Perhaps the biggest problem with Firefox although I think Rafael would not say the same thing or just that his high CPU usage when compared to that of his main competitors, both on Mac OS X and Windows. This is officially recognized by Mozilla and, according to the CNET News, tends to cause more and more problems as the hardware in question is more limited, something easy to see on MacBooks Air (and even on white ones, I would say) and Macs mini.
This high CPU consumption factor tends to vary from user to user, however, as Mozilla clarifies in a support article, easily noticeable by everyone during page loading and processing. A common user usually has 6 to 12 of them open regardless of whether they are in tabs or windows, something that, in the case of Firefox, serves to generate possible problems during the day, notable for the slowness of the interface or the heat generated by the machine, consequently cold. by the fans.
When compared to Safari, the Mozilla browser can consume 4 to 15 times more CPU and, at a time when ultralight machines or with little computing power are successful, using it for daily navigation can become increasingly difficult. There are several areas in which it can be heavier than other competitors, including plugins (such as Flash Player, which is much lighter on Safari), JavaScript (easy to notice by spending a few minutes on Google Wave) and extensions in general, which they are usually built with little concern for performance and stability.
Version 3.6 of Firefox, under development by Mozilla, tries to compensate for this high CPU consumption by making the user's interaction with its functions faster and also changing aspects of the behavior of plugins and extensions. However, one of the functions that the company most discloses in its browser, is the case of native support for Open Video, the most propensity to increase the CPU usage and the temperature of the machines, and little can be done in this area when it does not exist. native hardware acceleration for this video format.
As I said, noticing CPU problems with Firefox varies a lot between users: not everyone finds it bad, but not everyone can use it in a good way. The little Mozilla can do in this area to give you tips to help us reduce resource consumption while surfing the internet. Those who constantly experience these problems on the Mac may feel advised to look for a lighter browser, such as Safari.
