Microsofts latest brainwave for Edge is one we hope Chrome copies a RAM limiter to stop the browser eating up your memory

Date:
Thu, 04 Apr 2024 15:59:21 +0000

Description:
Edge has a nifty trick in testing to prevent the browser from gobbling up RAM in specified situations.

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Everyones familiar with the paranoia around having a web browser active, and how much RAM it might eat particularly with lots of tabs running but Microsoft has had a bright idea to help ease those fears with its Edge
browser . A new section on the Settings page could let you control how much RAM Edge can use, you can also choose whether this control is activated only when you are playing a game or always:https://t.co/YiCu5igL0U pic.twitter.com/pE29PI6FfR March 27, 2024 See more

As regular leaker on X (formerly Twitter) Leopeva64 discovered, in the earliest test version of Edge (Canary), Microsoft has introduced a feature that allows users to specify how much RAM the web browser can use.

Known as Resource controls this means that if you have, say, 8GB of RAM on your laptop, and you dont ever want Edge using more than half of that, you could set a limit of 4GB.

Theres a toggle to turn this feature on or off, and a slider that allows you to easily select the amount of RAM that is available to Edge (from 1GB
through to all your RAM).

Microsoft has implemented a couple of further options here, too, so you can specify whether this limit is active all the time, or if you only want the
RAM restriction enforced when youre playing a game (and need the memory resources more urgently). RAM risk balancing

This is a nifty idea, but as is usually the case with this kind of
performance tweak, theres a flipside to the equation. Meaning that if you place a strict RAM limit on Edge, you might find the browser slows down a
lot, or even starts to run like its in molasses if you have lots of Edge windows and tabs open.

Active tabs still need memory ( as do sleeping ones , albeit far less) whichever way you dice it, so bear that in mind if you make it so Edges workload exceeds the RAM limit, expect your browsing experience to start becoming very sluggish.

Still, the ability is definitely a welcome one, and particularly the gaming option you wont really be bothering with your browser if youre playing a
game anyway, not most of the time. (Save for the odd brief trip out of the game and back to the desktop to look at walkthroughs or other help sources, perhaps).

As ever with changes in testing, the functionality may not make the cut for the final version of Edge. Indeed, in this case its just on a limited
(phased) rollout in the earliest test channel, so theres quite a long road ahead, potentially.

Were hoping this RAM limiter does make it through to Edges stable version, though, and more to the point, that Google might see the wisdom here and be inspired (ahem) to bring a similar take on resource management in with Chrome .

Via The Verge You might also like Want to get rid of Bing, Edge and ads in Windows 11? Some users can Edge could get a feature thatll delight
touchscreen users How to use Microsoft Edge



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/edge/microsofts-latest-brainwave-for-edge- is-one-we-hope-chrome-copies-a-ram-limiter-to-stop-the-browser-eating-up-your- memory


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