[GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[Ron / BCLUG]

Evan Leibovitch via talk wrote on 2023-11-24 08:07:

> Thorium <https://thorium.rocks/> is basic Chrome that is compile-time 
> optimized for new CPUs.
> Still does Chrome sync and plugin store.
> Won't run on any system that doesn't have an AVX2-capable CPU.
> As a result, it claims a conventional Chrome experience but noticeably 
> faster.
> 
> Apparently the same dev has done the same to Firefox, called Mercury 
> <https://thorium.rocks/mercury>

Oh, now that does sound interesting!

I don't think my old box has AVX2 support (nope, just AVX).


I'm usually quite hesitant / skeptical around "boutique" browsers since 
it takes so much skill and talent (quantitatively and qualitatively) to 
implement properly.

Usually someone's trying a browser because it's "not bloated" with 
things that... are web standards. I don't trust my browsing to their 
competence.


This Thorium project (Mercury, actually) does sound very interesting.


If you give it a try, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.



rb