IE8 vs. Firefox; why do I suddenly find IE8 quicker?

Over the past month or so, I have noticed some problmes with Firefox, specifically slow load times and an unusually heavy load on the CPU (to the point where there are typing lags).

Never really used IE8; have started using it and its super quick! (im using Win 7)
Any particular reason for these recent changes?

Finally, can someone tell me where I can turn on/off the "ask to save passwords" dialogue box? (upon first logging into websites which require usernammes and passwords).

 

I do notice FF typing lags in Win 7 64-bit when starting up.
IE 8 password settings can be changed under Tools> Internet options> Content > Autocomplete > Settings

 

Thanks.
Certain pages (like forums) it has not yet asked me to save passwords.
Is there a way to have it ask me to save a password for a specific page?

Lastly, have they put a spell checker into IE8? (anything similar to FF's red underlining would be great)

 

I don't think it's a "change" that caused the speed up. IE8 has always been faster than FF in windows 7.

 

Try 3.6 Beta, it specifically suppose to address those issues. Been working wonderful for me since Beta 1.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

If that doesn't work, try a new profile.

 

I like IE8. Its more improved and fast.

 

Currently, I have no LUCK with Firefox. I used to be IE user too but I just hate it now. LOL.
So, Google Chrome FTW!

 

Another vote for Firefox 3.6 beta 2. Significantly quicker than 3.5... although I never felt IE8 was faster than Fx in win7. Also, if you use a lot of extensions in Fx, that can slow you down, so you might try running Fx in safe mode to diagnose this.

 

Same here. In the last few months FF is becoming quite slow. When it was first launched IE8 was slow as well but now it's becoming "Chromish".

I am not switching to Chrome just yet until Xmarks is compatible with it.

 

I only have a few extensions for FF ... namely:
Adblock, Download status bar, FireFTP, mail notifier and Download Helper.

I hardly think those would cause FF to lag significantly at times ... although it DOES lag down sometimes.

 

Because IE8 is quicker!

The developers over at Mozilla have in the last few years seem to have fallen into the same trap MS fell in to years ago by overdeveloping so much that the browser slows down. FF 2.X was fast compared to IE back then, but FF 3.X is now slow compared to IE7 and IE8.

 

I think IE 8 seems faster because some of its resources are loaded with Windows bootup and login. Apparently IE has been having this advantage for a while.

I had FF 3.5.4 on my laptop that broke and it worked fine, no lag or anything. RAM usage was good too, nothing surprising. Now on this Vista machine, with significantly lower specs than my broken machine, I have FF 3.6b2 and it's worked fine. I really think FF works better than IE since IE tends to seem "bloated", and the fact that it has to open separate windows to deal with zones (Intranet vs Internet).

I got FF back in 2006 as a backup to IE, and I've liked it since. Add-ons are great too, you can really make FF personal and make it work for you.

 

IE8 > Chrome* > Opera > FF > Safari

*(for now, think this will be #1 once its more stable)

 

That is in terms of what?

I think customizability, features, and user experience (tidiness, download manager, etc.), FF definitely trumps IE 8 and Chrome. Haven't really tried the other 2. I actually can't think of a way that IE 8 trumps any browser except for ActiveX support.

 

IE8 trumps the other browsers in many ways, and here's a list of SOME of the features: the Compatability View feature (which is reason enough, on its own, to use IE8), its Webslices, the new Tab features (including Tab Crash Recovery protection), the enhanced privacy browsing features, the new VISUAL search feature (not to mention its Enhanced Search and Search Suggestions), the new Favorites Bar, the ability to not only increase the Zoom level of every page -- but that IE8 SAVES your customized Zoom level, so that you don't have to increase it EVERY SINGLE TIME you go to a new page or screen -- PLUS of course, the 100 or so different customization and options settings IE8 offers (including the new Developers' Tools), the tons of IE8 Add-Ons and Accelerators, and probably some of the most important items, the multitude of impressively improved performance, security, and stability features. . . and, oh yes, ActiveX support.

 

I agree. IE8 with adblock, flashblock and DNS prefetch..etc is a little bit faster than Chrome. The UI for Chrome and IE are both "very clean". Chrome startsup about half a second faster on my netbook than IE8 or about 5 seconds faster than Firefox 3.5.