Forum Discussion
Why so many open processes just having the start pest open?
The multi-process architecture was https://blog.chromium.org/2008/09/multi-process-architecture.html, and it remains an issue a decade later -- Chromium-based browsers are notorious for high RAM use.
I routinely run in the 500-750 MB Edge Chromium RAM usage on my desktop (Dell XPS 8920, 16GB RAM) running with 6-8 tabs open and roughly 25-35 processes open. If I'm actively browsing (that is, opening and closing sites frequently), I've seem the numbers go higher, although I don't think I've gone over 1GB RAM use.
On my laptops, which have less RAM (Dell Latitude 7280, 8GB RAM and Dell Inspiron 3185, 4GB RAM), I have learned to be sparing in my use of Edge Chromium, particularly so on the 4GB laptop. On the Latitude, I confine myself to 3-4 tabs, and on the Inspiron, I try to live with one or two tabs open.
The old version of Edge combines common processes, and those of us who have used it as our primary browser are used to a level of RAM efficiency that just doesn't exist in Edge Chromium or other Chromium-based browsers. We got used to it, and Edge Chromium's memory-hogging comes as something of a shock.
Several earlier threads have discussed this issue.
Because multi-process architecture is baked into Chromium architecture, I'm not sure that there is a lot that Microsoft can do to remedy the issue. I'm hoping that Microsoft will do what it can to reduce RAM use, but I don't think that we will see major reductions.
- 10 years ago the standard RAM capacity in devices like PCs/laptops was 4GB, right now it's 8/16 GB. RAM sticks are cheaper than ever,
higher RAM usages has its own benefits. there is a reason a lot of popular browsers are using chromium engine.
Windows 10 is smart enough to tame RAM demanding apps like these browsers based on the installed RAM.HotCakeX "10 years ago the standard RAM capacity in devices like PCs/laptops was 4GB, right now it's 8/16 GB. RAM sticks are cheaper than ever, higher RAM usages has its own benefits."
You are right, of course, but a large installed base of 4GB laptops remain in use, and will for some years. In addition, 4GB laptops are being still being sold in relatively high numbers, as this "W10 laptops" breakdown from a major big-box retailer (I don't believe that I should name the company in this forum, but the company has about 1,200 retail outlets in the US and Canada and you would recognize the name instantly if you live in the US and/or Canada) suggests:
The sweet spot is obviously at the 8GB point, but those laptops are not at the entry-level price point. When I limited the search criteria to laptops $350 USD and under, 4GB laptops comprised about 50% of the market.
I had the temerity to suggest in another thread in this forum that the minimum laptop for use in today's computing environment would have an i3/i5 CPU, 8GB RAM and 128GB+ SSD. I got my head bit off (probably rightly so, in retrospect) by others who felt that setting the minimum acceptable laptop in the $600-$1,000 USD range was itself unacceptable because I was pricing a lot of computer users out of the market.
Common sense aside, Microsoft https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-specifications for running Windows 10 are much lower than anything that I can imagine actually working, and Edge Chromium's memory use taxes my $300 throwaway** laptop (AMD A9-9420e, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD), which has much higher specifications than Microsoft considers the minimum.
So while I agree with you, Edge Chromium's memory use creates problems for those running computers on the lower end of the scale of presently-marketed laptops. That's not necessarily a problem, but that doesn't make Chromium's multi-process architecture ideal, either. The old version of Edge was a superb browser in terms of both performance and resource use, and Edge Chromium is not resource-friendly, so to speak but gains little (if anything) in performance. Microsoft has good business reasons for adopting Chromium, and it is a fact on the ground that Edge Chromium will be in-built into Windows 10 starting (most likely) with 20H1, coming next Spring. That's a fact on the ground, and it isn't going to change.
"Windows 10 is smart enough to tame RAM demanding apps like these browsers based on the installed RAM."
I hope so. Earlier threads discussing the memory-hog issue have encouraged Microsoft to work with Edge Chromium to remedy the issue as much as reasonably possible. But the fact remains that multi-process architecture is baked into Chromium, and there is only so much that Microsoft will be able to do to reduce memory usage given the core architecture of Chromium.
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** The throwaway is just that; I bought it to use it in a railroad museum machine shop where it is apt to be destroyed by misadventure, an environment in which I would be loath to take a $1500 laptop.
