Does IE 11 on Surface (Windows RT) not cache the page?

[M Coffey]

One of the most frustrating things about Windows RT (I have an Asus Vovotab RT
but my wife has the first gen Surface) is when you are in IE 11 (Metro) and
you try to go back to the previous page with the back arrow. It seems
unduly long for it to complete that simple task. Like its completely re-downloading
everything that loaded on the previous page.

I also recently picked up a Dell Venue Pro 8. The biggest difference between these
3 devices (besides the full version of Windows 8) is that the Dell has a 1.8 ghz
processor while the Surface and the Vivotab have a 1.3ghz processor. But, I notice
the problem is less pronounced on the Dell when I am in Metro IE 11 the lag
to go to the previous page is much shorter but still there.

So, does IE 11 in Metro not cache the pages like the standard IE does?

It's also important to note that the poor sales figures for the original Surface
could be related to Microsoft (and Asus) skimping on the processor. The
difference in my Dell and the other 2 devices is rather striking when it comes
to performance not only in the Metro IE but in the device overall. I am sure that
explains why the Surface 2 seems to be fairing better in acceptance.

 

[DBDev]

Same on my RT, it is really annoying... :unhappy:

 

[Greywolf1967]

I've never really noticed a slow down in ie (Metro/Modern), to my mind it was a speed up as I came from a Netbook running Intel Atom N455 on Windows 7 Starter, also a Galaxy Tab 10.1(2012).

My Surface RT against the Netbook seems miles ahead even though the Atom was 1.66 Ghz and had the RAM upgrade to 2Gig.

However I also make sure I close everything after I'm done, yes I know the Surface can pause apps and have them sit quiet in the background, but I like to know what ever task I need done it should run better if I don't have 10 things in background.

Maybe switch to the desktop version if you need a site to cache, like a news site if you need to bounce back from a story. Save the metro for single page hit sites you may surf.

This may improve with Windows 8.1 update 1, as right now in the Metro/Modern ie the settings options are limited.

 

[ChristianKing]

Nope! Going back to the previous page performs a complete reload in the metro version of IE. Hopefully this behavior will be modified in the upcoming 8.1 update. It really can't think of a good reason not to cache the previous page.

 

[Mike Gibson]

The BayTrail Atom in the DVP is far better than the ARM-based Tegra3. It's faster than most of the current generation ARM CPUs. The only exception is the GPU, which has about the same speed as the ARM SoCs.

Of course, even the lowest power, lowest performing Intel Core CPU blows away all of the ARMs and Atoms. It's not even close (Core is 4-10X faster).

 

[prlundberg]

It's not an actual reload, it doesn't refresh the page. For example links and other changes won't update unless you refresh. So I don't know what the heck it is doing. Maybe it reads it from a page file? This has been an issue way back in IE10. I just think IE10/11 is a buggy POS, personally, and I won't buy another RT device for this reason alone. They've had 18 months now to work out these bugs and they haven't, so I have come to the conclusion that they are either incompetent or don't care. Either way, no more RT for me unless they either fix it or open up the API to other browsers.

 

[Guzzler3]

No, IE 11 actually does a refresh when you go back. It happened to me this morning on another news site. I followed the first link story, swiped back and a new first story was at the top.

I have dug around the registry settings, trying to find a setting to turn it off, but just haven't found anything yet.

 

[prlundberg]

You know I tried it again last night again to see if something changed, and mine does NOT refresh the page when going back. My updates are current, I don't know why we would see different results. Maybe it depends on the page? My local news and MSN do not refresh, and they never have that I'm aware of. But it takes just as long to load as a full refresh. Worst of both worlds.