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Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#161

Post by tikhonj »

abrowne wrote: post #160
tikhonj wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox's screen usage is easy to configure. Compare[1] my KDE-themed Firefox and Chrome, for example. [1]: http://jelv.is/browser-screen-usage.png Extensions require a restart to be installed, perhaps, but that doesn't seem to be a big issue: you only install any given extension once. If you want to install a bunch at the same time, you only need to restart once.

Are those window controls (close, etc) drawn by kwin or firefox/extension?

They're drawn by the extension. That said, it's almost impossible to tell.

Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#162

Post by Peaker »

tikhonj wrote: post #155
Peaker wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last I tried Firefox, pretty recently, it still needed to address some serious issues, when compared to Chrome: * Unresponsiveness due to one tab thrashing * Bad use of screen-space (bookmarks always visible, cannot disappear titlebar like in Chrome [there's only a Windows extension for that], menu-bar takes up another bar of space by default) * Launching firefox has stop-the-world behavior to check/update extensions…

Firefox's screen usage is easy to configure. Compare[1] my KDE-themed Firefox and Chrome, for example. [1]: http://jelv.is/browser-screen-usage.png Extensions require a restart to be installed, perhaps, but that doesn't seem to be a big issue: you only install any given extension once. If you want to install a bunch at the same time, you only need to restart once.

Which extension are you using? I use Mate and found a Gnome extension that was known to be unreliable and indeed did not work...

I agree the restart is a minor issue, as is the menu bar showing by default, as is the bookmarks bar being always/never there (rather than the more sensible Chrome behavior), as is the interruption of my workflow when Firefox decides to check for updates when I start it, as is the relative laggy UI, ... But these issues add up to a worse experience. Worse by enough that despite wanting to avoid Chrome, I came back to it :(

Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#163

Post by tikhonj »

Peaker wrote: post #162
tikhonj wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox's screen usage is easy to configure. Compare[1] my KDE-themed Firefox and Chrome, for example. [1]: http://jelv.is/browser-screen-usage.png Extensions require a restart to be installed, perhaps, but that doesn't seem to be a big issue: you only install any given extension once. If you want to install a bunch at the same time, you only need to restart once.

Which extension are you using? I use Mate and found a Gnome extension that was known to be unreliable and indeed did not work... I agree the restart is a minor issue, as is the menu bar showing by default, as is the bookmarks bar being always/never there (rather than the more sensible Chrome behavior), as is the interruption of my workflow when Firefox decides to check for updates when I start it, as is the relative…

Oxygen KDE[1]. Admittedly, it's not ideal and sometimes lags behind Firefox version changes, but I've been pretty happy with it.

[1]: http://oxygenkde.altervista.org/

There are also some Firefox-specific extensions I can't live without any more, the main one being KeySnail[2] which gives me Emacs-style keyboard shortcuts.

[2]: https://github.com/mooz/keysnail

Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#164

Post by celeryreally »

velodrome wrote: post #159
vectorjohn wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been a myth floating around since the early days of Chrome. I am and have for a long time been a big fan of Chrome, but it has never been light weight. It's just fast so people think of it that way. But you've always been able to check on the memory usage of tabs and see it just eating up your memory.

I agree. Chrome has NEVER been lightweight in terms of memory. Each tab is in its own sandbox environment. It will need to load resources separately for each sandbox and that chews up memory. Chrome may be inefficient with memory but I could manage this by closing the tab. Firefox would retain the memory even after the tab has been closed for some time. Firefox is a lot better these days.

That seem's to be the desirable outcome, if the trade-off for perceived speed is a larger memory footprint. Users directly feel the speed, but are less likely to be affected by a larger memory footprint.

Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#165

Post by caipre »

Peaker wrote: post #149
wodenokoto wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bookmarks bar is hidden by default. Don't complain about your own customization. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/fx/?utm_source=firefox...

Correct, however: 1) Chrome's behavior where you get bookmarks bar in new tabs is far more useful. 2) Even without the bookmarks' bar, I have 4 bars (window decorations, menu bar, tab bar, URL bar), whereas Chrome has 2 (tab bar + window decorations, URL bar). Screen-space is still wasted compared to Chrome, and you don't get bookmarks in new tabs.

Have you used Firefox's pinned tabs[1]?

I have just two bars[2] for either browser, enough real-estate for me (wish I had a high resolution though).

[1]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pinned-tabs-keep-favori... [2]: http://i4.minus.com/i4lX5yMWuwoGi.png

Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#166

Post by cpeterso »

Derbasti wrote: post #38
reidmain wrote: post #25

Is it time to switch back to Firefox from Chrome? I remember when I originally switched around Firefox 3.5.x Chrome was much leaner and faster. Has the pendulum finally swung back the other way?

For me, it is time. I switched back about a year ago, when Firefox started to not be painful any more, but still was a step back from Chrome. Some tabs would still cause stuttering in the whole app and sometimes scrolling was less than smooth. These days however, I have not noticed any of these things for months in Firefox. Really I can't recommend it enough!

> For me, it is time. I switched back about a year ago, when Firefox started to not be painful any more, but still was a step back from Chrome.

What was the tipping point that prompted you to switch back to Firefox? Was Firefox able to import your Chrome history and bookmarks without losing anything?

Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#167

Post by abrowne »

tikhonj wrote: post #161
abrowne wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are those window controls (close, etc) drawn by kwin or firefox/extension?

They're drawn by the extension. That said, it's almost impossible to tell.

Oh, looks fine to me. I use HTitle[1] on Gnome, but that only hides the titlebar in fullscreen...

[1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/htitle/

Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#168

Post by cpeterso »

warcode wrote: post #53

I returned to Firefox (Aurora) a couple of months ago, but i am currently starting to inch towards chrome again. While reduced memory usage is good, it doesn't help when has major problems handling multiple open tabs with flash player, has problems with javascript-heavy pages, and the firefox profiles STILL degrade in performance over time. I really don't want to remake my FF profiles every 2 weeks just to avoid perf…

What Firefox add-ons are you using? You shouldn't need to rebuild your profile every two weeks. How much does rebuilding your profile improve performance?

Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#169

Post by abrowne »

Peaker wrote: post #144
viraptor wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> bookmarks always visible, View -> toolbars -> bookmarks toolbar (uncheck) > menu-bar takes up another bar of space by default View -> toolbars -> menu bar (uncheck)

But that means my bookmarks disappear completely, whereas in Chrome they are displayed in new tabs, which is far more useful behavior.

You can also move the bookmarks toolbar items to the address bar.

Re: Firefox fixes save gigabytes of memory on image-heavy pages

#170

Post by [deleted] »

viraptor wrote: post #70
Peaker wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last I tried Firefox, pretty recently, it still needed to address some serious issues, when compared to Chrome: * Unresponsiveness due to one tab thrashing * Bad use of screen-space (bookmarks always visible, cannot disappear titlebar like in Chrome [there's only a Windows extension for that], menu-bar takes up another bar of space by default) * Launching firefox has stop-the-world behavior to check/update extensions…

> bookmarks always visible, View -> toolbars -> bookmarks toolbar (uncheck) > menu-bar takes up another bar of space by default View -> toolbars -> menu bar (uncheck)

[deleted]
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