Ask HN: What fast software would you recommend?

I recently read Fabian Sanglard’s blogpost “These are called opportunities”[1] where he writes about how the startup time of Chrome made him switch and never look back. There’s also a related discussion[2] on the front page right now about input latency degradation from 1977 to 2017.

Don’t get me wrong. I truly enjoy and would argue I get a sense of satisfaction of using fast and responsive software. However these opportunities are getting rare, and frankly I’m just bothering less to look now days. I remember this, for me personally, being such an important factor in chosing software. Less so now. Maybe it’s a sign of age, or perhaps it’s the prevalance of proprietary applications where there are few or no options. Think Slack or your favorite web based collaboration tool either only avaiable in the browser or kindly packaged - with webkit - as a standalone app.

I miss fast software. Software you’re excited to use simply because it’s refreshingly fast.

I’m trying to find two things here, what are example of fast software you use on a recurring basis that you would recommend, and how important performance really is now days. Especially when it comes at the expense of features or investment of time.

[1] https://fabiensanglard.net/silicone/

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25290118