Mozilla claims its updated web browser is twice as fast as its last one, and uses a lot less memory than the competition – Google Chrome in particular. It’s called Firefox Quantum, and it might give the web’s most popular web browser a run for its money.
Image credit: Mozilla
How Quantum Compares to Chrome
Firefox Quantum is twice as fast as the previous build of Firefox, according to the company’s benchmark tests comparing Quantum to both Chrome and the previous version of Firefox. Its memory tests showed a noticeable decrease in memory usage compared to Google Chrome on Windows 10 and Linux; on macOS 10.12, memory usage was pretty much the same.
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/09/heres-why-you-should-embrace-multi-account-web-browsing/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/ogspcfdh4npn2ru9wrur.jpg” title=”Here’s Why You Should Embrace Multi-Account Web Browsing” excerpt=”Web: Firefox users bouncing between work and personal accounts on a daily basis are probably tired of logging in and out, or switching accounts. Thanks to the new (and overdue) Mozilla-made Multi-Account Container extension, you won’t have to worry about remembering which account you’re logged into. If you’re unconcerned about separating work and personal accounts, you can still take advantage of multi-account browsing to preserve your privacy or discourage bad habits.”]
If you’re a Chrome user (or a Lifehacker reader), you’re probably aware of how much memory the web browser uses. A reduction in memory use means faster web browsing, the ability to have more tabs open at once, and less of a chance that your computer decides to slow down while it does some memory cleanup.
There are some pretty nifty features included in Quantum, too, such as built-in screenshot functionality and improved tracker blocking. A Library button gives you access to your saved content such as bookmarks, your Pocket reading list and screenshots, making extensions for these services obsolete. (That being said, you can still use any Firefox extensions you love, from companies such as Ghostery, LastPass and other third-party developers.)
How to Download and Sync
You can snag the new browser from Mozilla’s site. To take advantage of its syncing features that ensure you can access your Firefox browsing history and other preferences on its iOS and Android apps, as you do with your Google account, you’ll need a Firefox Account.
Image credit: Mozilla
You can set one up right when you open Firefox Quantum. Just enter your email address and password, and specify which information you’d like to sync between devices. You can import your data from Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer or Google Chrome to stay synced and spare yourself the tedium of re-entering passwords.
Comments
One response to “Why You Should Check Out The New Firefox Quantum Browser”
Yeah, not so much, you can only do this if the extension has been ported to the new Webext format and some of the best just aren’t being done.
And yet Opera – same extensions loaded, same tabs loaded, half the memory (800mb vs 343mb). No thanks.
There are about 100 reasons why I quickly uninstalled Firefox Quantum and reinstalled version 56, but they can all be summed up in one sentence: FIrefox Quantum sucks at every level. It freezes up more frequently than New England in the winter. It is cumbersome beyond words to use. Things took forever to load. And it just plain doesn’t work. I will never use it again, and if I can no longer use the working version of Firefox, I will convert to another browser … almost any other browser will do compared to Quantum. Except for Bing, of course.
I thought Quantum was fast, but didn’t much like anything else about it. BTY Bing is not a browser but a search engine. Maybe you were referring to Edge browser from Microsoft?
I don’t see Firefox Quantum taking many users from Chrome and it could actually cause some long term Firefox users to abandon ship too? I just think Mozilla is a mess right now.