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Of course if you're on Qwest DSL which is slower than a 28k modem it doesn't really matter how fast your browser is....

Things can only get better and better with valid competition.

Also worth noting that FireFox only runs JavaScript faster when all the extensions are disabled.

With extensions enabled it's significantly *slower* than Safari, and who runs FireFox without extensions? It's customisable nature is it's main differentiating factor and almost the only reason to use it.

sometimes betas are faster because there's no extra baggage.

Improvement is always welcome. But for the record, Safari 3 is hardly a laggard ....

Apr 08, 08 - 03:19 pm Comment from: ken1w

But what's with those ugly buttons...

Apr 08, 08 - 03:19 pm Comment from: Willie G

even if it does end up being faster, it's still Firefox... Safari is fast enough for me, I cant see the benefit of toiling in that hideous interface to save a nano-second or two

Apr 08, 08 - 03:21 pm Comment from: shen

does anyone know how the new fox beta does in acid3?

Hey, anything that gets people to stop using Internet Explorer is a good thing.

Apr 08, 08 - 03:23 pm Comment from: HMCIV

Zune Tang, quick! Put this in perspective for us who don't understand. Baaaaaah!

Apr 08, 08 - 03:26 pm Comment from: Rich Apple person

DUH ..been saying that the Beta of Firefox is a speed demon

Apr 08, 08 - 03:26 pm Comment from: JAYGEE

When I come to this site on Firefox, some pop-ups get through the pop-up blocker, and some do get stopped.

Why have pop-ups anyway MDN?

Apr 08, 08 - 03:31 pm Comment from: Ampar

Wow, it is fast. It's nice to have a decent choice.

Apr 08, 08 - 03:40 pm Comment from: dd

Good to hear. Not that I compare the 2 browsers, but I'm a fan of FF. Safari will have to do a lot to convince me to switch. I'll wait to see if HTML 5 and the CSS animations pick up any steam...

Five out of five > open FF > click on menu-bar> ......CRASH

Apr 08, 08 - 04:03 pm Comment from: Spark

Unless you have a real need for one or more FF plugins, Safari is the overall winner. I'm sorry, but I've installed 3.0 and it is like a Cold War Soviet copy: big and ugly. The image and type rendering is not clean as Safari. It may be marginally faster in some artificial lab test, but I'm sticking with Safari for basic internet browsing and enjoyment.

Apr 08, 08 - 04:06 pm Comment from: Macintosh

I personally don't care for Firefox. I believe it got off to a better start than Safari technology-wise, but I prefer Safari now. The only time I had to use it was to file my taxes w/ H&R;Block online. Safari would not work for that (it may now, as that was two years ago).

It works like the other applications that Apple makes, syncs bookmarks to my iPhone effortlessly, the tabbing feature is fine, etc...

I just overlook it 99.9% of the time since I don't see the point of it's existence anymore. I see there are lots of plug-ins and such, but they seem like more trouble than they are worth.

Apr 08, 08 - 04:07 pm Comment from: OctoberMac

The good thing here is that it looks like Firefox and Safari are in a shoot out. Healthy competition spurs innovation and improvement. Go Firefox ... keep pushing the envelope so Safari can come back and beat you ... then repeat the cycle. Meanwhile, every other browser is left in the dust!

Apr 08, 08 - 04:08 pm Comment from: anaknipedro

FFB5 still only scores 75 on the acid 3 test. Why doesn't the Firefox team become standards compliant before they start boasting about JavaScript performance?

Apr 08, 08 - 04:29 pm Comment from: MrScrith

So the breakdown for the top three browsers:

Firefox beta wins the Javascript speed tests
Safari 3.x developer seed wins the race to the Acid 3 test
Opera closed beta comes in second to the Acid 3 test
Internet Explorer wins the most bugs per downloaded byte test...

I like where this is heading... now all I have to do is figure out why one of the smartest devs at work uses IE6 and sees it as the 'standard' for website design. Must be like other geniuses unable understand how to balance their checkbook...

Oh gosh!!
Apple is doomed! Macs are gonna disapear from the surface of earth! Firefox has won! They must be paid by Bill Gates inperson!
It's all over! Zun Tang is happy!


lol lol lol

Apr 08, 08 - 04:40 pm Comment from: Logan

I have read some web developers talk about the fact that they believe IE defines standards because the most people use it. They say that if IE hadn't been around, we would still be in the dark-ages of the internet.

Part of me understands that, with such a large percentage of the population using IE, developers/designers feel that they HAVE to develop/design for it, thereby making it a standard of sorts.

But in the real universe there is much more going on than in the little Windows microcosm. We need outside-defined standards to keep the internet honest and open for the users. IE creates their own "standards" to make the internet oil their behemoth machine.

so it can crash 5 times faster too??

WebKit beats them all

Apr 08, 08 - 06:30 pm Comment from: AppleMacMan

Overall Safari's default settings trump Firefox when rendering webpages. HOWEVER, typing "about:config" in the location bar in Firefox 3 beta 5 and adjusting 5 simple default settings will make Firefox lightening fast and the king of browsers in rendering speed.

As to Firefox's ugly default UI or theme, I have great news for Mac users who want to use Firefox 3.0 but hate the new look, just head on over to Mozilla's add-ons site and download Aronnax's GrApple Yummy theme for Firefox. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6704



Well if you are testing beta software...Did they test with latest Webkit build
How did Firefox Beta 5 do with Acid3 ...???

Well er no

just a ZDNut Trolling

OK, well if we are comparing beta browsers then it would only be fair to compare Firefox 3 beta 5 with the latest nightly build of webkit.

Apr 08, 08 - 07:18 pm Comment from: MrScrith

@AppleMacMan

So you're telling me that the average joe who just got into this whole 'firefox' thing and just learning that that blue 'e' isn't the internet will figure that out or even know what to do with that list of 100+ settings? Come on now, be reasonable, the only people who will see that "king of browsers" claim will be people with higher-then-average computer skills. I tell any of my non-programmer/sysadmin friends to do that and their eyes will glaze over. However it's fairly easy to tell them to install iTunes and the optional Safari web browser and tell them to try it out, same with Firefox, anything to get them off of IE will do.

i can't even run firefox 3 beta 5 on my 2.2GHz SR Macbook Pro it's so slow. Whenever i try to launch FF3, it takes nearly a minute and it's THE SLOWEST app on my computer. Safari takes about a second for comparo. I hope this gets fixed before FF3 comes out of beta, I miss my extensions

is it just me?

Apr 08, 08 - 08:06 pm Comment from: Cubert

However, if you have the System Preference>Appearance option "jump to here upon click" enabled for scroll bars on your Mac, you will see all kinds of cursor craziness and wonkiness with Firefox 3 betas, although I've only used up to beta 4.

Apr 08, 08 - 08:13 pm Comment from: Cubert

Excuse me, should have said "scroll bar" craziness and wonkiness.


@AppleMacMan,

Thanks for the info!

Apr 08, 08 - 11:13 pm Comment from: DogGone

Well my Prius is faster than a Ferrari from 0-60.

Of course, that's assuming there is no gas in the Ferrari.

Seriously, you can't call one thing faster than the other using one specification. I like both Safari and FF and use them both at work on a PC and at home on a Mac. I'm glad that FF is evolving. Good news for everyone.

Take on MDN's Take: Hey man, don't diss Safai, its made by Apple.

Apr 09, 08 - 01:35 am Comment from: AppleMacMan

@MrScrith

I wasn't talking about anything that was too techie. Just take a look at the video posted on Stumble Upon and you will see how very simple it is to change a few default values in Firefox, making it extremely fast.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=6wklaxhjo4

Apr 09, 08 - 08:22 am Comment from: Ray

Wonderful! Now not only is Firefox more compatible with the internet than Safari, but now it is better with Java.

So once again I am stuck using two browsers.

Just my $0.02

Apr 09, 08 - 08:45 am Comment from: Mo

ZDNet. There's a bastion of truth and reason.

Apr 09, 08 - 04:50 pm Comment from: nekogami13

Adblock plus just went compatible with beta 3.5!

The best browser just keeps getting greater.