firefox tweaks - any improvement?

[noswal]

I've found many references to tweaking firefox (as below) and have done it, but I dont know if it makes any difference, anyone else?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1299854/posts
http://forevergeek.com/open_source/make_firefox_faster.php
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/12/29/gofaster_tweak_for_f.html

"1.Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

network.http.pipelining network.http.proxy.pipelining network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives.

If you're using a broadband connection you'll load pages MUCH faster now! "

 

[Flippit]

Yes, this makes a difference, especially on a broadband connection.

Pipelining means that your computer opens up more than one connection to the web server, and downloads parts of the site off the different connections.

The Paint Delay is how long firefox waits after getting the first part of the page, to when it starts laying it out on the screen. The reason this is set high is so that you don't get the page rearranging itself as it comes in. So if you set it to 0 it starts "painting" the page as soon as it gets the first bit.

Basically both make Firefox faster - at worst it will stay the same as it certainly can't make it slower!