According to the official Mozilla announcement, engineers have now also incorporated techniques to handle memory leaks in the ubiquitous Firefox add-ons:
…and our newest Firefox release contains one of the biggest improvements yet. We’ve gone beyond optimizations of Firefox code itself, and have now plugged the main cause of memory leaks in Firefox add-ons, as well.
The most common cause of these leaks is when an add-on accidentally holds on to extra copies of a web site in memory after our user has closed the tab. These pages pile up, and can eat massive amounts of memory for no user benefit. They leak.
In the newest Firefox release, we developed a mechanism to prevent this form of leak from happening in the first place. Firefox will now detect this pattern, recapture the leaked memory, and free it up. This means that Firefox stays responsive and stable even if an add-on is making this mistake.
Firefox 15 also adds built-in PDF support, although strangely there is no mention of this feature in the menus and users need to visit about:config and edit a setting in order to switch it on: set pdfjs.disabled to false.
View all Firefox 15 (desktop) changes in the Release Notes.
If you are on the Release update channel you should have received an automatic update over the past couple of days – go to Help>About Firefox. Or download Firefox 15 direct from Mozilla.
Firefox 15 for Android:
There is even better news for Firefox users in Android; the short version is that Firefox 15 for Android now very closely approximates many of the core features found in the desktop version.
- A full rundown on new features and enhancements is available on the Mozilla Blog.
- View all Firefox 15 (Android) changes in the Release Notes
Jim-Many thanks for the heads up on the PDF support.I was unaware of it though I updated a few days back.
So,maybe I can disable MemoryFox ? D:
Hi Chuck – I would certainly try Firefox 15 with MemoryFox disabled and see how it goes. The fewer add-ons the better FF is likely to perform and if MemoryFox is indeed now redundant that will be one less.
Cheers… Jim
I HAVE A PROBLEM……….AOL KEEPS DROPPING ME, AND USUALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF A LETTER OR RESPONSE. THIS OCCURS ABOUT 15-20 TIMES A DAY, AND I NEVER-EVER KNOW WHEN. THE SCREEN GOES GREY, AND I KNOW THERE IS A MESSAGE IN THE MIDDLE TELLING ME I JUST WASTED A FEW MINUTES TYPING A LONG LETTER. I AM FRUSTRATED. WAS TOLD THIS WAS BECAUSE OF THE NEW FF, AND THEY WOULD CORRECT IT SOON. BEEN SEVERAL WEEKS…….I HAVE WIINDSTREAM, AND BOUGHT THE MAINTAINENCE PKG. WHEN I ASKED THEM, THEY TOLD ME TO DROP AOL & FF……I HAVE HAD FF FOR A LONG TIME, AND NEVER FOUND IT TO BE ANY PROBLEM. I AM SENIOR CITIZEN, AND USE THIS MAINLY FOR E-MAILS AND INFO RESOURCING….TY
ROB
Hi Rob – Firstly, I should point out to you that it is considered bad manners to use caps when communicating online… using caps is generally translated as anger, or shouting. 🙂
Are you utilizing some kind of online word processor or document service to write your letters? Just wondering why you would need your browser to write long letters?
Cheers… Jim
Jim,
I believe he’s using AOL email, which is web based.
@Rob,
My suggestion would be right along the lines of your ISP, Windstream, which is move to another email provider – AOL is really antiquated. Migrate to Gmail or Outlook.com.
I was part of a computer club called “AMUG” here in Lafayette, LA. My first was a commodore 64 too. Having said that, my reason for writing is just to say thanks for all you do for all of us. Very much appreciated!
Bill Jacobs
Hi Bill – I’ve still got a working Commodore 64 and Amiga at home, been a looong while since they have been fired up though. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words mate, always appreciated.
Cheers… Jim