T-minus fewer… and fewer seconds to launch

OK, this qualifies as something that improves your email quality of life…but isn’t as visible as, say, a new button. You wanted a new button? There aren’t any new buttons this time around. But check out the enhanced speed at the heart of this release. We’ve heard your calls for faster! – and we’re continuing to soup up the Yahoo! Mail Beta’s performance.

The latest Beta version is currently splashing down on all remaining farms (check the previous post for info on farms and how we release new versions). This one’s twice as fast when you first launch it, and (on average) four times faster on subsequent launches.* Why the difference? When you first launch, our code is uncached and needs to be loaded fresh. After that, the code is cached. It’s right there for the taking, like clothes you can just grab out of your closet instead of having to go buy at the store.

Also, you may notice that it’s now a lot faster switching between folders and that you can keep the Beta open for longer periods without any compromise in performance.

To everyone out there enjoying the fruits of these labors, we just want to say thank you! The next release will see performance improvements across all aspects of the Beta, so fasten your seatbelts…

Happy Travels,
The Yahoo! Mail team

* Mac launch performance is a story unto itself. It goes like this: Once upon a time…we knew we had a ways to go optimizing the Beta for the Mac. So we set to work on it. And we’re working on it now! The End.