Why is IE7 so much slower than Firefox?

I really do NOT want to start another "xxx" is better than "yyy" sort of argument.
We probably all know the relevant strengths and weaknesses of the various browsers,
and a lot is down to personal choice, etc.

I have recently been trying out Mozilla Firefox and was surprised by its speed
compared to IE7. In many ways, I actually prefer IE7 to Firefox but would like, if
possible, to sort out why IE7 is so s-l-o-w on some web sites, and if I can do
anything to influence it in my IE7 setup?

For instance:
When going to Yahoo Mail, IE7 takes maybe 5-10 seconds to fully display the page.
Firefox does it almost instantly.

When going to Multiply, IE7 can take up to 30 seconds to display or just refresh a
page. Firefox does it in 1-2 seconds. A huge difference!

Why???
Is this just something peculiar to my IE7 setup, or is this sort of thing seen more
generally?

Is IE7 doing something (good or bad) that Firefox does not do, and if so is there
anything I can enable/disable/etc to change it?

Eddy.

Hi Ted,

This IEBlog post may explain a few things.

http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/200...rformance.aspx

It applies to IE8, but you may infer that they equally apply to IE7 and
hence the effort to advance the browser to a newer version.

Regards.

"Ted Harrison" <ted@ntsx.co.uk> wrote in message
news:memo.20080903095639.1368A@me.me...
> I really do NOT want to start another "xxx" is better than "yyy" sort of
> argument.
> We probably all know the relevant strengths and weaknesses of the various
> browsers,
> and a lot is down to personal choice, etc.
>
> I have recently been trying out Mozilla Firefox and was surprised by its
> speed
> compared to IE7. In many ways, I actually prefer IE7 to Firefox but would
> like, if
> possible, to sort out why IE7 is so s-l-o-w on some web sites, and if I
> can do
> anything to influence it in my IE7 setup?
>
> For instance:
> When going to Yahoo Mail, IE7 takes maybe 5-10 seconds to fully display
> the page.
> Firefox does it almost instantly.
>
> When going to Multiply, IE7 can take up to 30 seconds to display or just
> refresh a
> page. Firefox does it in 1-2 seconds. A huge difference!
>
> Why???
> Is this just something peculiar to my IE7 setup, or is this sort of thing
> seen more
> generally?
>
> Is IE7 doing something (good or bad) that Firefox does not do, and if so
> is there
> anything I can enable/disable/etc to change it?
>
> Eddy.

Ted Harrison wrote:
> I have recently been trying out Mozilla Firefox and was surprised by its speed
> compared to IE7. In many ways, I actually prefer IE7 to Firefox but would like, if
> possible, to sort out why IE7 is so s-l-o-w on some web sites, and if I can do
> anything to influence it in my IE7 setup?
>
> For instance:
> When going to Yahoo Mail, IE7 takes maybe 5-10 seconds to fully display the page.
> Firefox does it almost instantly.
>
> When going to Multiply, IE7 can take up to 30 seconds to display or just refresh a
> page. Firefox does it in 1-2 seconds. A huge difference!
>
> Why???

One reason might be that FF caches pages very aggressively. This often
makes for faster page load times, but also makes for pages which are not
up to date.

In my experience, IE 7 and Firefox are equally fast. That includes the
addresses you describe.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Ted Harrison wrote:
> I really do NOT want to start another "xxx" is better than "yyy" sort of argument.
> We probably all know the relevant strengths and weaknesses of the various browsers,
> and a lot is down to personal choice, etc.
>
> I have recently been trying out Mozilla Firefox and was surprised by its speed
> compared to IE7. In many ways, I actually prefer IE7 to Firefox but would like, if
> possible, to sort out why IE7 is so s-l-o-w on some web sites, and if I can do
> anything to influence it in my IE7 setup?
>
> For instance:
> When going to Yahoo Mail, IE7 takes maybe 5-10 seconds to fully display the page.
> Firefox does it almost instantly.
>
> When going to Multiply, IE7 can take up to 30 seconds to display or just refresh a
> page. Firefox does it in 1-2 seconds. A huge difference!
>
> Why???
> Is this just something peculiar to my IE7 setup, or is this sort of thing seen more
> generally?
>
> Is IE7 doing something (good or bad) that Firefox does not do, and if so is there
> anything I can enable/disable/etc to change it?
>
> Eddy.

Most, if not all, of your Add-ons do not load in FF while they must load in
every new IE window and tab.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.net/

Ted Harrison wrote:
> I really do NOT want to start another "xxx" is better than "yyy" sort of
> argument. We probably all know the relevant strengths and weaknesses of
> the
> various browsers, and a lot is down to personal choice, etc.
>
> I have recently been trying out Mozilla Firefox and was surprised by its
> speed compared to IE7. In many ways, I actually prefer IE7 to Firefox but
> would like, if possible, to sort out why IE7 is so s-l-o-w on some web
> sites, and if I can do anything to influence it in my IE7 setup?
>
> For instance:
> When going to Yahoo Mail, IE7 takes maybe 5-10 seconds to fully display
> the
> page. Firefox does it almost instantly.
>
> When going to Multiply, IE7 can take up to 30 seconds to display or just
> refresh a page. Firefox does it in 1-2 seconds. A huge difference!
>
> Why???
> Is this just something peculiar to my IE7 setup, or is this sort of thing
> seen more generally?
>
> Is IE7 doing something (good or bad) that Firefox does not do, and if so
> is
> there anything I can enable/disable/etc to change it?
>
> Eddy.

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 09:56 +0100 (BST), Ted Harrison wrote:

<snip>

> Is this just something peculiar to my IE7 setup, or is this sort of thing seen more
> generally?

Nobody knows anything about your IE7 set-up.

> Is IE7 doing something (good or bad) that Firefox does not do, and if so is there
> anything I can enable/disable/etc to change it?

It could be a number of things such as incompatible add-ons.

You could try disabling add-ons (one at a time) and check if you experience
an improvement in performance.
Or reset IE7
How to use Reset Internet Explorer Settings (RIES)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737
(read KB in its entirety).
If you still no change in performance than you could uninstall/reinstall
IE7:
How to uninstall Internet Explorer 7
Applies to:
¡E Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003 IA64
¡E Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003
¡E Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927177

Reboot.

Read this before installing IE7:
Sandi's Installation Tips: 1 thru 8, 10 and 11, note 12 that's it.
http://www.ie-vista.com/known_issues.html#pre-install

Do not use Automatic/Windows Update for downloading/installing IE7!

Use this one of these links instead:
Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...0-081805b2f90b
Internet Explorer 7 downloads
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/dow.../getitnow.mspx

Save the program to your desktop then install.

Reboot.

Activate Windows Update after installing IE7 to download/install pertinent
updates offered, including Root Certificates updates.

Good luck

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 21:22:40 +0700 Kayman <kaymanDeleteThis@operamail.com> wrote:

> ...
> Or reset IE7
> How to use Reset Internet Explorer Settings (RIES)
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737
> (read KB in its entirety).

Thanks. That made a big improvement.

Eddy.