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Subject:
Web browsers
Category: Miscellaneous Asked by: seattle-ga List Price: $5.00 |
Posted:
18 Jan 2003 19:00 PST
Expires: 17 Feb 2003 19:00 PST Question ID: 145382 |
Greetings Google Researchers. I am not a techy and do not understand code so please spare me on that. I do feel that I'm fairly competent at using the internet and it is from there that my question comes. Regarding "browsers." I'm a MAC user and currently run system 10.2.3 and have a broadband connection. I've used Netscape, IE, OmniWeb, and most recently, Safari. Safari is Apple's new web browser and Apple claims it is "faster." Interestingly enough, I agree. It is faster, and I wonder WHY? What, in layman's terms, can make one web browser faster than another? It would seem that you have a link, go to it, connect, and it comes up. So why would it be faster on one browser than another? Another of my "just curious" questions. |
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Subject:
Re: Web browsers
Answered By: tutuzdad-ga on 19 Jan 2003 12:08 PST Rated: |
Dear seattle-ga; Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question. APPLE said, in launching its Safari browser, page-loading speed is "three times faster", JavaScript performs twice as fast and it launches "40% faster" - comparisons to Netscape 7.0 shows similar performance gains on the Macintosh platform). The KDE connection: "[f]or its Web page rendering engine, Safari draws on software from the Konqueror open source project. Weighing in at less than one tenth the size of another open source renderer, Konqueror helps Safari stay lean and responsive." http://www.kdenews.org/1041971213/ You mentioned that you are not techy and dont understand code, so let me put it this way: According to Apple, Safaris fresh new ability to outperform its competitors in terms of speed lies in its lean design and its dependence upon a cleaner, less complex code (the terms and commands that make up the interface). It has the ability to focus on loading java and devote much of its strength to handling java requests that other browsers do. The time saved is translated as faster load time, faster viewing and therefore, faster performance. You can watch and listen to APPLE CEO Steve Jobs introduce and explain some things about the product in this QUICKTIME presentation: APPLE MACKWORLD KEYNOTE ADDRESS http://stream.apple.akadns.net/ Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any questions about my research please post a clarification request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us. Best regards; Tutuzdad-ga INFORMATION SOURCES Apple Announces New "Safari" Browser http://www.kdenews.org/1041971213/ APPLE MACKWORLD KEYNOTE ADDRESS http://stream.apple.akadns.net/ SEARCH STRATEGY SEARCH ENGINE USED: Google ://www.google.com SEARCH TERMS USED: "What makes" Safari browser faster ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22what+makes%22+Safari+browser+faster |
seattle-ga
rated this answer:
Hello tutuzdad and snapanswer --- Thank you for the answer and the comment. Upon initially reading the answer I felt that little bit --- just a bit, mind you --- was missing. It was clear that Safari processes code faster, but I didn't really know why. With the added comment it is now clear plus I have a better appreciation of all that goes on within a web browser. Thank you both for making Google Answers and enjoyable and informative service. |
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Subject:
Re: Web browsers
From: snapanswer-ga on 19 Jan 2003 23:44 PST |
I enjoyed Tutuzdad's answer and thought that I would share some additional thoughts. This example may help. Consider the difference between opening a simple text editor like SimpleText vs. opening Word or another "full feature" word processor. Did you notice the difference in speed? Both can open text files, yet SimpleText is faster. The trade-off is, it doesn't place the same priority on some of the features that Word or another word processor may have. Of course this is perhaps an oversimplification, but I hope that it begins to demonstrate how two programs that seem to do "the same thing" can perform very differently. What we are really talking about is the speed of the browsers' "rendering engines". Netscape and Mozilla are currently based upon the "Gecko" rendering engine, while Safari is based upon the "Konqueror" engine. I'm not certain that Netscape is even a native OSX application (I cannot find verification), so it might not be a fair fight. Some of the speed improvements may simply come from being a developed specifically for OSX (and its Unix underpinnings). Comparing Konqueror/Safari to the OSX native Gecko web browser called Chimera might be a better comparison. (There is some who suggest that the "overhead" of the Graphical User Interface of Netscape may be impacting performance. Again, this may make Chimera a better OSX representative of the Gecko engine). In addition to that, Konqueror apparently focuses on the file types that web surfers use most, while Gecko tries to place balanced priorities on all file types. Also, some rendering engines are more forgiving of errors in the HTML page than others... and accomodating errors can take a little extra time. Finally, some of the speed difference may be the perception of how the page appears on the screen. Apparently, Gecko tries to download the entire HTML file (and all the tables embedded in it) before rendering, while Konqueror is willing to render a piece at a time, returning to redraw the page if there are significant changes as the page and its elements are downloaded. One part of your question that I wanted to review is the following: "It would seem that you have a link, go to it, connect, and it comes up." Actually, the web page you view is typically a collection of a number of files. There is the HTML file and the various code snippets (typically JavaScript) that it contains or links to. Then there are the graphic files embedded in the page, such as GIF, JPEG, and PNG. A good browser will also contend with XML, XHTML, CSS, and accomodate a Java plug-in. So, when you follow a link, there is actually a lot for the browser to decipher and the computer to process. Well, I hope that this further aids you in your understanding of this topic. I found the following web sites and message threads important to the composition of this comment: Safari Review with Test Cases. Showing some things Safari has trouble with. http://diveintomark.org/archives/2003/01/07.html#safari_review Neil's World - Blog. Comment hinting at file support in Safari vs. Gecko http://www.neilturner.me.uk/archives/000260.html KDE: Konqueror vs Mozilla, Gecko & Konqueror. Further explanation. http://dot.kde.org/994747675/994783942/994786260/994788222/994796531/ |
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