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Google Improving Chrome for OS X Performance to Better Rival Safari
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WOW!!! What are you even talking about? Chrome has always had these issues on Mac, even when they were using webkit.
The Safari optimisations have *NOTHING* to do with the rendering engine and everything to do with it being heavily optimised for only one platform and the fact that the developers of Safari work for the same company which makes the OS it runs on.
http://www.omgchrome.com/chrome-discards-your-least-interesting-tabs-to-free-memory/
So this is one way they're working on resource usage.
So this is one way they're working on resource usage.
Every five or ten years, all vendors should throw out large chunks of their browsers and do massive rewrites in my opinion. Nobody does that, though.
This is significant because? A little context goes a long way for those of us who are not psychically inclined.
Perhaps you could ask google? they have been punching out updates for several days now, have you noticed?
I actually don't run Chrome because of the power it uses (but i'd like to use it), so no, I didn't notice any updates. Good job buddy, keep up that helpful attitude!
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I still use chrome for the dev tools, and IMO it was better browser until last year (despite increased memory usage), but it's gotten much worse over the last year. On OS X, Chrome will decrease battery life by an hour according to this article. The game changer happened when webkit implemented a four tier JIT in safari's architecture (blog post reference). It was a big deal when they announced it - and it gives safari an advantage no other browser can compete with (especially if the optimizations rely leverage mac hardware). Apple really focuses on integration of software / hardware, and has done so for a long time. Windows / Google are primarily software companies that dabble with hardware - and even though android / windows are lagging behind Apple when it comes to the full optimized experience (eg. windows VM's run faster on my mac than an actual pc laptop). - but they're catching up.
Backstory:
Windows originally copied ideas from macintosh - became the first 'software company' - and built a more intuitive OS during the first wave of PC's / internet. After Apple copied ideas from Windows and the two OS's became similar - Apple immediately took control of the market because they always integrated with hardware and focused on individual customers - at a time when windows got legacied into corporate environments, relied on 3rd party hardware, and lost their flexiblity. Windows 10 is first OS that's actually an improvement to Windows 95 (IMO) with potential to become a much greater OS - and the windows tablets are pretty legit (better than an iPad) - so there's competition brewing - and maybe 4-6 years from now microsoft or google will invest in the hardware / software integration more than they already have (or maybe they are just doing a really bad job at it)
Anyways - at the current moment, one could argue that Safari is the most advanced / optimized browser for an operating system - BUTTT they are not cooperating with the open source community and that's bad. Safari is the now the new IE
Side note: Firefox is okay because it's just a browser built to be a browser - Chrome / Safari have competition - Edge / IE isn't actually competing yet but maybe it will in the next year or two.
Edit: - I hope Chrome puts more effort into the OS X optimization but they'll need to add that fourth layer JIT to actually compete with Safari (which isn't necessarily OS X specific).
Double Edit: Decreasing memory consumption for unused tabs (which is what they're doing) is a good decision to make and Chrome might be able to fix the CPU overheating issue that's draining the battery - which will mitigate the power consumption - but they aren't addressing the fourth JIT layer yet (well they probably are in secret lol) I'd give it 1-2 years before chrome will be as optimized as safari. Until safari 9 beta came out I didn't even use safari (I like Chrome and safari just doesn't have the extension ecosystem and utility of chrome)
Backstory:
Windows originally copied ideas from macintosh - became the first 'software company' - and built a more intuitive OS during the first wave of PC's / internet. After Apple copied ideas from Windows and the two OS's became similar - Apple immediately took control of the market because they always integrated with hardware and focused on individual customers - at a time when windows got legacied into corporate environments, relied on 3rd party hardware, and lost their flexiblity. Windows 10 is first OS that's actually an improvement to Windows 95 (IMO) with potential to become a much greater OS - and the windows tablets are pretty legit (better than an iPad) - so there's competition brewing - and maybe 4-6 years from now microsoft or google will invest in the hardware / software integration more than they already have (or maybe they are just doing a really bad job at it)
Anyways - at the current moment, one could argue that Safari is the most advanced / optimized browser for an operating system - BUTTT they are not cooperating with the open source community and that's bad. Safari is the now the new IE
Side note: Firefox is okay because it's just a browser built to be a browser - Chrome / Safari have competition - Edge / IE isn't actually competing yet but maybe it will in the next year or two.
Edit: - I hope Chrome puts more effort into the OS X optimization but they'll need to add that fourth layer JIT to actually compete with Safari (which isn't necessarily OS X specific).
Double Edit: Decreasing memory consumption for unused tabs (which is what they're doing) is a good decision to make and Chrome might be able to fix the CPU overheating issue that's draining the battery - which will mitigate the power consumption - but they aren't addressing the fourth JIT layer yet (well they probably are in secret lol) I'd give it 1-2 years before chrome will be as optimized as safari. Until safari 9 beta came out I didn't even use safari (I like Chrome and safari just doesn't have the extension ecosystem and utility of chrome)
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This is pretty much non-sensical, inaccurate rubbish. It demonstrates that you have little understanding of the timeline in the evolution of the PC nor of OS technology. If you'd like i can go through this sentence by sentence to show you
Safari is not the new IE. Apple is working with the OS community, just not as vocally as some would like. I know the article you're likely getting your information from, and it is just wrong.
That's probably true, but what's also true is that Internet Explorer on Windows - (maybe by chance) exposed more humans to computers for the first time in their life, than there are people involved in the history of computer science - it's why Bill Gates was the richest person in the world. I guess the point I was trying to make is that the roles have reversed, Apple is the 'industry leader' in OS and laptop design. When IE was at it's peak, when the 'internet standards' were initially being formed, they decided to 'go rogue' on a few implementations of IE - they didn't feel like the standards were that important - slacked off on a few - and they certainly didn't anticipate the current state of the web at all. A browser is just a means to an end, and when you can't get to that end, people will stop using that browser. Five years ago, 90% of people surfing the web used IE - now they only have a 1/3 of the internet, and if people weren't legacied into using IE that number would be closer to 15%.
Yes I'm quoting a ****** article about their lack of attendance at a conference - but there are actually quite a few powerful - open source standards that Apple is just.. ignoring. All you need to do is read the current API of Javascript on mozilla's wiki - and look at the bottom for compatibility. They're kinda slow to implement standards, and they've out-right refused a few standards that even 'Edge' supports, making Safari the 'lone island' with web community at the moment. I think they have an IE complex because of iOS, and they want to be unique. But that's going to bite them in the ass if (or when) an ecosystem of web applications based on that technology that they've chosen not to implement goes viral..
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There is a huge difference between ignoring and not implementing because of either performance or philosophical issues.
Unfortunately what Microsoft did with regards to internet standards in the 90's was way more malicious and destructive than incompetence, apathy or sloppiness. It was a systematic attempt to subjugate the web standards by illegally exploiting their OS monopoly. It became known as "Embrace, Extend and Extinguish".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish
Sorry I was ranting a little bit Here's the stats comparing browser implementations of JS: caniuse
Edge: 66%
Firefox: 82%
Chrome: 88%
Safari: 55%
iOS Safari: 51%
Chrome Android: 80%
I know there have been a lot of changes in JS recently.. but to be more specific about webkit -
1) Web storage - websql was rejected by the W3C in 2010, and webkit broke indexdb when it was implemented it 2014.
2) WebRTC - my personal fav, isn't implemented, but it can be used as an iOS app or extension in safari.
3) Webworker stuff
I know there's some logistical issues... but there's lots of politics involved. Chrome left webkit - android became popular - and google open sourced and pushed these projects on the community - so I think Apple/Webkit are being a little resistant...
edit: On a site note I'm actually glad iOS safari never implemented flash - that project needs to die.
Here's the stats comparing browser implementations of JS: caniuseEdge: 66%
Firefox: 82%
Chrome: 88%
Safari: 55%
iOS Safari: 51%
Chrome Android: 80%
I know there have been a lot of changes in JS recently.. but to be more specific about webkit -
1) Web storage - websql was rejected by the W3C in 2010, and webkit broke indexdb when it was implemented it 2014.
2) WebRTC - my personal fav, isn't implemented, but it can be used as an iOS app or extension in safari.
3) Webworker stuff
I know there's some logistical issues... but there's lots of politics involved. Chrome left webkit - android became popular - and google open sourced and pushed these projects on the community - so I think Apple/Webkit are being a little resistant...
edit: On a site note I'm actually glad iOS safari never implemented flash - that project needs to die.
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Chrome is also a good browser but would take time depending on the device you are using and your internet connection. If this rumor is true then it is possible that Chrome could be use with ease on the Mac device which is a good thing to hear for those who dedicated their lives with Chrome.
For the most part, I've only had a few problems using chrome on mac devices that weren't detrimental unless I had lots of tabs open and many apps running. There are already extensions which exist that help mitigate most of the memory issues associated with chrome. However, I noticed they download background services and default apps without really giving users consent or an easy ability to turn them off or on, and their new 'global login feature' has began to feel more and more like an invasion of privacy than convince.
But the worst thing chrome does IMO is create an Applications folder in the local User Directory. Seriously, that confused / bother me quite a lot.. (and potentially broke 6 months of my Applications folder in time machine).
But the iOS chrome app isn't that bad, I use it 50% of the time
Firefox was for me a lot worse a few years back, way way way worse. Right now I'm running the dev edition and its still much better than those few years back versions (that's when Chrome ate a lot of Firefox's share). The worse thing about firefox, is running flash on some sites, flash is just crap and craps anything it touches ;-).
I bumped into this thread while bemoaning the performance of my work Mac (a 2010 iMac, 12 gigs of ram). I'm going to be trying Safari for a while to see if it helps things at all.
Here's the thing: Google owns my life. I've been using Chrome as my mainstay browser the past 5 years at work. It does so many things, but as we know, it also consumes a lot of your computer's processing power and RAM. Safari seems a lot snappier, but I really wish it could do some of the things Chrome and other browsers do:
How's Opera these days?
Here's the thing: Google owns my life. I've been using Chrome as my mainstay browser the past 5 years at work. It does so many things, but as we know, it also consumes a lot of your computer's processing power and RAM. Safari seems a lot snappier, but I really wish it could do some of the things Chrome and other browsers do:
- Pinned tabs
- "Personalities" (I can open up a window with my work stuff, and another with my home stuff for gCalendar, Pandora, personal LastPass, etc...hell, I have other accounts linked up for Google Analytics)
- Remember tabs across devices (i.e., I can get to my Chrome tabs from my Mac, Windows PC, Android phone, or iPad)
- More extensions
How's Opera these days?