Firefox use of resources on Windows; Linux and Mac
Firefox uses way too much resources on windows. This includes memory and cpu. I have done extensive research online. This is not an issue of extensions or profile. It seems to be a matter of javascript. If you turn it off then things get better but too many sites rely on javascript.
What is needed is a fix not work arounds. Firefox needs to put a leash on javascript resource usage. It should run but only in the tab that is currently open and with easily adjustable limits. I don't want my machine to be handed over to some web site to run whatever they want on it. However I do want to be able to access legitimate features that require javascript. There are many sites who do not seem to respect the difference. Therefore it fall on the browser to decide it for them. Maybe we need a sort of built in noscript.
All Replies (7)
for one thing you have a very old version of Firefox, 26. Try with the most recent version of Firefox 29.0.1. Or better yet, to get the latest and greatest, try a pre-release build, some of which have better garbage collection that will be released in Firefox soon. If you have an actual reproducible bug (That happens every time in a fresh profile and can be narrowed down to a specific cause) then this thread is in the wrong place and you should file a bug report at bugzilla.mozilla.org
If you don't have a 100% reproducible case in a fresh profile with all updates (including windows updates, graphics driver updates, plugins updates, Firefox updates, malware scans, etc.) then you should do that and thats where this site can step in to help.
The browser I am using now is irrelevant and you should not assume that is the one I am referring to. I am talking about several different versions of Firefox running on at least 5 different machines all exhibiting the same general class of problems. The issue is not a "bug" it is a matter of general design. The problem occurs on a vast range of Firefox versions; operating systems and hardware including these below which I personally have.
Mac OS X; Centos 6.2; Centos 6.5; Windows 7; Windows XP
Blaming a problem on malware or graphic drivers is not helpful. The software should be robust enough not to allow anything to overuse resources period. I have been in this business for over 25 years and know that well written software do not exhibit this kind of behavior. I suppose I could go in and fix it myself if need be but I was hoping the developer community would be receptive to this issue.
I am not the only one seeing it. Everyone knows this is a problem and for some reason not being fixed.
Unless you have a 100% reproducible test case that meets the following criteria, engineers can't fix it (Engineers need to know where to look before they can fix a problem)
- Latest version of Firefox (the latest nightly build is best)
- Most updated OS
- Updated graphics drivers
- A system free of malware
- Update plugins (your plugins are horrible out of date FYI)
- A fresh profile
- A testcase and steps to reproduce so that anyone at any time can make the exact same issue happen on any similar machine
All of these things can negatively affect resource usage, and unless you have these, there is no actionable bug to be fixed. Once you have all these, file a bug with clear Steps to reproduce.
If you are developer you know that just someone coming and saying "Your program sucks and uses all the things!" isn't a useful bug report (unless your program is literally 200 lines of code). For something as large and complex as Firefox, we need to know where to look in order to fix something. Is it a bug that happens when a specific Javascript function is called? Then that's in one area of the code. Is it a bug when an image of X size is in a webpage? That's in another area of the code. All of this information is vital and if you really are as experienced of a software developer as you say you are you would understand that, and if you really do want to help you should have no problem providing this information.
I realize what you are saying but I already gave the basic problem and a suggested solution.
Problem: The browser is not putting limits on resource usage. It allows scripts and plug-ins to overtax the system. Solution: Add knobs and defaults that limit resource usage. Let the user easily put limits on each tab and implement the equivalent of UNIX "nice" on tabs.
For test all you have to do is the following: 1) Open 2 windows with 6 tabs each. 2) Point them to huffingtonpost or a similar site which is heavy on scripts. Then click on any article.
There you go. We have had discussions on it on various mozilla forums. If it is of any help it also hangs other browsers but that is hardly any solace.
I want Firefox to succeed. I don't want to move to another browser because I trust the Firefox model. So lets work together and fix this instead of letting it drive people away. I will help debug and fix this thing if you want to work with me.
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Again, you aren't giving clear STR (in fact in many benchmarks Firefox 29 uses less resources than previous versions and other browsers), so I can't help you Your solution is equally vague.
Once you decide if you want to be helpful or not, please go ahead and come back. Until then, goodbye.
OK this is not going anywhere so thanks for the responses but next time I will not be coming to this forum.
Locking this thread.
For future users, if you want to file a bug on Firefox slowness, please use the steps above to make sure it's high quality. Thanks!