Google's Chrome to block Flash this year - except for 10 top websites

www.zdnet.com ^ | May 16, 2016 | By Liam Tung

[kiryandil]

I use Firefox as primary browser and chrome for my #2. Firefox is less of a memory hog when you have say 25 tabs open across 4 browser windows. I have scrutinized Chrome and Firefox memory usage in Windows Task Manager and Firefox uses less memory.

Right. HOWEVER!!!

There is a thing [or two]...

#1 - I don't like the newer versions of Firefox, because they keep updating (or threatening to update) while I'm trying to get other things done.

Enter Chrome. #1 - Chrome://discards. You can "discard" tabs from RAM. The tab stays open, discarding just frees up the RAM.

#2 - shift-Esc: this invokes the Task Manager, but ONLY shows Chrome tab RAM usage.

You can manage your Chrome RAM usage using these two nifty tools. Firefox - not so much... :)

disclaimer - I'm still p*ssed at Firefox for discombobulating a tab management scheme I used all the time. That, coupled with their RAM usage [versus having better control of Chrome RAM usage], has cured me of Firefox dependence.

[dennisw]

I am sorry Firefox screwed you! :(
That chrome://discards/ info is super helful. I just tested it out. This will get me using chrome more often. USEFUL! THANKS!!

As far as discarding Firefox accumulated hogged memory... You probably know this. I go to task manager>>
>>>> under processes tab
>>>> right click firefox to shut it down

>>>>>then since I have session manager installed
>>>> when I restart firefox
>>>> it is stripped clean of snowballed memory hogging
>>>>> and I can accurately restart all the tabs I had opened
>>>>> but usually get rid of many tabs...that webpage info is no longer needed—TODAY at least

[kiryandil]

The way you use the Chrome-only Task Manager option [shift-esc] is to find out which tabs are sucking RAM, then discard them.

You'll find that some of the discarded tabs start "leaking" RAM.

I click on the guilty part(ies), then discard them again.

Mostly, I use [shift-esc] to monitor the worst RAM-hogging tabs.

[kiryandil]

it is stripped clean of snowballed memory hogging

I got screwed doing this a couple of times. Hence the Firefox frowny face on my part.

[dennisw]

The quick n dirty trick I used with chrome was to look at chrome memory usage via windows task manger. Then to shut down the Chrome tab using an inordinate amount of memory, usually due to flash!!!. I often saw the top chrome memory hog tab using twice as much memory as second highest one.