One of the main problems that web browsers have today is excessive use of RAM and CPU. Especially when we work with many tabs at the same time. Web pages are very large today, and they have elements (such as images, or JavaScript code) that are loaded into the system in order to function. And although the developers of the main web browsers are trying to eradicate this problem, they have not yet managed to find the exact technique for it. Now it’s up to Edge, Microsoft‘s browser, to try with its new “performance mode .”
Although Edge uses the Chromium engine, just like Chrome, the truth is that both browsers are very different. Microsoft has taken the development of its browser very seriously, including all kinds of functions and features in it to offer a much more complete experience than that offered by the Google browser to its users and to be able to add, little by little, quota market.
Microsoft has added various functions and features so that users can save RAM and CPU . One of the last are the “sleeping tabs”, a function that allows to suspend the tabs that are not used to free up RAM and processor load. But this feature only suspends tabs that have not been used for at least two hours, so in practice it does not benefit users much. Now, in order to better address the issue of browser performance and resource usage, Microsoft is preparing a new “performance mode.” And this is how it works.
How Edge’s New “Performance Mode” Works
This new mode is intended to optimize the general web browsing speed, responsiveness and reduce the use of CPU, RAM and battery without affecting too much the general experience of the same. To do this, what Microsoft does is force the browser to suspend all those tabs that have been inactive for more than 5 minutes. In addition, Edge will also detect certain processes (such as audio or video playback) and will automatically lock these tabs from being suspended. In this way, if, for example, we put Spotify Web in the background, the music will not stop playing.
In addition to being much more radical with tabs open in the browser, this new ” performance mode ” will also make other changes within the Edge settings to improve the overall performance of the browser. The performance improvement and the saving of resources will depend on our browsing habits.
Of course, if we have a very powerful computer and we do not want to skimp on resources, Edge will allow us to activate or deactivate this performance mode according to our preferences.
Availability
This new function is already a reality. A very select group of Edge Canary users already have it available. Little by little Microsoft will take the function to more users so that they can test it and, incidentally, the developer can detect and correct as many errors and problems as possible.
If all goes well, Edge’s new performance mode should reach users of the stable version of the browser by the end of the year.
