Which is awesome! And I'm looking forward to 64-bit browsers becoming commonplace now that 64-bit Flash finally exists.
However, most people need something more reliable and stable than nightly builds - you and I are probably comfortable working around any inconveniences that pop up, but that doesn't cover everyone. Enough people are up in arms about the new rapid update process as it is.
Palemoon has stable 64 bit versions of Firefox. Its just Firefox recompiled for newer instruction sets like SSE2 and optional 64 bit. No reason not to use it IMO, its just as stable as Firefox stable 32 bit.
Honestly, I've yet to have a single problem with Nightly x64, apart from last night when I had to kill the process, but then again, that's one occasion against the countless times I have had to do that with Firefox.
Hopefully at some point in time Palemoon's improvements will be integrated into the main sources .
I hope so too. They are slowing down how fast it could be to appease the single digit percentage of their install base without processors with more modern instructions, there's a time you just have to say this is the cut off like for older systems, and forge ahead. SSE2 isn't even that new, I hope Firefox goes with the newer instruction sets and Palemoon goes with the latest ones like 4.1, 4.2, 5, and whatever else is out by then.
How hard are you using your browser? Most of the people I know with FF32 issues are using dozens to hundreds of open tabs; and large numbers of extensions (or ones like Firebug that leak badly).
Apart from new 64-bit builds, this shouldn't have been tested with Sunspider. All new browser are now around 200ms. v8bench or kraken are newer benchs and should be used.
Yeah, I think Mozilla and the other browser vendors have officially declared Sunspider done - it's fast enough now that they don't foresee any future improvements to the scores, and any that do pop up (like the 9ms gain here) are incidental.
The V8 benchmark, incidentally, is heavily limited by the garbage collector right now - which happens to be one of the next things Firefox will focus on in a few months.
Should be "Type Inference" instead of "Type Interface." I don't normally point out typos but since interface and inference are both valid words but mean different things I thought it was worth pointing out.
Sorry Mozilla. I can't keep up with you anymore. I'm getting to the point where I can't see the difference between you and Microsoft. At least they are not hitting me with full releases every couple months.
I don't think there are more releases than there were in the Firefox 3 era. They are just numbered differently. And the update process is so streamlined I have no problem with it. It downloads automatically in the background, and all I need is a restart, and after a quick install my browser is back up to where it was.
I'd like to see these two in future benchmarks. Opera has stayed competitive in every feild, its not the "best" at anything but its good at everything, almost as fast as Chrome, almost as customizable as Firefox. Apart from the odd 1 in 100 site it has quirks with it keeps me happy.
And Palemoon is Firefoxs source code recompiled to use newer instruction sets like SSE2, providing a speedup instead of maintaining compatibility with processors no one on this site uses anymore like Firefox does. It also has stable 64 bit releases of Firefox, and it seems to work fine with every extension. If you use FF, no reason not to use Palemoon, IMO.
I think in the future I'll switch to a Windows test box so I can also put IE numbers up there, too. I started out wanting a quick set of numbers and it got away from me a bit. :-)
Ah, I guess my eyes skipped that paragraph and went straight to the benchmarks. I wonder if the performance change is different under Windows? Time for an end of year Anandtech browser roundup, me thinks :)
I am extremely annoyed by these updates. I am not updating to 9. Every single time NONE of my add ons work. I have to go searching for ALL of them a couple weeks later. Main updates instead of incremental = worste idea ever.
You must be using some odd and lousy coded add-ons since Mozilla automatically tests all add-ons (hosted at Mozilla) and the large majority works without a problem and will therefore automatically be marked as compatible with the latest release.
Firefox was my primary browser for a long time but then I switched to Chrome. Since Firefox 7 though, I slowly started using Firefox more and these days it is my primary browser.
Sure, it's nice to see incremental performance gains. But for the actual browsing experience, no one will be able to tell the difference.
The browser wars are over. Unless you need specific features or addons from a browser, it really doesn't matter if you are using Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, or Internet Explorer.
Performance increases might be miniscule in Sunspider now, but I'd very much disagree that all those browsers listed have similar performance. Try opening multiple tabs quickly in IE compered to Opera or Chrome, its night and day. For people who browse two to three tabs at once, sure, maybe its not that big a deal, but honestly I'd expect ten is the minimum for tech enthusiasts who read sites like these :P
Personally, I have two Palemoon windows with 15 tabs each right now, and this is a light browsing session.
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arjuna1 - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Mozilla Nightly gets x64 builds and daily updates.Andrew.a.cunningham - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Which is awesome! And I'm looking forward to 64-bit browsers becoming commonplace now that 64-bit Flash finally exists.However, most people need something more reliable and stable than nightly builds - you and I are probably comfortable working around any inconveniences that pop up, but that doesn't cover everyone. Enough people are up in arms about the new rapid update process as it is.
arjuna1 - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
one of the nicest replies from AT staff I've seen, keep it up!Andrew.a.cunningham - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Sure thing! Thanks for reading!GTVic - Thursday, December 22, 2011 - link
What does a 64-bit browser have to do with 64-bit flash?GTVic - Thursday, December 22, 2011 - link
Never mind, thought you were talking about flash memory.tipoo - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Palemoon has stable 64 bit versions of Firefox. Its just Firefox recompiled for newer instruction sets like SSE2 and optional 64 bit. No reason not to use it IMO, its just as stable as Firefox stable 32 bit.arjuna1 - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Honestly, I've yet to have a single problem with Nightly x64, apart from last night when I had to kill the process, but then again, that's one occasion against the countless times I have had to do that with Firefox.Hopefully at some point in time Palemoon's improvements will be integrated into the main sources .
tipoo - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
I hope so too. They are slowing down how fast it could be to appease the single digit percentage of their install base without processors with more modern instructions, there's a time you just have to say this is the cut off like for older systems, and forge ahead. SSE2 isn't even that new, I hope Firefox goes with the newer instruction sets and Palemoon goes with the latest ones like 4.1, 4.2, 5, and whatever else is out by then.DanNeely - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
How hard are you using your browser? Most of the people I know with FF32 issues are using dozens to hundreds of open tabs; and large numbers of extensions (or ones like Firebug that leak badly).Barfo - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
It does seem generally faster to me.bachinchi - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Apart from new 64-bit builds, this shouldn't have been tested with Sunspider. All new browser are now around 200ms. v8bench or kraken are newer benchs and should be used.Andrew.a.cunningham - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll throw up some quick V8Bench numbers in a few minutes, though they don't really change my overall impressions much.bachinchi - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Thanks for the quick update!smitty3268 - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Yeah, I think Mozilla and the other browser vendors have officially declared Sunspider done - it's fast enough now that they don't foresee any future improvements to the scores, and any that do pop up (like the 9ms gain here) are incidental.The V8 benchmark, incidentally, is heavily limited by the garbage collector right now - which happens to be one of the next things Firefox will focus on in a few months.
gss4w - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Should be "Type Inference" instead of "Type Interface." I don't normally point out typos but since interface and inference are both valid words but mean different things I thought it was worth pointing out.Andrew.a.cunningham - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Thanks for the note - not sure to blame myself or spellcheck for that one. :-)cyberguyz - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Sorry Mozilla. I can't keep up with you anymore.I'm getting to the point where I can't see the difference between you and Microsoft. At least they are not hitting me with full releases every couple months.
jcompagner - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
and Chrome does the same,you shouldn't see this as major releases.. just continues releases...
neothe0ne - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Why exactly is a new major version number killing you when the application itself looks the same and it _only_ performs much better than before?anonymous_user - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Maybe they're having compatibility problems with an older add-on. Or maybe they find updating so frequently annoying.ET - Thursday, December 22, 2011 - link
I don't think there are more releases than there were in the Firefox 3 era. They are just numbered differently. And the update process is so streamlined I have no problem with it. It downloads automatically in the background, and all I need is a restart, and after a quick install my browser is back up to where it was.tipoo - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
I'd like to see these two in future benchmarks. Opera has stayed competitive in every feild, its not the "best" at anything but its good at everything, almost as fast as Chrome, almost as customizable as Firefox. Apart from the odd 1 in 100 site it has quirks with it keeps me happy.And Palemoon is Firefoxs source code recompiled to use newer instruction sets like SSE2, providing a speedup instead of maintaining compatibility with processors no one on this site uses anymore like Firefox does. It also has stable 64 bit releases of Firefox, and it seems to work fine with every extension. If you use FF, no reason not to use Palemoon, IMO.
Andrew.a.cunningham - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
I think in the future I'll switch to a Windows test box so I can also put IE numbers up there, too. I started out wanting a quick set of numbers and it got away from me a bit. :-)tipoo - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Ah, I guess my eyes skipped that paragraph and went straight to the benchmarks. I wonder if the performance change is different under Windows? Time for an end of year Anandtech browser roundup, me thinks :)Arnulf - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Wow, they are at 4.0.9 already ?Hrel - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
I am extremely annoyed by these updates. I am not updating to 9. Every single time NONE of my add ons work. I have to go searching for ALL of them a couple weeks later. Main updates instead of incremental = worste idea ever.jramskov - Thursday, December 22, 2011 - link
You must be using some odd and lousy coded add-ons since Mozilla automatically tests all add-ons (hosted at Mozilla) and the large majority works without a problem and will therefore automatically be marked as compatible with the latest release.Firefox was my primary browser for a long time but then I switched to Chrome. Since Firefox 7 though, I slowly started using Firefox more and these days it is my primary browser.
Penti - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
It's seriously not worse then the 0.1 releases before when it comes to add ons it's even better most of the time.gorash - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Awesome, the sunspider is 0.009 sec faster than the previous version.Are these even meaningful anymore?
Crono - Thursday, December 22, 2011 - link
Nope, not really.Sure, it's nice to see incremental performance gains.
But for the actual browsing experience, no one will be able to tell the difference.
The browser wars are over. Unless you need specific features or addons from a browser, it really doesn't matter if you are using Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, or Internet Explorer.
tipoo - Thursday, December 22, 2011 - link
Performance increases might be miniscule in Sunspider now, but I'd very much disagree that all those browsers listed have similar performance. Try opening multiple tabs quickly in IE compered to Opera or Chrome, its night and day. For people who browse two to three tabs at once, sure, maybe its not that big a deal, but honestly I'd expect ten is the minimum for tech enthusiasts who read sites like these :PPersonally, I have two Palemoon windows with 15 tabs each right now, and this is a light browsing session.
MartinT - Friday, December 23, 2011 - link
,,, too bad your results are irrelevant to 94% of the market.