Why Are Mac Browsers So Bad w/Animation?

[HiRez]

Almost any page I open in Safari that has any kind of movement (Flash, animated GIF ads, etc.) will invariably wind up the fans on my dual G5 to jet engine levels, using anywhere from 15%-50% of the CPU cycles. WTF? This happens in Safari, and is usually even worse in Firefox. No way I'm buying that a simple, small, animated GIF that's changing perhaps 2-10 times per second should require that kind of CPU. This seems like some kind of fundamental OS/API bug (perhaps in Quartz, WebKit, or khtml?) that's been that way as long as I can remember in OS X. I always thought it was an early problem that would improve in time, but it never seems to. The longer Safari stays open, the more severe the problem seems to get, as well (and it tends to get more sluggish). I often have to quit Safari and relaunch it to calm it back down.

 

[California]

I empty the Safari cache like twenty times a day.

 

[x86isslow]

Hm, you mention Mac browsers, but from the sounds of it, you've only really used Safari and Firefox.

Mozilla Camino might just be what the doctor ordered.

 

[frankblundt]

It sounds to me like a deeper issue than the browser - i've run Safari (and all manner of other things) on a B&W350 an iMac 400 and a 1.25 mini, for days on end, with no slowdown or other issues. (the B&W always sounds like a jet engine )
If you download the flash files do you have the same issue with the Flash Player?

 

[tjwett]

can't say why for animated GIFs but as far as Flash goes; it's not the browser, it's the Flash plugin. it, like all Macromedia software, is a crappy port of the Windows version. it has never been decent on the Mac, probably never will be.

 

[radiantm3]

can't say why for animated GIFs but as far as Flash goes; it's not the browser, it's the Flash plugin. it, like all Macromedia software, is a crappy port of the Windows version. it has never been decent on the Mac, probably never will be.

Lets hope things get better on the mac with adobe.

 

[decksnap]

Flash playback on the Mac has always been second-class. One of my biggest peeves for a long time now.