How to Enable Direct2D & DirectWrite Hardware Acceleration in Mozilla Firefox?

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Did you know you can enable Direct2D and DirectWrite hardware acceleration in Mo
zilla Firefox to increase performance? Direct2D and DirectWrite are replacement
for the good old GDI in Windows. These 2 new technologies use GPU acceleration t
o boost overall performance.
But you'll need either Windows 7 or Windows Vista SP2 (with Platform Update inst
alled) to be able to enjoy this method.
Follow these simple steps to enable Direct2D and DirectWrite H/W Acceleration in
Mozilla Firefox:
1. Open Firefox and type about:config in the addressbar and press Enter. It'll c
onfirm, click on I'll be careful, I promise! button.
2. Now type render in the Filter box and look for following 2 keys:
gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled
mozilla.widget.render-mode
3. The entry "gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled" would be set to false. Dou
ble-click on it or right-click on it and select "Toggle". It'll change its value
to true.
4. The entry "mozilla.widget.render-mode" would be set to -1. Double-click on it
and set its value to 6.
Direct2D_DirectWrite_HW_Acceleration_Firefox.png
PS: If you can't find "mozilla.widget.render-mode" entry, you'll need to manuall
y create it. Right-click on empty space and select "New -> Integer" and set its
name to mozilla.widget.render-mode.
5. That's it. Restart your browser and enjoy better looking fonts and performanc
e.
NOTE: If you want to disable the hardware acceleration, set "gfx.font_rendering.
directwrite.enabled" to false and "mozilla.widget.render-mode" to 0.