Firefox looks at mutli-processor overhaul


Browser looks to take a page from Chrome and IE 8

Firefox developers are undertaking a project to overhaul the guts of the popular web browser. The changes look to add stability, performance, and eventually security for users.

Basically the system will divide out tabs and user interface into different processes. If, say you have 10 tabs open, each tab will be isolated from each other. This not only should allow better performance to better utilize increasingly prevalent multi-core CPUs, but also stability. If one tab decides to puke out for whatever reason, the other tabs may be unaffected. Currently if something goes screwy, the whole app needs to quit out. The project also has the eventual goal of adding security sandbox style. Along the same lines, each tab will be contained and if some malware is triggered, it will be less likely to get access to the rest of the browser and then computer.

The improvements are similar to the Google Chrome browser and recently release Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. Users, however, will have to wait a bit. The project isn't expected to be completed until next year.

Mozilla Wiki
Via Mozilla Links