Each tab is separate process?

[ffuser17]

With the imminent release of google chrome, and the recent announcement that IE will also have each tab be a separate process, will Firefox have this at any point soon? This would make it a more stable browser, but might inhibit certain tab functionality. I've looked for discussion on this but couldn't find any. Does anyone know if this is something Firefox will try to incorporate in the future? (And if it won't, why not?)

edit: It seems the correct term to use is 'sandbox'. However, as this is different from the sandbox that add-ons in development are in, I'm leaving the above as-is.

[steviex]

Have a look here... https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox3/Produ ... d_browsing

This is what is going on for Firefox 3....

It might get looked at for Firefox 4..... A good deal of work would need to be done.

[smakabwe]

What is meant by separate process anyway?
Separate pid or just separate cpu thread?
If it is a separate pid then wouldn't anymore than 5 tabs clutter the task manager/ps command?
I have 31 tabs open right now.

[rural0501]

Exactly, I'm having what smakabwe said in my mind as well.
for people who open 200 tabs at a time, that would be TONS of OVERHEAD to waste
a thread or two for a window is good enough I think ...
If you leave the tab in behind, why would you want a separate thread (to be correct "process" would be a more exact word since it's PID...) for it ANYWAY
(only 2~3 exceptions ....)

I didn't investigate how google chrome did it (I have it installed .. just didn't check on it)

The thing is ... google chrome is no where close to firefox 3 ..... NO WHERE ....
I dunno if it's just me ... or due to my crappy setting ...
But Google Chrome totally SLOWED my computer down by 10x

I'm using 4Gb ram + Q6600 .... I'd say its heck enough for playing music + web browsing + some windows explorers + a Photoshop

but, no, It's just aint enough for google chrome ...
I have my same firefox 200+ tabs open ... it's always fast and easy

right after google chrome is opend (of course firefox is still open) ..... with 3 tabs
google chrome managed to slow my comp down by more than the factor of 10x

Really, just stay on your pace, FF ... or say Mozilla developers ...
Don't get distracted cuz "somebody" is saying it .... or doing it ...

btw .... if it's separate ... I'd appol .....
NVM .. I'm pretty sure google chrome is doing separate PID ....
Cuz I just SAW it

[ciaconne]

i find the separate process for each tab one of the most endearing features for google chrome, which i have been using (as a test away from firefox but have been adjusting amazingly well) since it was released. In opening each tabs as separate process there are more memory used, of course, but in cases where some pages have problems, and eats up the CPU and memory, I can identify it easily with the process viewer and kill that individual tab, where as in firefox3 i often had to close down the entire browser taking all the other many tabs with it. This was a real and annoying problem with firefox, and I couldn't leave the browser fully on for a day without shutting it down; whereas with chrome I rarely needed to shut down the entire browser (in fact i think i have done it only thrice in the past few days, and only because i had to reboot). I don't see this feature being addressed in the firefox bugs page shown, and I think it should be taken more seriously, as it is one feature I'm searching to find whether if it can be extended in firefox3, thus leading me to this discussion.

[steviex]

As it is a major architecture thing, I would check Mozilla's Rodmap..... I think it is a long way off, if they ever decide to implement it....
I think they have more important things to concentrate on at the moment, like getting Version 3.1 out the door....
They would need to take the Browser apart, and possibly break most of the Extensions (again)

[azurit3]

This is the google chrome feature that is pushing me to it when I'm deciding which browser to use, along with the Task Manager.
(been able to kill tabs/processes without crashing the browser -> sweet)

It's a must have feature.

[James]

This may be one of the reasons why this early Beta is only available for WinXP/Vista and not for Linux/Mac OSX yet...