Browser startup times

[timns]

I just ran a little experiment on my PC. I used AppTimer (hopeless gui, but a neat program!) to launch each of my browsers 5 times in a row.

Here are the results (times are in seconds)



Guess I'm sticking with FireFox for now. Although to be fair, who cares about such tiny differences? I start my browser in the morning, and close it when I shut down my PC.

But I thought it was interesting.

[nudone]

that looks like you don't have many (any) extensions installed with Firefox. typically, after you've a few installed it takes years to launch.

or maybe you pc is just weird (or mine just crap).

[Curt]

-

on my computer (too) this >firefox.exe - 2 executions: 1.8417 and 0.0927< has very little to do with Real Life. It will take many more seconds before I can type & hit Enter and get a response, without FF freezing. Probably because of my many add-ons.

[timns]

I have 11 add-ons in my FF. None in the others since I never use them. The numbers in my case were very consistent which is why I wanted to share.

In theory that apptimer times the period between launch and 'program ready for user input'

[timns]

By the way, I'm not trying to start a browser war! This is purely in the interests of science.

[jgpaiva]

1 second for Opera
Mine (v11 under MacOSX) takes like 10seconds until I can do anything with it, it's utterly annoying! Probably has something to do with me having like 40 open tabs, though 

[nudone]

well, i don't know how you are doing it but Firefox is the slowest on my machine - by a lot. but i use it regardless, just don't ever shut it down during the day - then it's as fast as being always on.

[Curt]

Make browsers, not war! Firefox itself is fast, but here "ready for user input" means "ready for add-ons input". I have Speed Dial as 'homepage', and some of the pages even have JavaScripts. So all though my 0.0927 second -result is speed data suitable for a commercial, Real Life is saying maybe 5 seconds, in my setup.

[cranioscopical]

launch each of my browsers 5 times in a row

Clearly, you have too much time on your hands.

Guess I'm sticking with FireFox for now.

On what are you running it, Watson?

[timns]

I'm obviously a simple man with simple needs... I wonder if I'm also benefitting from that speedboost thing.

[timns]

launch each of my browsers 5 times in a row

Clearly, you have too much time on your hands.

Guess I'm sticking with FireFox for now.

On what are you running it, Watson?

Good one. This is Vista-32 on a pretty high spec PC.

[Stoic Joker]

Internet Explorer 9 RC:
OS: Windows 7 x64

C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe - 10 executions
0.1557
0.0153
0.0152
0.0152
0.0153
0.0153
0.0153
0.0152
0.0155
0.0163

*Shrug* Werkz 4 Me...

[sri]

Firefox is just awesome!

Can't imagine browsing w/o useful add-ons like Keyconfig, Firebug, QuickDrag, Tab Mix Plus and Text Link.

I have 31 extensions which are active.

[nudone]

i have over 50 active, and several disabled. 

which, i admit, is why it takes an entire day to launch Firefox. but what can you do, i do find these extensions genuinely useful.

[Curt]

>firefox.exe - 2 executions: 1.8417 and 0.0927<

I have 63 add-ons activated, but Speed Dial is the biggest time-eater at launch-time

[nudone]

63? I'm obviously missing out on something then...

[Curt]

-well, it all began a long time ago..., year 2005 actually: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful, 50 Best Firefox Extensions for Power Surfing and Top 10 Extensions to Manage Firefox Extensions, and then went on from there. But you may not be missing out on anything:


Re-edited for links. Forgive me the Danish text:

Firefox/3.6.8
Aktive udvidelsesmoduler: [65]

- Add to Search Bar 2.0: http://firefox.maltekraus.de/extensions/add-to-search-bar - Tilføj hvilken som helst søgning, på hvilken som helst side, til søgefeltet.
- Auto Context 1.5.0.3: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/5714 - Automatically shows User Popup Menu if text is selected
- Auto Shutdown 3.6.2D: http://inbasic.mozdev.org/root/ext2/home/index.htm - Add Shutdown feature to Firefox built-in Download Manager or DownThemAll!.
- Babylon Spelling and Proofreading 1.0.0.1: http://www.gingersoftware.com - Ensures you did not omit or skip anything important and allows you to catch errors.
- Back to Top 5.3.2: http://customsoftwareconsult.com/extensions - Gå til toppen (eller bunden) af en side
- British English Dictionary 1.19.1: http://www.google.com/search?q=Firefox%20British%20English%20Dictionary
- Bulk Image Downloader 4.9.0.1: http://BulkImageDownloader.com - Easily download images from image host sites. The Bulk Image Downloader application must be installed on the PC for this to work.
- CHM Reader 0.2.3: http://sourceforge.net/projects/chmreader/ - An extension make firefox support CHM file reading.
- ChromaTabs Plus 2.3: http://garycalpo.wordpress.com/chromatabs-plus - Colors browser tabs based on site favicon colors.
- CoLT 2.5.1: http://www.borngeek.com/firefox/colt/ - Tilføjer et Kopier linktekst-punkt til browserens kontekstmenu.
- Converter 1.0.9: http://www.the-converter.co/ - Contextual unit, timezone, and currency converter.
- Custom Buttons 0.0.5.2: http://custombuttons.mozdev.org/ - Gives a possibility to create custom toolbarbuttons.
- Custom Buttons² 3.1.0: http://custombuttons2.com/ - Enables the creation of custom buttons for toolbars.
- Custom Toolbar Buttons 0.6.0.8: http://codefisher.org/toolbar_button/toolbar_button_maker - A customized version of Toolbar Buttons including the buttons : Reload Skip Cache
- Custom Toolbar Buttons 0.6.0.8: http://codefisher.org/toolbar_button/toolbar_button_maker - A customized version of Toolbar Buttons including the buttons : Bookmark Manager, Quick Bookmark, Clipboard Link, Enlarge, Find, Toggle Cookies, Clear Url
- CustomizeGoogle 0.76: http://www.customizegoogle.com/ - Forbedrede Google søgeresultater, og fjern reklamer og spam.
- Dansk ordbog til stavekontrollen 2.1.6: http://mozilladanmark.dk/stavekontrol/ - Dansk stavekontrol i mails, forums, blogs osv.
- Document Express DjVu Plug-in 6.1.4: http://www.caminova.net - The DjVu Browser Plug-in is the primary means of viewing DjVu documents. It runs inside most modern browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.
- Download Statusbar 0.9.7.2: http://downloadstatusbar.mozdev.org/ - Vis og håndter filhentninger fra en smart nydelig statusbjælke
- DownloadHelper 4.8.3: http://www.downloadhelper.net - Download videoer og billeder fra mange websteder
- Exit Button Firefox 0.4.1: http://www.linnhe.net/firefox/extensions.html - Adds a toolbar button to exit Firefox.
- Extended Statusbar 1.5.7: http://kondor.etf.bg.ac.yu/~kustodian/mozilla/esb - En statuslinje der viser hastighed, procent, tid og indlæst størrelse (ligesom den i Opera).
- Fasterfox Lite 3.9.1Lite: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/9148 - Performance and network tweaks for Firefox, without the Enhanced Prefetching.
- FavLoc 1.2: http://favloc.fligtar.com - Nemt download til ofte brugte steder.
- Findbar Basics 1.5.8: http://tom-cat.com/mozilla/ - Adds a statusbar toggle button, text input clear button, and an optional toolbar toggle button.
- Fission 1.0.9: http://mozilla.zeniko.ch/fission.html - Fremskridtsmåler i adresselinien (Safari-stil).
- Flagfox 4.1.0: http://flagfox.net/ - Viser et flag, der afbilleder den pågældende servers placering
- German Dictionary 2.0.2: http://www.google.com/search?q=Firefox%20German%20Dictionary - German dictionary (new Orthography) for spellchecking in Mozilla products. Using igerman98 dictionary version 20091006.
- Glasser 3.5.2: http://www.sixxgate.com/ - Adds the Windows Vista glass frame to Firefox
- Greasemonkey 0.9.1: http://www.greasespot.net/ - A User Script Manager for Firefox
- HashColouredTabs+ 0.4.23: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/4279 - Gør identifikation af faneblade nemmere ved at give et lille farvet ikon for ethvert site der ikke har sit eget 'sideikon'.
- IE View 1.4.5.1: http://ieview.mozdev.org/ - Åbner sider i IE via Firefox-menuer
- IE8 Activities (Accelerators) for Firefox 0.7.7: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/6777
- Image Toolbar 0.6.8: http://www.cusser.net - Provides easy access to common image functions.
- InFormEnter 0.5.5.9: http://informenter.mozdev.org/ - Helper for form filling in semi-automatic mode.
- Interclue 1.6.1.3: http://interclue.com/ - The ultimate link augmentation multitool
- Java Console 6.0.23: http://www.google.com/search?q=Firefox%20Java%20Console
- Linkification 1.3.8: http://yellow5.us/firefox/linkification/ - Konverterer tekstlinks til ægte, klikbare links.
- Menu Editor 1.2.6: http://menueditor.mozdev.org/ - Customize application menus
- Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant 1.2.1: http://www.microsoft.com/ - Tilføjer understøttelse af ClickOnce og muligheden for at rapportere de installerede versioner af .NET Framework til webserveren.
- MinimizeToTray revived (MinTrayR) 0.8.4: https://tn123.org/mintrayr/ - Minimerer vinduer til statusfeltet
- MR Tech Toolkit 6.0.4: http://www.mrtech.com/extensions/ - Lokalt installerede powertools for alle brugere.
- Multiple Tab Handler 0.6.2011020301: http://piro.sakura.ne.jp/xul/_multipletab.html.en - Provides features to close (, reload, etc.) multiple tabs at once.
- NextPlease 0.8.2: http://nextplease.mozdev.org - Navigate next/prev search results with the press of a key.
- Open In RegEdit 0.1.2.4: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/4478/ - Select registry keys in the page and open them in the registry editor
- Open link in... 1.8: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=118365 - Adds more tab/window opening options to the context menu for links and images.
- PlainOldFavorites 1.0.3: http://www.iosart.com/firefox/plainoldfavorites/ - Use Internet Explorer Favorites directly from Firefox
- Popup ALT Attribute 1.3.2009110201: http://piro.sakura.ne.jp/xul/_popupalt.html.en - Popups alternate texts of images or others like NetscapeCommunicator(Navigator) 4.x, and show long descriptions in the multi-row tooltip.
- QuickRestart 1.1.6: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/3559 - Tilføjer en "Genstart Firefox" knap til "Filer" menuen.
- Readability 1.2: http://www.google.com/search?q=Firefox%20Readability - Readability is a simple tool that makes reading on the Web more enjoyable by removing the clutter around what you are reading.
- Save Session 1.3.1.6: http://diary.noasobi.net/ - Save Session can save the session only once.
- SearchWith 0.4.3: http://www.google.com/search?q=Firefox%20SearchWith - Søg valgt tekst med forskellige søge-services
- Speed Dial 0.9.5.8: http://speeddial.uworks.net/ - Direkte adgang til de hjemmesider du besøger oftest
- Status Buttons 3.0: http://clav.mozdev.org/ - Lets you put toolbar buttons in the status bar
- Stop-or-Reload Button 0.2.2: http://v2studio.com/k/moz/ - Turns the stop and reload buttons into a single one. When you can stop, you have a Stop button, otherwise you have a Reload button. (Like Safari)
- Stylish 1.1.1: http://userstyles.org/ - Gendesign internettet med Stylish, en user styles manager.
- Tab History 1.0.6: http://www.penguinus.com/dev/tab_history - Links opened in a new tab retain their history.
- TabCloser 1.07: http://www.google.com/search?q=Firefox%20TabCloser - Close all tabs for a given site.
- Undo Closed Tabs Button 3.6.2: http://code.google.com/p/uctb/ - Tilføjer en værktøjslinje-knap til at fortryde lukning af faneblade
- United States English Spellchecker 5.0.1: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3497 - English United States (en-US) Spellchecker
- Unsorted Bookmarks Folder Menu 2.3: http://space.geocities.yahoo.co.jp/gl/alice0775 - Add Unsorted Bookmarks Folder to Bookmarks Menu
- URL Tooltip 1.2.1: http://www.google.com/search?q=Firefox%20URL%20Tooltip - Displays URL in hyperlink tooltips.
- ViewInFirefox 1.2: http://www.iosart.com/firefox/firefoxview/ - View pages and links loaded into IE in Firefox
- VTzilla 1.0: http://www.virustotal.com/advanced.html - Right-click on any link and scan the target with VirusTotal, scan your downloads with VirusTotal before storing them in your PC, free and easy. More information at: http://www.virustotal.com/advanced.html
- WebMail Notifier 2.7.5: http://webmailnotifier.mozdev.org/ - Annoncerer dine webmails

[nudone]

I think I remember looking through an earlier list of your's before, Curt. I'll have to spend a bit of time on looking through the one above.