Firefox 7 promises better memory management

Barely had it released the sixth stable version of its Firefox web browser to the public when Mozilla is now working on a beta of its Firefox 7. The latest beta of the open-source browser promises major improvements including better memory management and faster startup time, Mozilla said. Mozilla expects a 30-percent gain in memory management through its MemShrink effort, which makes Firefox 7 use up to 50 percent less than Firefox 4 to 6. "This means that Firefox 7 is faster (sometimes drastically so) and less likely to crash, particularly if you have many websites open at once and/or keep Firefox running for a long time between restarts," said Mozilla's Australian programmer Nicholas Nethercote. Firefox 7's "Firefox Sync" feature now syncs bookmarks and password changes "almost instantly," Mozilla said in its release notes. Support has also been added for the Web Timing specification. Another new feature is an opt-in "telemetry" system for users to send performance data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Firefox. A separate article on CNET reported these are the first major performance changes for Firefox after a summer of complaints from a "vocal minority" about severe memory leaks and crashes (http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-20094353-12/major-performance-changes-mark-firefox-7-beta/). It added that if Mozilla sticks to the current release schedule, Firefox 7 will reach the stable channel and the majority of Firefox users on September 27. — TJD, GMA News