I have been testing out the latest nightly alpha (yes, do not replace your Firefox install with this) installation of a future concept browser based on Firefox called Minefield. Having tried this on two of my 64 bit Ubuntu installs, I am shocked at how much quicker this is loading websites than Firefox proper. Based on what I have been hearing, this is a browser truly taking advantage of the 64 bit architecture. So those of you using Vista/XP 64 might want to check this out as well. I am curious if it is loading with the same kind of speed I am seeing here.
What I am using to produce instant page load times.
- OpenDNS
- FiOS (20 down/20 up)
- A 64 bit OS
- The latest nightly build of Mindfield from Mozilla
Words cannot express how fast this is. Dare I say this is arguably faster than Opera? Nothing concrete by me to substantiate this, but based on just quick comparisons, yes, Minefield “feels” faster by a fair margin. And if you are using 32 bit Windows (OS X in general) or Linux, you will find that Flash works well. Windows users, here ya go. Ubuntu 64 bit Linux users, just browse – chances are you already have Flash installed already.
So in the end, is this a browser I would use daily? No, it is not even beta yet and loading some pages creates stability issues. This said, I am amazed and impressed at the speed provided. I am truly, impressed.