Tech Byte 4 U|Advantage of Chrome's Multi-Process Performance

Advantage of Chrome's Multi-Process Performance

Saturday, February 18, 2012|

Surbhi Verma

Google Chrome was one of the first browsers to have multiple processes. If you are a frequent Google Chrome user, then you probabely have seen sometimes, multiple “chrome.exe” processes running in your task manager, with multiple times memory uses. This is beacause, Chrome creates separate process for each tab, extensions and plugins installed. For example if you have 5 tabs opened, 9 extensions and 2 plugins installed, then you will find 17 processes(5 tabs + 9 extensions + 2 plugins + Chrome itself = 17 processes) in task manager.
This is unlike, Firefox and Opera, which creates only one process in task manager, no matter how many tabs are opened.

Many people think it is bad, and ask for something tricky that can switch chrome to single process mode. They might not have idea about the benifits of Chrome's multi-processes feacher.

Cons of Multiprocessing in browsers:
Multiprocessing is good due to many reasons. Chrome isolates many of the components from each other which improves performance and memory management and help it be more robust, responsive, and secure than single process browsers.Some examples:

If an attacker succeeds in accessing one application, he/she is not able to access the other applications.
If one tab stops responding, then it won't affect other tabs. But in case of single process browser like firefox, whole browser stops responding. This applies for extensions and plugins also. Crashing a single extension or plugin will not affect other plugins or tabs or the main process itself.
Chrome automatically sets higher priority for the tab you are working upon, and sets lower priority for all other remaining background tabs.Higher priority will never slow down your foreground work, and lower priority of unused tabs will not become the reson for slowing down other application running on your system. It makes your system faster. Other single process browsers can’t set the priority and slow down complete system, also reduce your foreground application performance by as much as 50%.
Startup performance is also enhanced with this feature – especially when you startup with multiple tabs. In this case, Chrome will lower the priority of the background tabs, and only the foreground tab will have high priority. You get the foreground tab first, an the secondary tabs fill in as CPU becomes available.

You can check all the processes through the task manager of your system or using the built-in task manager for Chrome. Using chrome's built in task manager, you can clearly see that which process is running for which tab/extension/ pugin (not like computer's task manager which only says chrome.exe for all processes) and may end processes if one's not responding. To access it, Press Shift+Esc or "right click on title bar -> Task Manager".

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