MR wrote:
> Hi, for 7 years I have used windows IE, (6,7,& tried 8) only. I had to
> download firefox because a website worked best with it, and it did.
> I started to experiment by using firefox for all websites. And I really
> like it better. One important factor was that my pages would load up way
> faster with firefox, than with IE ; which was always lagging when using
> IE(my pc is 7 years old)
> So to make it short, Can I uninstall IE without compromising problems that
> may arise? How do I do it? What may be affected if I do this installation.
> I already have firefox as my default browser but there is one program that I
> use that automatically launches IE when i try to use it even so.
> ANy tips would help as I am not sure what to do.
> THanks in advance
There are way too many applications that rely on the libraries included
for Internet Explorer. These are called HTAs (HTML Applications). Even
some anti-virus programs use HTAs for the configuration UI. Without IE,
you would find many programs will fail. Also, without IE, you won't be
able to visit and use the Windows Update web site. "Doctor, it hurts
when I do this." "Then don't do that." So use IE only when you must.
Select whatever you want as the default web browser. If speed is your
only criteria then perhaps you want to drop Firefox and go with Chrome
or Safari. No web browser can speed up a site or de-throttle its
connection with you. What I've found with these browsers is that they
significantly speed up their Javascripting engine. That helps with
online Ajax apps or web pages heavily relying on dynamic content. I've
seen no big performance boost on simple HTML pages between the different
web browsers.
You can use Futuremark's PeaceKeeper benchmark to see the performance
differences between different web browsers (as they run on your host
rather than rely on someone else's benchmark who might have different
hardware along with a different suite of background processes); see
http://service.futuremark.com/peacekeeper/index.action. It will install
software on your host (so if you don't want it around later then use
something like Zsoft's Uninstaller to make sure a clean uninstall; i.e.,
do their uninstall followed by Zsoft's - also recommended when you
install web browsers which you don't of which one you will keep as an
alternate to IE).
Remember that many, if not most, benchmarks are heavily biased on
Javascript performance. For an example of benchmarking against real
sites, see:
http://www.codexon.com/posts/a-real-...pera-safari-ie
Don't bother with the mean (average) value. Just see how variable the
web browsers are depending on where they navigate. So what you get
depends on where you go.
Also remember that as you add extensions or plug-ins to Firefox that you
affect its performance (usually negatively). Do your speed test with
all web browsers in their pristine install state or with all add-ons or
extensions removed or disabled.
I didn't bother to keep track of them but in the last week I've hit
sites that rendered faster with IE8 than they did with Chrome. Those
that used a lot of Javascript were definitely faster in Chrome yet some
of them didn't paint correctly in Chrome (probably because their author
was IE-centric and coded for that web browser). Where Chrome was faster
it would show great in a benchmark but the difference of half a second
wouldn't be noticeable by me. In general, I found Chrome to be usually
equal to or much faster than IE8 but occasionally slower. There was
sufficient lack of configurability in Chrome that I grew to dislike its
austere function set or unwanted behaviors that I went back to IE8 as
the default; however, Chrome remains on my host as a backup if I run
into problems with a non-Microsoft web site or I want to test appearance
of my own web pages under different web browsers (to make sure by code
correctly alters what is used for which web browser).
Linear Mode
