rewrite rules in httpd.conf rather than .htaccess

[eluser]Crafter[/eluser]
Your directives will work perfectly in httpd.conf, even if you have an .htaccess file and provided you are not overwriting directives. The .htaccess method is a convenient way of not having to change the entire web server settings for specific sites and directories, which becomes important if you are hosting multiple sites,

As to whether it's faster, I cannot say. You probably need to examine your web server to detirmine that, But as you said it, I would tend to agree that performance would be negligible, unless your site has specific performance requirements.