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Comment Re:Will it also automatically not blow up extensio (Score 2) 393

Extension compatibility hasn't been a problem since Firefox 10; the max version is now automatically bumped. Furthermore, Firefox 4, 5, and 6 were kind of sucky releases, esp. in terms of memory consumption. Firefox 15 is a much better browser. UI changes since 5 have been minimal. It's also not full of security holes the way older versions now are. You should try it.

Comment Re:Old story, or something new? (Score 1) 393

Try it. Check out the user feedback near the bottom of https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.mozilla.org%2Fnnethercote%2F2012%2F07%2F19%2Ffirefox-15-plugs-the-add-on-leaks%2F -- people have experienced greatly reduced memory consumption, faster painting and scrolling, and fewer pauses.

Comment Re:Problem of perception? (Score 1) 375

by Nick Nethercote (#36408720) Attached to: Mozilla MemShrink Set To Fix Firefox Memory
The real problem is page faults. People don't notice how much memory a program uses until/unless it starts causing page faults. Some other observations and responses to this thread.

  • One reason that browsers are using more memory over time is that browers are way more capable than they used to be. HTML5, web apps and all that.

  • People say "I have N tabs open, Firefox is using M MB of memory". Often followed by "that seems outrageous" or "that seems reasonable". Without saying what those tabs have in them, it's pretty much useless.

  • Firefox's memory usage has varied over the years. FF2 was terrible, and contributed heavily to the bad reputation. FF3, FF3.5 and FF3.6 were much better. FF4 is worse than FF3.6; FF5 will be better (it already is). Subsequent Firefoxes will hopefully be better again.

Comment Re:All browsers are consuming more memory. (Score 0) 375

by Nick Nethercote (#36408298) Attached to: Mozilla MemShrink Set To Fix Firefox Memory

Is this per-tab or global?

It's global memory usage at the moment. I'm working on https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbugzilla.mozilla.org%2Fshow_bug.cgi%3Fid%3D661474 which will give JS memory usage per "compartment", which roughly means "per domain". So if a page at foo.com has a Twitter feed and some Google Analytics stuff, there'll be three compartments, one for foo.com, one for twitter.com, and one for google-analytics.com. It's not quite per-tab, but in that direction. about:memory is evolving, keep an eye on it.

GnuCash 2.0.0 Released 282

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the as-long-as-they-have-support-for-very-small-balances dept.
tashanna writes "After a very welcome GTK2 conversion and some additional feature hacking, GnuCash has released version 2.0.0. Other notable changes include: 'OFX DirectConnect which can directly retrieve and import account statements over the Internet, a "Hide account" feature to keep a better overview of your current accounts tabbed window functionality, the ability to create budgets within GnuCash using your account data, support for Accounting Periods, the data file format has been improved with respect to international characters data files with international characters can be transferred to other countries flawlessly, GnuCash Help and Guide are now fully integrated with the GNOME Help system (Yelp).'"

Microsoft to Turn to Driver Quality Ratings System 333

Posted by samzenpus from the four-stars dept.
QT writes "Ars Technica is reporting that Microsoft is finally trying to do something about PC driver problems. A new crash-report-driven Driver Quality Rating system will be used in Windows Vista to rate drivers. Drivers that rate poorly in real world use by users will lose their logo certification status, which would be bad news for OEMs and the device manufacturers themselves. Maybe now submitting crash reports will feel more useful? This is long overdue."

An Overview of Virtualization Technology 147

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the how-to-play-with-your-toys dept.
Jane Walker writes to tell us that TechTarget has a short writeup on virtualization and some of the ins and outs of using this technology effectively. From the article: "Virtualization is a hot topic in the enterprise space these days. It's being touted as the solution to every problem from server proliferation to CPU underutilization to application isolation. While the technology does indeed have many benefits, it's not without drawbacks."

Pork Barrel Tech Projects On The Rise 217

Posted by Zonk from the better-than-a-bridge-i-guess dept.
An anonymous reader writes "News.com has a large article up exploring the increase in 'pork barrel'-style technology projects floating through government spending bills. The water-free urinals discussed on Slashdot last year are one such project, as is a 'Virtual Reality Spray Paint Simulator'." From the article: "Earmarks for favored recipients--known colloquially as pork--have become easier than ever for politicians to secure because of the rapid growth in homeland security and military spending, especially if they can find some plausible technological veneer. Exact figures are difficult to obtain, mostly because spending bills tend to be intentionally obfuscated and specifics are usually absent from legislative text. Government watchdogs, however, say earmarks ostensibly related to technology are clearly on the rise."

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