Comments on: 40-60% of startups are warm?

By: Colt45ws

Colt45ws — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 22:41:23 +0000

My Windows box has been running for 65 days straight at this point, so Fx has several reboots. Probably at least once a week for various reasons including Flash update, AddOn update, Fx update, Excessive memory usage and so on.

By: Jean

Jean — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 10:56:33 +0000

Just a comment to vote :
+ 1 for preload on linux, nightly updates and addons
+ Sadly (even if GC perf increased really fast those past months) +1 for hangs after hours of use (especially when firebug is/has been enabled).

I would add :
+ addons tests (not updates).
+ When addons mess up my config (restart in safe mode).
+ crashes of nightly (quite rare those times).

+ Ctrl+q instead of Ctrl+s :$

An opinion poll to vote would be nice after so much differents answers.

By: Caspy7

Caspy7 — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 02:44:36 +0000

It seems that many people will use the browser like you and I might use a calculator.
Open it, do something, close it.
Then go do something IRL or use a different application.
I’ve seen this when observing some of my less technical friends. The browser simply doesn’t get left open.

By: Christopher Antila

Christopher Antila — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:46:55 +0000

I’m a little surprised nobody’s said this so far, but I restart Firefox many, many times a day for security/privacy reasons. I also turn off my computer when I’m not using it, which perhaps puts me in the minority amongst people commenting here.

Certainly it’s not a reason shared with too many people, but my browser and add-on settings are such that (I hope) all website-related data are obliterated after restarting. Thus, when I switch to or from a task of greater or lesser sensitivity, like news to banking and back, I make sure to restart Firefox.

When your only perspective is from yourself and people like you (Mozilla community members), it’s hard to know why people do things… So TestPilot and blog posts like this one are very important. Thanks!

By: André

André — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:20:56 +0000

I also close applications that I don’t need any longer even if I use them again 30min later.

By: philikon

philikon — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 19:04:29 +0000

I remember having a similar discussion with Alex Faaborg. UX/UR had found out that a lot of people, especially on Windows, use the red X to close Firefox when they’re done with a particular page and then reopen it for a new page, sometimes immediately. In fact, he suggested at time to keep the Firefox process around for a few seconds after you close the last window to make this behaviour a better experience.

By: Fox

Fox — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 14:56:14 +0000

“Note telemetry only collects data once a day and requires the browser to be open for a few minutes before submitting data, data could be skewed here.”

No wonder u cannot gather useful telemetry data if u send it only once a day, and many ppl close the session and go for dinner etc, then after few mins go back as “AV” said before.

As “Remi” said: “I, for one, don’t keep my applications running if I’m not actively using them. So if I’m not browsing the web, Firefox is not running” so.. u dont get telemetry data, since its send while afk so to say.
Many ppl, dont like to have many apps open at same time, they use one, close, use another then open Fx again. Thats why Chrome’s fast start is so apreciated by people. I see at work and at home that users behave that way. Thats the way it is. Point.
There could be other reason as well, like closing browser at work, even with saved session, to not allow others see that ur browsing, and since we have tabs on demand feature, starting Fx again is not as painful as it was in the past(but could be better…).
Users (inexperienced or just those who look for fast info, who dont need long browsing sessions) like to open browser quickly, find what they want and close the app even if they start it again for someting in next 5 minutes. Fast start is crucial

By: AV

AV — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:17:47 +0000

as many others I close firefox when I don’t need it anymore, even if a few minutes later I need it again. I like to close everything isn’t doing useful work. Also when I open a game I’m afraid it would consume too much GPU memory.

By: Kuno

Kuno — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:57:55 +0000

It is the default behaviour of Firefox to shut down when the last tab is closed. I guess people unintentionally hit that frequently.

By: Johan

Johan — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:51:56 +0000

Doesn’t seem like a mystery to me. Depends on the users behaviour but it all leans the same way.

Those that leave Firefox running: will have to restart Firefox on a daily basis in order to keep it snappy. I know I’m in this category.

Those that start Firefox when they need it and then close it: on Vista and 7 Superfetch will preload frequently started applications into RAM so the start is quick. Vista and 7 users represent ~50% of Firefox users, I’m guessing, and if Superfetch is working they should seldom see cold starts.

Those that don’t use Firefox as their main browser but just fire it up to check something: they are the kind of power-user that is more likely to have an SSD.