Firefox and smooth scrolling (1 Viewer)

[Brian Perry]

I have been a long-time user of IE but recently decided to try Firefox. There are many nice features, but one thing I've noticed is that the scrolling feature of my mouse is not nearly as smooth as it is when using IE.

When surfing the HTF using IE, if I press the scroll wheel and then move the mouse a tad, the screen will move down in a very smooth fashion, allowing me to read the posts with minimal strain. However, when I attempt to do the same thing in Firefox, the movement is jerky, and something I'm not willing to live with, despite Firefox's other advantages.

Do I need to change a setting in Firefox or on the mouse itself? (Actually, I have two mice connected -- including a wireless one-- and they both exhibit the same problem.) Or is this a feature of IE that others can't quite duplicate yet?

Thanks.

 

[RoryR]

Shameless plug but Opera.com is a lot better.

If you're switching browser, I'd go to Opera - its less resource intensive and a lot more customizable without extensions. Sadly, it doesn't quite have extensions like Firefox (but since you're new to Firefox, it shouldn't matter) and some sites don't work correctly - simply because nobody bothers to create for it, unlike IE/Firefox it follows web standards - doesn't matter too much to regular people though.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

You can enter about:config in the browsers address bar and search for "scroll" in the filter entry field - you should find an entry for smooth scrolling you can turn on/off.

I haven't noticed that scrolling is any jerkier in Firefox than it is in IE or for that matter Opera.

You can, however, go to the mouse settings on your computer and choose how many lines the scroll wheel should jump when you scroll with it - usually it is set for three, I think. Set it for one line instead and the scrolling should jump less per "notch" on the scroll wheel. This doesn't affect scrolling after a middle-click though.

I second the Opera recommendation, by the way. Opera 9.01 is very compatible, it is the fastest browser both when it comes to responding to the user as well as rendering pages and it is feature packed. The key is to really use it for some time and to actively search out what it does better than the others - once you figure out most of the good stuff it does, you just can't go back to the other browsers.

Firefox extensions are great, but that also means that instead of having just one browser that needs to be stable, you have a browser + umpteen plugins that also have to be stable... not to mention responsiveness.

You'll find great Opera tutorials here: http://www.chooseopera.com/tutorials/index.html

 

[Greg*go]

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/357/ That there is a SmoothWheel extension.

The default Smooth scroll capability of Firefox isn't very good. You may want to try this extension to make Firefox have a smoother scrolling effect. You can adjust the settings on it as well, it's fairly functional.

 

[RoryR]

One thing I am amazed by Opera is the external search features, like Firefox has - you have a little search box in the right corner, comes with Google and defaults, you can add any form (instead of Firefox requring a listing on their site or complicated code) but you can assign keys, so for IMDB I have IMDB - if I go to the address bar all I have to type is IMDB Tim Allen and I'm taken right to his profile, or TV Scrubs and I'm taken to the Scrubs page a TV.com - its wonderful.

 

[Rommel_L]

Brian,

Download and install fasterfox. Close and reopen FF. Go to Tools > Options. Click on the General tab. Under Browsing, put a check beside Use smooth scrolling. Click OK to close window.

You're set...