Why do people say IE is slow?

Digerati said:

Hmmm, I find that a bit odd as the spell checker works in the background and is totally invisible, until you misspell a word - then it simply underlines it in red so that it does get your attention. A simple right click on the word provides a short list of suggested correctly spelled words, or you can add the word to the custom dictionary. You can add pre-built dictionaries (legal or medical dictionaries, for example). It seems totally intuitive to me. I REALLY like that it does "real-time" checking as opposed to my previous favorite, IESpell which I had to remember to run manually on my posts before clicking the submit button.

Perhaps it depends on how concerned one is about correct spelling and the use of grammar. To me, any writing with misspellings is a distraction, and a detraction from (1) quality and accuracy of the piece, and (2) the apparent professionalism and integrity of the writer - fair or not! No one said life was fair.

I used to do a lot of technical writing and editing of technical documents and there's no doubt that a reader's perception of the quality, accuracy, AND understanding of the work is affected by simple spelling and grammar errors. It raises questions as to whether the writer really cares, double-checked his facts, or knows his topic if he can't take the time to pay attention to details, or simply cross the "T"s and dot the "I"s.

Having a real-time spell checker do much of that detail work, for me anyway, is hugely important. Not only does it find most of my mistakes (or my fingers' mistakes - since they sometimes have their own agenda! ), but I think immediate feedback makes me a better speller in the long run.

I only find the spell checker annoying because I go on gaming forums and I often use terms that are found only in the game that the forum is about, so when I type that word, I see the little red line underneath it because the word isn't a real word, but one used in the game. Other than that, I don't mind it, but I don't need it either because I'm a very good speller.

Digerati said:

Hmmm. Now that's an interesting point. Rather than drive this topic off on another tangent, please see: What Function or Feature Should a Browser Support?

Hahaha, I'm glad my words sparked an interest in you. :)

I only find the spell checker annoying because I go on gaming forums and I often use terms that are found only in the game that the forum is about, so when I type that word, I see the little red line underneath it because the word isn't a real word, but one used in the game. Other than that, I don't mind it, but I don't need it either because I'm a very good speller.

So you add them to the dictionary once and they never get tagged again - pretty much how all spell checkers work for words they don't recognize.

Here are some serious reasons IE to be too slow sometimes:

1. Internet Explorer caches the web pages you visit and cookies coming from those pages. This slows its speed, that's way you have to delete the cookies. I use Mil Shield, it removes the cookies successfully.

2. You have to reset some settings in Internet Explorer back to their defaults.

3. You have to clear the Internet Explorer history folder and files. Again Mil Shield will help you.

4. You have to disable autoComplete forms in Internet Explorer. AutoComplete forms not only makes it easier for you to automatically fill in forms and logon to secure sites - it also makes it easier for Trojans and hackers to gain access to your personal data and logon credentials.

5. You have to disable some Add-Ons in Internet Explorer.

kidsid32 said:

Here are some serious reasons IE to be too slow sometimes:

1. Internet Explorer caches the web pages you visit and cookies coming from those pages. This slows its speed, that's way you have to delete the cookies. I use Mil Shield, it removes the cookies successfully.

2. You have to reset some settings in Internet Explorer back to their defaults.

3. You have to clear the Internet Explorer history folder and files. Again Mil Shield will help you.

4. You have to disable autoComplete forms in Internet Explorer. AutoComplete forms not only makes it easier for you to automatically fill in forms and logon to secure sites - it also makes it easier for Trojans and hackers to gain access to your personal data and logon credentials.

5. You have to disable some Add-Ons in Internet Explorer.

1. If the pages are cached, they have already been downloaded. That SPEEDS UP their display. Same story with the cookies - not to mention cookies store your credentials.

2. No you don't.

3. No you don't.

4. That has nothing to do with speed - and Trojans and hackers can only gain access if you are negligent in keeping your system current secured with AM software and firewalls - this is the same regardless of browser.

5. No you don't. You need to be responsible while installing software as to what add-ons get installed.

nate42nd said:

Run this "browser benchmark" It's not perfect but it will give you a good idea of what browser is faster.

Chrome beats IE by about 3 times on this test in my Core i7 System.

CLICK RUN WITHOUT SYSTEM SCAN if you don't want it to dig deeply into your system.

Peacekeeper - The Browser Benchmark from Futuremark Corporation

I don't run benchmarks because if I can't PLAINLY see a speed difference between two or more apps, the speed difference is too minimal to worry about.

I don't run benchmarks because they don't reflect real-world usage. They typically focus on one or two specifications under non-realistic conditions. For example, according the FAQ, that Peacekeeper only tests Java performance.