Firefox’s new CSS engine runs quickly, in parallel across multiple CPU cores, instead of running in one slower sequence on a single core. One example: we’ve developed a breakthrough approach to laying out pages: a super fast CSS engine written in Rust, a systems programming language that Mozilla pioneered. This improved utilization of your computer’s hardware makes Firefox Quantum dramatically faster. So how we did we make Firefox Quantum so fast?įirefox has historically run mostly on just one CPU core, but Firefox Quantum takes advantage of multiple CPU cores in today’s desktop and mobile devices much more effectively. Performance varies based on several factors. Firefox Quantum is often perceivably faster. We encourage you to make your own comparisons, but here’s a short video that captures our observations when comparing Firefox Quantum and Chrome on various websites. Results vary based on the computer and apps you’re actively using, but one thing that’s relatively consistent is that Firefox Quantum is about 2X faster than Firefox was a year ago. One simple way of estimating browser performance is with Speedometer 2.0, a (still-in-development) benchmark that simulates modern web applications. Turns out you can measure Firefox Quantum’s speed, too – our pit crew is kind of obsessed with a data-driven approach. Noticeably faster on many of the top websitesįirefox Quantum is such a big leap forward that you’ll feel it instantly, just browsing your favorite websites. We’ve shipped a lot already, but we’ve been planning for many more projects to come together in Firefox Quantum. In addition, we’ve launched game-changing features like WebAssembly and WebVR, enabling super fast, near-native performance for web apps on the desktop and on VR headsets. For example, we’ve transformed Firefox to run using multiple processes, striking the “just right” balance between speed and memory usage. Since then, our engineering team has been relentless in their focus on making Firefox incredibly fast.Īlready this year we’ve launched several major improvements to Firefox that have it made it better than ever. Last October we announced Project Quantum, our effort to create a next-generation engine for modern computers, by leveraging technology from our Servo research project. Since the version number – 57 – can’t really convey the magnitude of the changes we’ve made, and how much faster this new Firefox is, we’re calling this upcoming release Firefox Quantum.

That’s why we’re so revved up this morning – we’re releasing the Beta of a whole new Firefox, one that’s powered by a completely reinvented, modernized engine. Engines are important, both in cars and in browsers.

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