to the new format.
