Comments on: Firefox Preloader still works, mostly

It hasn't been updated since 2005, but Firefox Preloader continues to help users who want faster boot times while maintaining a heavy load of tabs and extensions.

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by forensicmeteoboy March 12, 2009 7:39 PM PDT: On CentOS (A flavor of Red Hat), Firefox loads nearly instantly. And once you can see the desktop, you can click the browser icon and you're in Firefox. No waiting.

(We dual-boot linux and Windows in our weather center at my University; I have yet to do this myself); Like this Reply to this comment

by G-Skaf March 13, 2009 3:02 AM PDT

Why not rely solely on Windows' prefetching mechanism, especially in Vista? And on other systems you still have caching, so Firefox will open up almost instantly the second time you open it. I don't see why you would want to install an extra app (= an extra startup item).

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by van_Zeller March 13, 2009 6:51 AM PDT: You don't see? Did you read the article? 32 seconds vs 7 seconds?; Like this


by firefoxluva95 March 16, 2009 6:36 PM PDT: That's 7 seconds + extra startup time which is hard to tell when you have multiple start up programs but the average user I've seen has maybe a 30 second startup if you let all the startup items load before doing anything. So now you're at 37 seconds. *whistles*...I'd rather not.; Like this


by G-Skaf March 14, 2009 4:03 AM PDT: I did, but the reviewer forgot to measure/mention exactly how much longer Windows takes to boot. You do not get that gain for free. I just feel that the OS can do a better job prefetching Firefox.; Like this Reply to this comment


by firefoxluva95 March 16, 2009 6:33 PM PDT: Eh..you're still loading the same stuff, just at a different time. Do we know how long it takes Firefox Preloader to load? It might sacrifice the time it takes to load startup stuff. I start up my browser first thing anyway so it doesn't matter much to me, especially when I'm on Windows 7 with 4 GB of RAM.; Like this Reply to this comment


by MonTemplar March 21, 2009 9:53 AM PDT: Personally, I've come to the conclusion that, much like in real life, having your cake and eating it can be a really bad idea! I've dumped a load of social networking addons from my Firefox in favour of bookmarklets, and it has made a huge difference to the time it takes for Firefox to open.; Like this Reply to this comment