Best browser for a Mac?

[andicap]

I have OS 9.2 at work and even tho I'm connected to a T1 line as part of a LAN , itls pretty
slow downloading a lot of the time. (probably because not enough phone
lines in and out of the building).

Now using IE 5.0

Would using a different browser possibly improve my performance?

[BillW]

Andi,

This comes under the heading: You know your browser's a pig when ...

When I upgraded my lightning struck MB a few months ago from a 600 mHz. PIII to a 2.4 gHz I noticed an improvement in Mozilla. The download itself was not sped up but the transition between putting up dialog boxes etc. was really sped up. If I was downloading a series if 100k files it made a hell of a difference. If I was d'loading 5 mB files, there was little impact.

Bill

[BillW]

What I was getting to above when my net connection went south, was that if the processor speed would have an impact, a more efficiently written browser would have the same type impact. So your answer is it depends on where you are seeing the slowdown, If it is in displaying all the graphics, and other overhead, then a better (more streamlined) browser will provide a speed up. The download itself takes very little processor power.

Bill

[so.cal.fan]

Is Netscape still available?
I always thought that worked better than IE.

[azmike]

Originally posted by andicap
I have OS 9.2 at work and even tho I'm connected to a T1 line as part of a LAN , itls pretty
slow downloading a lot of the time. (probably because not enough phone
lines in and out of the building).

Now using IE 5.0

Would using a different browser possibly improve my performance?

Have you tried Safari? It is at www.apple.com and it is free.

Because Apple created Safari I think I read a press release that MS will not update IE in the future.

[azmike]

One more thing. I find that I have to delete my cache of temporary files every so often to speed up my downloads. You might want to do that.

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by andicap
I have OS 9.2 at work and even tho I'm connected to a T1 line as part of a LAN , itls pretty
slow downloading a lot of the time. (probably because not enough phone lines in and out of the building).
Now using IE 5.0 Would using a different browser possibly improve my performance?

I know for a fact that IE6 is faster than 5, but only about 5-15%. But, I think you need to decide if it's the machine or the pipe?

Even though you are on a T-1 you can experience slow downloads etc. Depends on how many users are working on it with you. You can also put bandwidth limits in the router. Usually the boss has more than anybody else. Or certain departments get allocated more than others. If you are ever in the office when nobody else is, punch up a 5meg download and see if it's faster than normal. If so.......too many users. Try it on Xmas day.....that is always a great time to tell. You have to understand that if you are downloading from a busy server, their pipe may be overwhelmed too. Try different locations if the product you are downloading is available on more than one server.

Define slow? 50k or 150k? on a download of 5mb?