While Firefox is the slowest of all the browsers I like it due to the add-ons and the possibility to hack a lot of settings to suit my needs. Just by typing about:config you’ll get access to customize Firefox’s core settings. Of course this doesn’t come without a proper warning from Firefox.

That warning says it all, hack and tweak at your own risk.

The first hack is to speed up web browsing.

1. In the address bar, type: about:config
2. Locate and change the following values by double-clicking on them:
network.http.max-connections = 48 or 96 [default is 30]
network.http.max-connections-per-server = 24 or 32 [default is 10]
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy = 24 [default is 4]
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server =12 [default is 2]
network.http.pipelining = true [default is false]
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests = 8 or 10 [ default is 4]
network.http.proxy.pipelining = true [default is false]

Next you can minimize the amount of RAM memory that Firefox uses when the application is minimized. Firefox is known to be huge memory hogger so this one will probably help the ones like me who have only 2GB of memory.

In about:config filter config.trim_on_minimize
change value to true
if filter returns zero result
right click go to new and select "boolean"
Name the preference: config.trim_on_minimize
Set the value on true

I applied these two hacks myself on my Firefox installation, Firefox 3.6.3 running on OS X 10.6.3, so far it’s running without problems. But these customization should always be done with second thoughts.

For websites hack I use Greasemonkey which is by now familiar to all. I use it mostly on Facebook, Google Calendar and Google.

I’m now hoping that someone figures a way to block tynt.com. Tynt is a Javascript service applied to many popular websites like techCrunch, NYTimes, etc. Whenever you copy and paste text from those site it will add extra text and links depending how the websites have configured it. I’m 50/50 on this, a Read more link is fine with me but some sites abuse this service and give you a whole rundown of text and several links.

The only way to block tynt.com in Firefox is to install noscript or Adblocker. I’m not a fan of these add-ons so I’m hoping for a Greasemonkey solution. Meanwhile for Chrome there is a solution, Tynt Blocker. Only annoying about it it will give a pop up each time a new website using Tynt is visited instead of just blocking all and let the user make the exception.

If you want to dig deeper in about:config, check out Firefox hacking about:config complete list & tweaks.

It follows a lengthy legal battle in Europe which has seen Microsoft accused of anti-competitive behaviour because it bundles Internet Explorer with the Windows operating system. This means that many computer users don’t realise there are alternative browsers available — amusing given that many users don’t really appreciate what a ‘browser’ really is.

Us geeks have been switching in droves to alternatives such as Firefox, Opera, Safari and Chrome, but most ‘standard’ users have stuck with IE out of ignorance.

It’s interesting that Apple, though having a significantly lower market share, hasn’t been officially questioned over its bundling of the Safari browser with OS X.

Windows users who have already switched to another browser won’t be presented with the list of options, which includes Avant, Chrome, Firefox, Flock, Green Browser, K-meleon, Maxthon, Opera, Safari, Sleipnir, Slim — and Internet Explorer of course.

Who’ll benefit the most from this? Browser manufacturers, most likely, and IT helpdesks. For those of us who are unpaid technical support for friends and relatives, it may be a potential headache but at least it forces the issue that it’s generally a good thing to switch away from Internet Explorer.

Whether my mum and dad are going to suddenly dive into using Firefox is another matter — I doubt it somehow.

Interestingly, the list of choices will be randomised to a certain extent, with the big five (Opera, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and IE) appearing in random order on the first section and the other seven randomly spread out below.

What do you think of this move?

Via

Results vary from continent to continent, with Firefox being a lot more popular in Europe than North America, for example.

The complete Internet Explorer collection still significantly outranks Firefox. IE6 alone is still in use by nearly one in six users.

I decided to take a look at a couple of our websites.

Firstly, Forever Geek, which you’d expect to be frequented by a more tech-savvy crowd, confirmed my belief.

Last month, Firefox overall had 50% visitor share, compared to Internet Explorer’s 30%, while in November ’08, IE had been sitting with 35% and FF still at 50%.

Moving to a site concerned with celebrity gossip, and likely to be frequented by a wider range of users, I found that IE took at 46% share compared to FF on 35%.

Again, Firefox had held its 35% share since November ’08, whereas IE had slipped from 51%.

Not particularly scientific, I grant you, but it’s interesting that in both cases, Microsoft’s browser has slipped five percentage points, while Mozilla’s baby has held its share.

There are a few more interesting numbers for those who enjoy this sort of thing.

Via

So anyway, it’s their fifth year, and the guys at Mozilla threw a birthday party at the beginning of this week. The birthday bash was held at the Terra Space in San Francisco. Naturally, Mozilla employees were there, together with their guests and some other people – probably present on an invitation only basis. (Obviously I wasn’t one of those.)

While Mozilla is celebrating five years of the existence of Firefox, the truth is that this web browser can trace its roots to a couple of years earlier than that, when Mozilla itself was founded. That was way back in 1998.

So what are people saying about Mozilla? Naturally, fanatics are singing praises. To balance it out though, let me quote David Coursey, who says:

On its fifth birthday, Firefox must be considered both an incredible success and somewhat of a failure. The open source Web browser is a great product and quite an achievement, but has not tremendously advanced the cause of “free” software. … You might think Firefox would have encouraged a wave of open source development, but from the perspective of a typical business or home user, it has not happened.

He does have a point, doesn’t he? Then again, for many satisfied users, I think that Mozilla Firefox is doing just great.

Photo courtesy of Business Insider

You should check the full article out, but here’s a tiny glimpse of what’s in store for you. Needless to say, they’re the ones that made my blood flow more quickly.

Twitter’s Fail Whale – who does not recognize this creature? Twitter has received a lot of flak for its intermittent service, although we have to admit is has become much better. Still, the fail whale has earned its place in history.

Firefox and IE – I use Chrome now since Firefox started to crash on me all the time about a month ago, and I haven’t used IE since forever, but these pumpkins still look awesome, don’t they?

Reddit – I love how they used a reddish hue for the lighting inside the pumpkin. This alien is cuter than ET, in my opinion.

Apple – of course. I could have thought of this myself if I didn’t see Mashable’s write up first (yeah right). A geek pumpkin fest will not be complete without an Apple carving, don’t you think? Maybe you can use Steve Job’s face for a more unique carving?

All photos courtesy of Mashable

It doesn’t mention what this is in response to — Apple MacBook multitouch trackpad, perhaps, or the increasing number of mobile devices with touchscreens — but of course it is dependent on associated hardware to work correctly.

A device that could input touch data for two or more fingers could integrate with Firefox and allow for a number of commands to be executed without either mouse or keyboard shortcut input (though these could perhaps be used as modifiers).

What I really like is the “create new gesture” that would allow users to add their own commands — gesture macros if you like — which would execute based on a specific set of touch inputs.

This is something that’s not really been well explored on mainstream devices. Even the iPhone has a relatively small set of gestures in the main user interface, though individual apps could always add to this.

Having this in Firefox is all very well. Now how about it rolled out across the operating system. Both Apple and Microsoft are totally capable of doing this.

How about support for gesture input on other surfaces, like this really cool video on scratch input:

Internet Explorer 7x is close behind, with Firefox version 3 claiming one in ten users and the rest straggling behind.

It’s news that’s sure to wind up web developers, like those behind the Kill IE6 project.

These results come from Stat Owl. Other web measuring tools might get the numbers slightly different, but there’s no denying that a lot more needs to happen to eradicate IE6 from the world.

Part of the problem is corporations that haven’t upgraded their systems, as well as home users who aren’t very computer literate and just don’t know or care about web browser versions and the like. It’s just the Internet, right?

Unsurprisingly, you Forever Geek readers are a web savvy lot – well over half are using Firefox. The 6% or so of IE6 users probably arrived here by mistake.

Though Microsoft has recently announced that it is to roll out Internet Explorer 8 via automatic software upgrade, I’ve still got a nasty feeling that IE6 could take some time to eradicate.

This problem has happened to me before, and the solution to get the downloads working again (in my case) was very easy – just had to delete one file, the “downloads.rdf” to be more specific, that is suppose to be located in the Profile folder of Firefox.

There might be other solutions to solve the “downloads in Firefox problem” – check this page on the Mozilla Knowledge Base for more information/solutions, such as reseting the download folder.

You can access the recently closed tabs list under the History menu. It gives you the option to re-open tabs you’ve closed while in a particular session. You can also open all recently closed tabs in a new tabbed window. When you close the browser, the list is cleared.

It won’t help if you have unsaved forms filled up when you close a tab, as the Recently Closed Tabs feature won’t bring these back (but FireFox 2′s session recovery feature will, though this only works if FF2 crashes and not when you close it normally). Still, this is a useful feature–a good way to revisit closed tabs, instead of having to dig through your browser history.

[via TUAW]

Everybody who’s experienced the fun of customizing Firefox to his or her liking has a favorite extension. Whether it’s the improved navigation and session-saving friendliness of TabMixPlus or the convenience of All-in-One Sidebar, I can’t imagine living without some of them. It’s empowering to tweak your browser as you see fit, but the price often comes in the form of slower performance and memory hogging. Though Firefox has long been accused of leaking memory, there are simple ways to reduce RAM usage and increase speed. Here are a few extensions and tips designed to lighten your load.

So how do we go about with duplicating a Firefox profile?

First, open up your source (the original one, where you want to copy the profile from) profile in Windows Explorer. Let’s assume you only use one profile on your system, which is automatically named by Firefox as default, and that you use Windows XP. Point Explorer to:

[Windows installation drive]:\Documents and Settings\[Your username]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

You might have to first enable viewing of hidden files and folders and system files at TOOLS – FOLDER OPTIONS – VIEW. Simply uncheck the boxes that say “Hide protected system files …” and select the radio button for “Show hidden files and folders.”

You will see at least one folder inside, with this format:

XXXXXXXX.default

where XXXXXXXX is an eight-character code for your Firefox installation on that particular machine.

This folder contains all your Firefox information, including bookmarks, history, extensions, form auto-fill, passwords, and cache. You can already ZIP/compress and copy this onto a USB flashdrive or any other recordable media, or transfer via the network. Remember that this folder could get very large if you have a large cache of temporary Internet files, so you might want to clear your browser’s cache first.

Then, in the destination computer, make sure you’ve already installed Firefox, and opened it up at least once, so that the application would automatically create a new default profile for you. Then open up Windows Explorer and then browse to:

[Windows installation drive]:\Documents and Settings\[Your username]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

where you will see a folder named

YYYYYYYY.default

where YYYYYYYY is the eight-character code for that firefox installation.

Simply copy or uncompress the folder containing the original profile into this \Profiles folder.

Now copy the YYYYYYYY string onto your clipboard (so you won’t forget), and then rename that folder as you please (i.e., YYYYYYYY.default.backup). Then rename XXXXXXXX.default into YYYYYYYY.default. Make sure Firefox is not running while you do this, or you’ll get file access conflict errors.

Now open up Firefox, and voila! Your original settings have been copied. Do check some of the options, though, as some extension and proxy settings may not have been transferred. But what’s important is that your new Firefox installation looks and feels like your old one. Now you can go and browse away to your favorite, bookmarked sites, not having to re-input all your URLs and passwords again.

• Disable the autoupdate feature in switchproxy (Note: This will cause you to lose the update link to pull from)
• Disable check for notification of switchproxy updates.

Also disabling User Agent switcher should improve performance slightly if you have that extension installed.

Link prefetching is a browser mechanism, which utilizes browser idle time to download or prefetch documents that the user might visit in the near future. A web page provides a set of prefetching hints to the browser, and after the browser is finished loading the page, it begins silently prefetching specified documents and stores them in its cache. When the user visits one of the prefetched documents, it can be served up quickly out of the browser’s cache.

Google makes use of this technology when you search. On some searches, Google tells your browser to start downloading the top result as soon as the results page is finished loading. If you happen to click on the top result, it is already preloaded in the browsers cache, and will load quicker.

The way that Google accomplishes the prefetching is by using a link element that Firefox and Mozilla support.

<link rel=”prefetch” href=”http://www.forevergeek.com”>

Apparently Google only uses this when it is most likely that the user will click on the first result. For instance, if you search for “Stanford”, the website for that university will be the first result, and probably the one you are most likely to click on.

Of course the drawback is that you could end up with files in your cache that you did not actually visit, so it would mean cleaning out your cache more often.

You can also disable the prefetch function in Firefox using the following commands:

1. Type “about:config” the address bar.
2. Scroll down to the setting “network.prefetch-next” and set the value to “False”.

Here’s something for broadband people that will really speed Firefox up:

1.Type “about:config” into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

network.http.pipelining network.http.proxy.pipelining network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set “network.http.pipelining” to “true”

Set “network.http.proxy.pipelining” to “true”

Set “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests” to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0″. This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives.

If you’re using a broadband connection you’ll load pages MUCH faster now!

More Firefox Tips

• Firefox Optimization Tips
• Fix Firefox Slowdowns
• A Beginner’s Guide to Firefox
• Duplicating your Firefox Profile
• Recently Closed Tabs Feature on Firefox 2
• When Downloads stop Working

Well, in most languages there’s a way to dump out some of the bits and pieces from the headers, but getting both request and response can be a bit of a pain. But you don’t need to worry about that, now… just use LiveHTTPHeaders.

It’s a pretty simple tool. You set it up as a sidebar or have it open in a new tab in FireFox or Mozilla, and when you hit a page, it gives you your request and the server’s response headers. You can leave images, css, etc in or filter them out via regex.

Here’s an example:

GET http://forevergeek.com/ HTTP/1.1
Host: forevergeek.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20040913 Firefox/0.10
Accept: text/xml, application/xml, application/xhtml+xml, text/html;q=0.9, text/plain;q=0.8, image/png, */*;q=0.5
Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip,deflate
Accept-Charset: ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7
Keep-Alive: 300
Proxy-Connection: keep-alive

HTTP/1.x 200 OK
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 17:01:15 GMT
Server: Apache
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Length: 31837
Age: 16759

Here’s another one with a post request:

POST http://forevergeek.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi HTTP/1.1
Host: forevergeek.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20040913 Firefox/0.10
Accept: text/xml, application/xml, application/xhtml+xml, text/html;q=0.9, text/plain;q=0.8, image/png, */*;q=0.5
Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip,deflate
Accept-Charset: ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7
Keep-Alive: 300
Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
Referer: http://forevergeek.com/
Cookie: user=JC(rest removed)
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 26
search=freeflatscreens.com

HTTP/1.x 200 OK
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 21:44:38 GMT
Server: Apache
Pragma: No-Cache
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Length: 3919
Age: 2

So, grab it, make your life easier. Oh, I should note there’s a plugin for IE that’s supposed to do about the same thing, but I didn’t have much luck with it, which sucks, because I use IE more than I do firefox, though between LiveHTTPHeaders and the Web Developer Toolbar, that’s changing.

I’m curious… did this solve a problem for you? Do you already use this, or something else? What do you guys use?