Ah,haven't we JAWS users experienced the Flash problem enough? We know what it's like.
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:07:53 -0400, you wrote: > > >While this article doesn't directly relate to accessibility we all have to >use a browser. Before jumping on a browser bandwagon you might want to read >this article. >By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Wed Sep 3, 12:05 AM ET >NEW YORK - Google Inc.'s new Web browser, called Chrome, does much of what a >browser >needs to do these days: It presents a sleek appearance, groups pages into >easy-to-manage >"tabs" and offers several ways for people to control their Internet privacy >settings. >Yet my initial tests reveal that this "beta," or preliminary release, falls >short >of 's goals, and is outdone in an important measure by the latest version of >Microsoft >Corp.'s Internet Explorer. >Chrome is a challenge to Microsoft's browser, used by about three-quarters >of Web >surfers. But it could equally be called a challenge to Microsoft's Office >software >suite, because what Google really wants to do is to make the browser a >stable and >flexible platform that can do practically everything we want to do with a >computer, >from word processing and e-mail to photo editing. >To strengthen that effort, Chrome was designed to improve on the way other >browsers >handle JavaScript, one of the technologies used to make Web pages more >interactive >and more like desktop software applications. Google's online word processing >and >spreadsheet programs use this technology, but it's also very widely deployed >on Web >pages to do less sophisticated things, like drop-down menus. >At first blush, Google's focus on JavaScript makes sense. JavaScript can eat >up computer >processor power, and if poorly used by a Web site, can bring down the >browser. One >of the things Chrome promises is that if one browser tab crashes, it won't >take down >the whole program. >Chrome also has some cosmetic differences from Internet Explorer and >Firefox, like >putting the tabs at the very top of the window. That's a nice move, but it's >the >browser's performance that really matters to me. And this is where Chrome's >attention >to JavaScript might miss the point. >At work, I often have 40 or 50 tabs open in Firefox, grouped in different >windows >depending on which topic they pertain to. Frequently, Firefox would slow >down all >the other applications on my computer, then seize up completely. >At first I thought JavaScript was to blame, and blocked it from running. But >that >made many sites unusable, and it didn't help: The browser still froze. >It turns out the culprit is not JavaScript but another technology used to >make Web >pages more interactive: Adobe Systems Inc.'s Flash plug-in. It's the >program-within-a-program >that plays and those annoying "splash" pages that some sites employ to >dazzle you >with animations before letting you do anything useful on the site. >Flash is a tremendous resource hog in Firefox, eating up processor time to >the point >where there is nothing left for other programs. It does this even if you're >not actively >doing anything. Merely having a page open on your screen will suck power >from your >computer's central processing unit, or CPU. This is outrageous behavior for >a browser. >It's my CPU and I want it back. >Luckily, there's a small add-on program for Firefox that lets the user >prevent Flash >files from running automatically when a page loads, and it turns Firefox >into a stable, >efficient browser. >What does this mean on Chrome? Well, it has the same problem. It lets sites >running >Flash take over your computer's resources. It doesn't hog the CPU quite as >bad as >with Firefox, but in a way, it's more serious, because unlike with Firefox, >there's >no way to stop Flash from running. Chrome's controls are quite bare-bones, >perhaps >because it's still in "beta." >On the plus side, Chrome allows you to diagnose problems with runaway >plug-ins easily, >because it tells you exactly which pages are consuming which resources. Had >I been >able to do this with Firefox, it would have saved me from months of browser >troubles. >So which one comes out smelling like roses? The beta of Internet Explorer 8, >released >just last week. >When playing a , Firefox 3 took up 95 percent of the CPU time on a >three-year old >laptop running Windows XP. >Chrome came in at 60 percent still too much. Especially since owns >YouTube! You'd >think it could make its browser work well with that site in particular. >Internet Explorer barely broke a sweat, taking up just a few percent. >When I told each browser to load eight pages, some of which were heavy with >Flash >and graphics, Firefox took 17 seconds and ended with a continuous CPU load >of 50 >percent. That means it took up half of my available processing power, even >if I wasn't >looking at any of the pages. >Chrome loaded them the fastest, at 12 seconds, and ended with a CPU load of >about >40 percent. >Internet Explorer 8 took 13 seconds to load, but ended with no CPU load at >all. >So while Chrome's performance is a little better than that of Firefox, in >practical >terms, it is far less useful, because it lacks the broad array of >third-party add-ons >programs like Flashblock that make Firefox so customizable. With time, it >might catch >up, but in the meantime, I'd recommend giving the new Internet Explorer a >spin. > > > Visit the JAWS Users List home page at: > http://www.jaws-users.com >Visit the Blind Computing home page at: >http://www.blind-computing.com > Address for the list archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For help from Mailman with your account Put the word help in the subject > or body of a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Use the following address in order to contact the management team >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >If you wish to join the JAWS Users List send a blank email to the > following address: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit the JAWS Users List home page at: http://www.jaws-users.com Visit the Blind Computing home page at: http://www.blind-computing.com Address for the list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help from Mailman with your account Put the word help in the subject or body of a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use the following address in order to contact the management team [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you wish to join the JAWS Users List send a blank email to the following address: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
