speed

OStatic reports that the latest build of Google's Chrome browser outpaces Firefox 3 beta 4, with up to 30 percent faster performance than its Chrome predecessor, but this report overlooks a speedier Firefox alternative (Firefox 3 beta 5 is zippier), but it also misses arguably the biggest advantage Firefox has over every other browser:

A massive, growing, deeply involved add-on community, one that is only going to get stronger with the release of Jetpack.

Google has talked about getting Firefox-like extensions for Chrome but it, like Microsoft's Internet Explore and Apple's Safari, woefully underdeliver on community.

Before … Read more

Many of my favorite freeware tools have more-than-adequate competitors out there, but you can never have too much of a good thing. Here are four utilities that you may not have heard of to help you back up your files, take screen captures, uninstall programs, and test your download speeds.

MyUninstaller replaces the default Windows Add/Remove Programs utility, and is a strong alternative to Revo Uninstaller. They both uninstall programs, and that's just about where their similarities end.

MyUninstaller feels extremely lightweight compared to Revo and contains none of the system tools extras like Autorun Manager that Revo … Read more

DownTester is a portable app that tests download speeds from HTTP and FTP URLs. It's unobtrusive and gets the job done, but also comes with some useful features that make it worth downloading.

The Advanced Options menu is reasonably robust. You can configure the tests to conclude and move on to the next URL based on time or bytes downloaded. Both of these are user configurable, giving the test broad powers to judge how fast data is flowing to you. You can also set the program to retry upon failure and configure the number of times that repetition should … Read more

Reports (like this one on The Apple Blog) persist that beta releases of the Mozilla Firefox 3 browser have rendered it a "perplexingly sluggish performer" on the Mac. Despite Mozilla's speed improvements in Minefield, those tweaks haven't seemed to make it into beta releases of Firefox 3.

Until now.

As an open-source Web browser, Firefox is, of course, open to community tinkering. One member of that Firefox community, Chris Latko, has developed his own version of Firefox 3.5 beta, dubbed Shiretoko, and my informal tests confirm what The Apple Blog and others have been saying: … Read more

As a fan of iPhone games and racing sims, I'm pretty excited at the news that EA Mobile has finally released Need for Speed Undercover for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

The story of Need for Speed Undercover (NFSU) is told through live-action cutscenes interspersed among a series of races. The basic plot is pretty much the same as the rest of the Need for Speed series: There's some sort of underground smuggling ring connected to some gang of street racers, and you, the driver, must infiltrate their ranks. Come to think of it, that's also … Read more

While this system cleaner is easy to use and works quickly, it doesn't offer anything to set it apart from the plethora of other registry fixers and optimizers.

Family Windows Cleaner has a clean, simple interface with big, bold buttons that all users will find easy to follow. The program offers several check boxes for users to customize their cleaning options. Like most optimizers, this program lets users choose certain cookies to keep during the cleaning process. It also offers password protection to limit access. In our trials, scanning and cleaning took no more than a few minutes, and … Read more

SpeedItUp offers users a simple way to increase their computer's performance. This exciting program takes a lot of the guess work out of speed and memory, making a more streamlined operation for all involved.

This freeware appears as a small box with a bar chart featuring your computer's RAM that immediately draws attention. This tells you what percentage is being used currently. Below are four tabs aimed at relieving your system of the stress that slows computer performance down. The Speed It Up tab looks at Windows optimization, RAM Booster, Internet Cleanup, and Hard Disk Speed up. Turning … Read more

Windows Shutdown Speed Up promises to give users the power to close down their computer much faster by altering its settings. Instead, we found a program that took too much time to try and understand.

This freeware presents itself with a simple-to-operate menu. It offers to evaluate your Window's shutdown settings, change your windows shutdown settings and return to default settings. These three simple cues make this program appear easy, but in reality its function is quite a mystery.

Checking your settings gives you a red X or a green check mark, but the descriptions are in such broken … Read more

Leech provides users with a valuable tool for searching Web sites while a computer is offline. It copies Web content directly to your hard drive so you can surf the offline content as if it was a live Internet feed. Leech is certainly a great idea, but it might intimidate less experienced users. It begins simply, but each subsequent step requires a little more effort from the user.

This program gets off to a great start with a very simple interface. A bracket along the left-hand side keeps track of all the Web sites users have downloaded; basic set of … Read more