RSSHas the Firefox memory leak returned?
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published January 19, 2009, 4:38 PM
In the past few weeks, I've seen evidence that the memory leak that has plagued Firefox in previous versions, appears to have returned. But it's returned only in localized conditions, which leads me to believe that not the browser, but a browser plug-in may be to blame.
Unfortunately, the one I'm suspecting right now is the latest Tab Mix Plus version 0.3.7.3, which we reviewed glowingly last October when it was first re-released for Firefox 3. On browsers where this add-on has not been installed, even when we open a slew of pages (and I am a heavy page consumer), I don't see evidence of the same leak. I'll keep you apprised as to what I find in later tests.
I don't know the cause. I do have a lot of add-ons installed. The memory leak is a problem. Worse for me is CPU time. At Firefox launch my CPU usage also goes off a cliff. It almost makes IE 7 attractive. ALMOST.
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|"Unfortunately, the one I'm suspecting right now is the latest Tab Mix Plus version 0.3.7.3"
Um....disable TMP and see if the situation improves???
God gawd, Scott.... Would take *you*... the "investigative reporter" all of what? An hour or two to test fully?
"I'll keep you apprised as to what I find in later tests."
Oh. Thanks. That explains it. Knee-jerk first, ask questions later. Got ya. You're using BN as your personal blog now.
How's about we ask questions and find answers first...then post our findings, Mmmkay???
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|Thats allot of memory use if it is this add on. Its the price you pay, we all love the many add on's out there, but they drain the memory down. If i have the time, maybe ill install a fresh copy of FF. and check each add on i have one at a time to see which ones are the big memory hogs.
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|I like FF but the add-ons can be a problem since a lot of them are unsigned and Mozilla won't vouch for their safety. Having said that, I think the writer would have been better off doing some testing before posting this slam since it is clear he doesn't really know what is going on.
Everyone have a nice day:)
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|Just not seeing that here.
If you believe that the memory issue is TMP related perhaps you should install the beta version of TMP available from the developers web site. That development version would be v0.3.7.4pre.090107.
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|I only use firefox and yes.. its very leak heavy.... but even with the leak.. MUCH faster then explorer.
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|So basically you're smearing Firefox and TMP with half baked evidence? That's real responsible journalism.
Yeah go ahead and rate my comment down. You know I'm speaking the truth though.
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|Well I have open 2 windows along with 10 tabs open and is consuming about 100MB. I not much worried as I have 1GB RAM. But I have seen problem few days back at my home where it consume around 300+MB with multiple windows open where I do suspect that the problem either with Firefox or the system is infected with a virus.
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|I wish they'd bring in a task manager like Chrome has, whenever I have a problem it's "uninstall all your extensions then re-add them one by one" - life's too short for that!
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|I have 2 tabs open, no add-ons, no themes = 122 MB right now. Too much for a browser.
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|No themes? How do you use Fx? lol
Lets see here: 4 themes installed, 63 extensions, 12 tabs opened = 85mb in use.
Not bad and memory is there for a reason. To be used.
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|Mine is @ 164MB and this is the ONLY Window / Tab I have open.
Granted, I got some add-ons and stuff, but this is not right. I noticed this a couple weeks ago too, but never put much thought into it.
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|Returned?
Its never completely left! ;-)
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|76M here. adblock +, noscript, 2-8 pages opened constantly. plugins/themes are the risk you take with this browser.
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