Re:Memory
by
apollosfire
·
· Score: 5, Informative
As reported before, Firefox does not have memory problems - it has a feature that is very memory intensive.
To disable this feature, do the following:
1. type about:config in you address bar
2. scroll down to browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers
3. set its value to 0 (zero)
Browser Speed
by
reporter
·
· Score: 3, Informative
He concludes, "So overall, Opera seems to be the fastest browser for windows. Firefox is not faster than Internet Explorer, except for scripting, but for standards support, security and features, it is a better choice. However, it is still not as fast as Opera, and Opera also offers a high level of standards support, security and features."
Wilton-Jones tested both version 1.0 and version 1.5 of Firefox. Does anyone have any thoughts on the performance of version 2.0?
Re:Browser Speed
by
toddestan
·
· Score: 3, Informative
I guess it depends on what metric you want to use to measure speed. I've been using Opera for quite a while, and what really annoys me about just every other browser is how they like to redraw/reload the page when you use the back and forward buttons. Opera doesn't do that - rather the back and forward buttons are instant because Opera has the rendered page still in memory. Because of this, Opera overall seems a lot faster to me than the other browsers, despite the fact that is a bit slower to load, and it really isn't any faster when it comes to rendering pages.
CoralCDN - just in case
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Close button at same tab
by
omeg
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Okay, so now they placed the close tab button on the active tab itself. I've heard of that being planned. I, however, really don't like that myself. Does anyone know if it's possible to turn off? Because if not, I'm not switching.
There's no reason to not let the user be able to pick the old way of handling a UI functionality that a reasonable amount of people don't agree with.
Re:Close button at same tab
by
ElleyKitten
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Okay, so now they placed the close tab button on the active tab itself. I've heard of that being planned. I, however, really don't like that myself. Does anyone know if it's possible to turn off? Because if not, I'm not switching
There's an extension for the alpha already that turns it off.
I like extensions, but sometimes it seems like you have to have 80 of them just to get options that seem like they should be common sense.
-- "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
Re:Public Download?
by
yogikoudou
·
· Score: 3, Informative
So install Leak Monitor. Then you can see the cause of the most severe memory leaks: poorly coded extentions.
Whenever you close a tab or window and a leak is detected, you'll get a message about it. I used it for a few days and discovered several minor extentions I'd been using were causing some very large leaks.
-- The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
And that would be wrong (otherwise extensions wouldn't be portable across platforms). All extensions are written in pure Javascript/XUL. The real nasty bit is that the Javascript can (and usually does) call back into the runtime using XPCOM, and as a result, the Javascript can generate memory leaks by allocating resources and not freeing them.
Extensions exist in a global context for the process. They can maintain a permanent reference to objects that are never used again, and should otherwise be freed. They may also create cyclic references, in which one or more objects contains references to each other. This creates a situation where the objects are not referenced by an accessible code path, and the reference count can never drop to zero. The result is a leak, and it is an inherint weakness simple of reference counting garbage collection.
Even web pages can create circular JavaScript references that result in leaks. FF isn't alone in this area either. IE has always been vulnerable to memory leaks via JavaScript, theirs are just confined to bad pages. However, FF 3 will have a cycle detector that identifies unused cyclic references and frees the objects. But that still won't fix sloppy extensions that hang on to large objects for no goood reason.
In my experience, Plugins are pretty bad too. They operate outside the scope of the garbage collection and often don't clean up after themselves. For instance, my installation of Acrobat eats up a large chunk memory just for loading, and doesn't let it go after I navigate away from the page. The PDF Download extension helps, but it isn't perfect.
Download link
by
b0rk+b0rk+b0rk
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Re:For new users
by
plover
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Currently, there is no way to close a tab without first selecting it.
I used to think this too, which is why I used to use the TabX extension. However, since at least Firefox 1.5 I've been able to "middle-click" a tab to close it (without giving it focus.) Once I learned that, TabX was gone.
Sorry to contradict, but you are incorrect. Extensions can be written in any any language that supports XPCOM bindings, and many are not portable across platforms.
Then I shall amend my statement for both you and the other poster. The vast *vast* majority of extensions are written in Javascript, with a few exceptions.
It just needs to maintain references to unused objects or create cyclic references.
Certainly, but I don't believe most extension leaks are caused by such things, as they're rather difficult to trigger in practice. As far as I'm aware, most leaks caused by extensions are due to interactions with the XPCOM layer.
Re:I just went trhough the changelog...
by
Lisandro
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Question is, does Opera do these features better or will Firefox?
It does. I like Firefox a lot, but i'm not blind - every single feature that it's available in both and works better in Opera. With a fraction of the memory usage, and much faster to boot. Much more stable too - i only had Opera hangning on me a couple of times (both on Windows and Linux) - when it happens, it promptly apologizes and offers you to open the windows you were browsing at the moment of the crash. Priceless!
Also, Oprera has a shitload of functionality not available on FF or not needing extensions (gesture browsing, searches in the url bar, etc...). Those are the reasons it has been my main browser of choice for years now.
Re:Memory
by
Mistshadow2k4
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Poorly coded extensions definitely are the biggest memory leak problem. I was using forecastfox for a while and Firefox was leaking like a rusty bucket, even with the sessionistory fix. One day, forecastfox popped up with the latest temperature over an hour after I'd closed Firefox. I uninstalled it right then and Firefox has been pretty well-behaved memory-wise ever since; I haven't seen it's memory usage go over 85 mb.
Also, this fix helps too:
1. Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
2. Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
3. In the box that pops up enter config.trim_on_minimize. Press Enter.
4. Now select True and then press Enter.
5. Restart Firefox.
-- I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.
For instance, my installation of Acrobat eats up a large chunk memory just for loading, and doesn't let it go after I navigate away from the page. The PDF Download extension helps, but it isn't perfect.
Try the Foxit PDF Reader http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php It loads instantly.
And when you open firefox, the urls you put in the home page box will be tabbed.
Re:so I'll just keep asking...and getting no answe
by
The+One+KEA
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Darin Fisher did this on the trunk in bug 326273. The complexity of the repair, as you surmised, means that Firefox 3.0 will be the first consumer release to contain these changes.
-- SCREW THE ADS! http://adblock.mozdev.org/
Proud user of teh Fox of Fire - Registered Linux User #289618
Re:Memory-- collective? Contradictory?
by
bunratty
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Yes, there are memory leaks in Firefox. However, they are generally so subtle that you don't notice them until you've had Firefox open continuously for a week. The problems people are referring to as "Firefox memory leaks" are generally not memory leaks, or are leaks caused by extensions, not leaks that exists in Firefox itself.
-- What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
Slashdot Mirror
As reported before, Firefox does not have memory problems - it has a feature that is very memory intensive. To disable this feature, do the following: 1. type about:config in you address bar 2. scroll down to browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers 3. set its value to 0 (zero)
He concludes, " So overall, Opera seems to be the fastest browser for windows. Firefox is not faster than Internet Explorer, except for scripting, but for standards support, security and features, it is a better choice. However, it is still not as fast as Opera, and Opera also offers a high level of standards support, security and features. "
Wilton-Jones tested both version 1.0 and version 1.5 of Firefox. Does anyone have any thoughts on the performance of version 2.0?
http://mozillalinks.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/
Okay, so now they placed the close tab button on the active tab itself. I've heard of that being planned. I, however, really don't like that myself. Does anyone know if it's possible to turn off? Because if not, I'm not switching.
There's no reason to not let the user be able to pick the old way of handling a UI functionality that a reasonable amount of people don't agree with.
Yes, get it here.
Whenever you close a tab or window and a leak is detected, you'll get a message about it. I used it for a few days and discovered several minor extentions I'd been using were causing some very large leaks.
The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
And that would be wrong (otherwise extensions wouldn't be portable across platforms). All extensions are written in pure Javascript/XUL. The real nasty bit is that the Javascript can (and usually does) call back into the runtime using XPCOM, and as a result, the Javascript can generate memory leaks by allocating resources and not freeing them.
Extensions exist in a global context for the process. They can maintain a permanent reference to objects that are never used again, and should otherwise be freed. They may also create cyclic references, in which one or more objects contains references to each other. This creates a situation where the objects are not referenced by an accessible code path, and the reference count can never drop to zero. The result is a leak, and it is an inherint weakness simple of reference counting garbage collection.
Even web pages can create circular JavaScript references that result in leaks. FF isn't alone in this area either. IE has always been vulnerable to memory leaks via JavaScript, theirs are just confined to bad pages. However, FF 3 will have a cycle detector that identifies unused cyclic references and frees the objects. But that still won't fix sloppy extensions that hang on to large objects for no goood reason.
In my experience, Plugins are pretty bad too. They operate outside the scope of the garbage collection and often don't clean up after themselves. For instance, my installation of Acrobat eats up a large chunk memory just for loading, and doesn't let it go after I navigate away from the page. The PDF Download extension helps, but it isn't perfect.
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/rel eases/bonecho/alpha2/
I used to think this too, which is why I used to use the TabX extension. However, since at least Firefox 1.5 I've been able to "middle-click" a tab to close it (without giving it focus.) Once I learned that, TabX was gone.
John
Sorry to contradict, but you are incorrect. Extensions can be written in any any language that supports XPCOM bindings, and many are not portable across platforms.
Then I shall amend my statement for both you and the other poster. The vast *vast* majority of extensions are written in Javascript, with a few exceptions.
It just needs to maintain references to unused objects or create cyclic references.
Certainly, but I don't believe most extension leaks are caused by such things, as they're rather difficult to trigger in practice. As far as I'm aware, most leaks caused by extensions are due to interactions with the XPCOM layer.
Question is, does Opera do these features better or will Firefox?
It does. I like Firefox a lot, but i'm not blind - every single feature that it's available in both and works better in Opera. With a fraction of the memory usage, and much faster to boot. Much more stable too - i only had Opera hangning on me a couple of times (both on Windows and Linux) - when it happens, it promptly apologizes and offers you to open the windows you were browsing at the moment of the crash. Priceless!
Also, Oprera has a shitload of functionality not available on FF or not needing extensions (gesture browsing, searches in the url bar, etc...). Those are the reasons it has been my main browser of choice for years now.
Poorly coded extensions definitely are the biggest memory leak problem. I was using forecastfox for a while and Firefox was leaking like a rusty bucket, even with the sessionistory fix. One day, forecastfox popped up with the latest temperature over an hour after I'd closed Firefox. I uninstalled it right then and Firefox has been pretty well-behaved memory-wise ever since; I haven't seen it's memory usage go over 85 mb.
Also, this fix helps too:
1. Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
2. Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
3. In the box that pops up enter config.trim_on_minimize. Press Enter.
4. Now select True and then press Enter.
5. Restart Firefox.
I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.
For instance, my installation of Acrobat eats up a large chunk memory just for loading, and doesn't let it go after I navigate away from the page. The PDF Download extension helps, but it isn't perfect. Try the Foxit PDF Reader http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php It loads instantly.
Slashdot Classic
Tools --> Options --> General. type your favorite urls in the homepage box seperated by |
t p://www.fark.com
http://www.google.com/|http://www.slashdot.org|ht
And when you open firefox, the urls you put in the home page box will be tabbed.
Darin Fisher did this on the trunk in bug 326273. The complexity of the repair, as you surmised, means that Firefox 3.0 will be the first consumer release to contain these changes.
7 3
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3262
SCREW THE ADS! http://adblock.mozdev.org/ Proud user of teh Fox of Fire - Registered Linux User #289618
Yes, there are memory leaks in Firefox. However, they are generally so subtle that you don't notice them until you've had Firefox open continuously for a week. The problems people are referring to as "Firefox memory leaks" are generally not memory leaks, or are leaks caused by extensions, not leaks that exists in Firefox itself.
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.