Slow Firefox?

[Simion]

Check your add-ons on this list.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/performance/#addon-11

[DavidR]

Fortunately I don't have any of those major ones, I was hoping it might actually be able to check what add-ons you have installed and list them if they have any significant impact. More likely they probably don't have a large database.

[Simion]

Fortunately I don't have any of those major ones, I was hoping it might actually be able to check what add-ons you have installed and list them if they have any significant impact. More likely they probably don't have a large database.

That may come at some point. I think Mozilla is trying to get add-on devs to tighten up their programs as Firefox is ultimately getting the blame for the slowness.

[ucalderau]

Isn't that ironic? The "FastestFox - Browse Faster" add-on is among the slowest 

[DavidR]

Fortunately I don't have any of those major ones, I was hoping it might actually be able to check what add-ons you have installed and list them if they have any significant impact. More likely they probably don't have a large database.

That may come at some point. I think Mozilla is trying to get add-on devs to tighten up their programs as Firefox is ultimately getting the blame for the slowness.

Yes, they are cracking down on the add-on developers to clean-up there code to improve loading.

It is certainly needed, mind you people are their own worst enemies in this area too, some have more add-ons than you can shake a stick at, me I only have 28

But I do have a few that aren't compatible with FF4 yet

[Lisandro]

There are some "well known" in the list...
Mozilla has the fame of having a slow startup. They're doing well pushing the developers toward a most exigent situation.

[Kilia]

I only have one add-on on the list. Download Helper, however It doesn't seem to impede my internet hopping all that much while it is in progress. The first thing I do before I use it is clear my cache. That helps.

[DavidR]

I only have one add-on on the list. Download Helper, however It doesn't seem to impede my internet hopping all that much while it is in progress. The first thing I do before I use it is clear my cache. That helps.

I think that most of the slowing is about the initial firefox startup as it loads these add-ons. Personally I don't see any issue on browsing with those that I have installed and if anything the security and blocking add-ons I have, NoScript, AdBlock Plus and RequestPolicy could help speed browsing due the the cr*p they stop loading or scripts being run, etc.

It will always be a compromise on what you load, the whole point of the add-ons is the way it should help the way that you browse and the additional security that you want. The same as running an AV to protect your system there will always be a performance hit, choosing the right AV (avast of course) limits that hit.

[doktornotor]

I think that most of the slowing is about the initial firefox startup as it loads these add-ons.

They did not test anything else but the start-up. (Also, recommend reading the comments under the blog post.)

[DavidR]

Read the comments on the link Simon gave in the first post (not a blog) and they actually mention browsing.

Add-ons provide many useful features and functions, but they can also cause Firefox to become slower. Some add-ons can even slow Firefox to a crawl and make it difficult to use for regular web browsing.

So by implication some might also have an impact on browsing, though untested.

However, that list does only relate to startup times.

The following add-ons have the most impact on how long it takes Firefox to start up.

[doktornotor]

However, that list does only relate to startup times.

The following add-ons have the most impact on how long it takes Firefox to start up.

Eh. That list is irrelevant for anything but startup. For one, ABP being about #12 on the slow chart, saves me a couple of seconds every time I visit a page infected with those obnoxious tracking/counting bugs, let alone the Facebook/Twitter/Google Analytics junk (covered by stuff like Disconnect/Ghostery). Compared to that, I leave browser running for days.

[DavidR]

Then why do they mention it at all in the first paragraph.

Re browsing, I have already said as much.

I only have one add-on on the list. Download Helper, however It doesn't seem to impede my internet hopping all that much while it is in progress. The first thing I do before I use it is clear my cache. That helps.

<snip>
Personally I don't see any issue on browsing with those that I have installed and if anything the security and blocking add-ons I have, NoScript, AdBlock Plus and RequestPolicy could help speed browsing due the the cr*p they stop loading or scripts being run, etc.
<snip>

[Simion]

I also, believe the subject is referring to both start up and browsing speeds, as DavidR. Perhaps the list only shows start-up slow down as it is a more measureable statistic for all users. How much an add-on slows down browsing would be somewhat dependent on a user's connection speed.

[doktornotor]

Then why do they mention it at all in the first paragraph.

Need to ask the person who wrote the blogpost, frankly. There are things that actually speed up browsing on that list.

[Asyn]

More links here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=66267.msg624254#msg624254