20-line patch to Firefox 4 that makes startup on Windows up to 2x as fast

[nsane.forums]

In the world of browser wars, speed is everything. All the top vendors love to show off how fast their browser is and why it is better than the competition. So, when a user comes up with a way to increase the cold boot time of a browser, it generally grabs the attention of many people.

Taras Glek, from bugzilla.mozilla.org, found a way to trick Windows into loading Firefox faster by using a simple patch. From the bugzilla.mozilla.org page via Reddit:

Basic idea is that the sequential flag + bull**** read tricks windows into reading xul in Mb chunks instead of stupid 32k(or smaller) ones. Have to do it this way because there is no fadvise() on Windows(that I know of) A big sequential read cuts down on a lot of seeks.

Many users are reporting faster boot times, with load time cut by 50% on slower drives. If this work-around proves to work for the masses, it may be rolled out in the next version of Firefox. Currently, there are users looking to refine the process to make it even more efficient.

When trying out any experimental technique, you are cautioned to do so at your own risk. This patch has not been verified to work on all versions of Windows, but the general response so far has been very positive.

View: Original Article

[oZ.]

oh f me ! if this is fixed and works perfectly, chrome and suck it until version 20 (which is like what ? real version 2.5? lol)

[Naota]

This sounds pretty sexy to me. The initial running of Firefox 4 takes forever on my computer.

[kmr1684]

chrome browser having one bad practice (i.e.) creating cache :ph34r: in your hd after regular use of chrome as your personal browser then invoke total uninstall and check chrome browser how much space it uses in your hd you will be amassed :fear: .

[Gabben]

chrome browser having one bad practice (i.e.) creating cache :ph34r: in your hd after regular use of chrome as your personal browser then invoke total uninstall and check chrome browser how much space it uses in your hd you will be amassed :fear: .

use ccleaner, even if you use another browser ccleaner is a must have application

[HX1]

Does Chrome not have options like SRWare Iron? All you have to do is use those to clear everything... and of course my FF cleans all of the system LSO's all of the time so I don't have much to worry about.. WinASO takes care of anything else ..

[Tunerz]

chrome browser having one bad practice (i.e.) creating cache :ph34r: in your hd after regular use of chrome as your personal browser then invoke total uninstall and check chrome browser how much space it uses in your hd you will be amassed :fear: .

All browsers create and utilize cache. What makes Chrome different is that you don't have much options for it. While others can be configured to set a limit to cache or clear every exit, Chrome, with its dumbed down simplicity, leaves you with an option to just clear the cache.