Facebook and Gecko

[steviem1]

The main difference/benefit of the 'about.config.trim_ on_ minimize' function over 'Memory fox' is that the user decides when to perform the optimization.

[Moonchild]

The main difference/benefit of the 'about.config.trim_ on_ minimize' function over 'Memory fox' is that the user decides when to perform the optimization.

I wouldn't call it "optimization"
You do have some control in memory fox too, just a different way. Last time I looked at the add-on it was using rather silly defaults though so you do need to set it up with some saner settings if you are serious about using it.

[steviem1]

I wouldn't call it "optimization"

Aha 'user intervention' might be a better description in this situation then.

I've used 'memory fox in the past and yes the default settings are way too aggressive, as a consequence the HD is constantly under stress, not desirable. I think though that even with the settings tweaked it still fully automates the process, (maybe I'll have another look sometime) so I think I will stay with 'about.config.trim_ on_ minimize' option.

[Soldier1st]

any program that is using HDD swap instead of RAM will definitely degrade performance in a major way.

Your understanding of the Pagefile(Win NT)/Swapfile(Win 9x) is incorrect. All programs use the Pagefile(Win NT)/Swapfile(Win9x). that is perfectly normal. The problem will come into play is if your relying on your Pagefile/Swapfile heavily instead of your Real memory(Ram). If your relying mostly on your Virtual memory, then you need a Ram upgrade if you want things to be smoother or switch to lighter apps(that is one end of the spectrum). That config.trim_on_minimize hack is only useful for memory deprived systems as swapping is slower than using actual ram. Do you want your app to be more responsive or slower? naturally, you'd want the former. Windows is a swap based os but so is every other os currently in use. When we are in an age where we have say 50GB of ram(Standard), and the os's are programmed to use it instead of virtual memory, then there will be no need for a pagefile/swapfile. Moonchild knows what he is talking about.

[megaman]

The struggling computer due to the high amount of memory used was not really Facebook's fault, although I am still surprised for something that huge.
The problem is Flash, since some tabs I open from other users that post around are videos on YouTube.
I keep many videos on YouTube to watch later and the computer starts to drag, so there is the culprit.