Swiftfox: Firefox's Speedy Brother
Productivity Sauce
There are many ways to tweak Firefox's settings to improve the browser's performance, but probably the most effective trick is to replace your favorite browser altogether with Swiftfox. It may sound as a drastic step, but there is no need to worry: Swiftfox is essentially Firefox optimized for specific AMD and Intel processors. The project features Swiftfox builds for AMD Athlon 64, Intel Core solo and Duo as well as assorted Pentium and Celeron processors. The best part is that Swiftfox detects and uses Firefox profiles. In fact, you can even run two browsers side by side if you are inclined to do so.
There are several ways to install Swiftfox on your machine. If you are running a Debian or Ubuntu-based Linux distro, add the Swiftfox repository to the sources.list file. To do this, open the file using the sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list command as root, and add the following line to the end of the list:
deb http://getswiftfox.com/builds/debian unstable non-free
Update the repository information using the apt-get update command, then install the Swiftfox package for your particular architecture, for example:
sudo apt-get install swiftfox-pentium-m
Alternatively, you can download the .deb package for your platform and install it using the dpkg tool:
sudo dpkg -i swiftfox_3.0.4pre-1_pentium-m.deb
On other Linux distros, you can use an installer script which installs Swiftfox in the /opt directory and adds a menu entry. The script also attempts to make the existing extensions available for Swiftfox. Finally, you can download a specific tarball archive and install Swiftfox manually.
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Say Goodbye to Middle-Mouse Paste
Both Gnome and Firefox have proposed getting rid of a long-time favorite Linux feature.
-
Manjaro 26.0 Primary Desktop Environments Default to Wayland
If you want to stick with X.Org, you'll be limited to the desktop environments you can choose.
-
Mozilla Plans to AI-ify Firefox
With a new CEO in control, Mozilla is doubling down on a strategy of trust, all the while leaning into AI.
-
Gnome Says No to AI-Generated Extensions
If you're a developer wanting to create a new Gnome extension, you'd best set aside that AI code generator, because the extension team will have none of that.
-
Parrot OS Switches to KDE Plasma Desktop
Yet another distro is making the move to the KDE Plasma desktop.
-
TUXEDO Announces Gemini 17
TUXEDO Computers has released the fourth generation of its Gemini laptop with plenty of updates.
-
Two New Distros Adopt Enlightenment
MX Moksha and AV Linux 25 join ranks with Bodhi Linux and embrace the Enlightenment desktop.
-
Solus Linux 4.8 Removes Python 2
Solus Linux 4.8 has been released with the latest Linux kernel, updated desktops, and a key removal.
-
Zorin OS 18 Hits over a Million Downloads
If you doubt Linux isn't gaining popularity, you only have to look at Zorin OS's download numbers.
-
TUXEDO Computers Scraps Snapdragon X1E-Based Laptop
Due to issues with a Snapdragon CPU, TUXEDO Computers has cancelled its plans to release a laptop based on this elite hardware.
