6 ms·

Would be a dream as a user to be able to choose between cpu-optimized or memory-optimized modes.

by jmilloy 6y ago

tinco 6y ago
When would you ever not opt for a cpu optimized mode? Cpu's can't get faster, and you can always get more memory.
- jabirali 6y ago
  A perhaps more useful tradeoff would be if one could disable a subset of CSS/JS with a simple switch in the settings, so e.g. transition animations are skipped but the webpage is otherwise readable. I think I have yet to see a webpage that uses animations in a way I enjoy, even when they’re smooth. (The same goes for most PowerPoint transitions and window manager animations...)
  - alpaca128 6y ago
    I also go back to switch off animations wherever I have the choice. Some animations look really good but long term they all just feel like fancy input delays.
- rubyn00bie 6y ago
  I, rather unfortunately for myself I suppose, find most animations on the web or even CPU intensive sites to be... well, quite frankly, piles of shit. I would opt to stop letting web page authors just mangle my CPU cycles because they've opted to poorly animate an SVG or some HTML element. If anything I'd prefer each got a CPU budget and that was all they could use, unless they request more CPU time from the user, then voila! People who want to be annoyed can be, and the rest of us can go back to "browsing the web."
- robin_reala 6y ago
  For most people you can’t get more memory without swapping in your device for a newer one. All mobile phones, all tablets, and a good chunk of laptops have soldered in memory with no expansion possibilities.
- adrianN 6y ago
  Getting a faster CPU is about as difficult as getting more memory for almost everybody, because people need to buy new machines to do so. Either because they own a machine that can't be upgraded (hello soldered ram), or because they don't have the technical skills to do so. Personally I'd rather wait longer for things to complete than have my whole system grind to a halt because it starts swapping like crazy.
gruez 6y ago
browser vendors can barely keep one renderer/javascript engine free of 0days, I can't imagine how secure a browser would be with double the codepaths.
- eurasiantiger 6y ago
  Nothing is free of 0days.
  - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
    hello_world.c is still pretty secure, right?
    - traverseda 6y ago
      Not since spectre.
thih9 6y ago
I wish this was a display option instead. I.e. “Disable animations in all web pages (gracefully)”.
- cercatrova 6y ago
  https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/prefers-reduced-motion https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/pref...
- ficklepickle 6y ago
  There is a CSS media query for that: prefers-reduced-motion Now whether any sites actually make use of it is another matter. Also I don't know how the user would enable it. Perhaps an OS-specific, system-wide setting like dark mode. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/prefers-reduced-motion https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/pref...
  - dullgiulio 6y ago
    Again, disabling features is a feature given to the site developer, not to the visitor, who's actually running the code. It would be so much better if browsers were User Agents and respected user settings before the will of the site creator.
    - robin_reala 6y ago
      They are? * { animation-play-state: paused !important; transition-duration: 0s !important; }
  - duskwuff 6y ago
    > Also I don't know how the user would enable it. In Apple products, it's exposed as an accessibility option: macOS: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/reduce-screen-motion-mchlc03f57a1/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/reduce-screen-motio... iOS: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202655 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202655 tvOS: https://support.apple.com/guide/tv/reduce-screen-motion-atvb1f949820/tvos https://support.apple.com/guide/tv/reduce-screen-motion-atvb... (which also disables autoplaying previews!)

Would be a dream as a user to be able to choose between cpu-optimized or memory-optimized modes.

tinco 6y ago

When would you ever not opt for a cpu optimized mode? Cpu's can't get faster, and you can always get more memory.

jabirali 6y ago
A perhaps more useful tradeoff would be if one could disable a subset of CSS/JS with a simple switch in the settings, so e.g. transition animations are skipped but the webpage is otherwise readable. I think I have yet to see a webpage that uses animations in a way I enjoy, even when they’re smooth. (The same goes for most PowerPoint transitions and window manager animations...)
- alpaca128 6y ago
  I also go back to switch off animations wherever I have the choice. Some animations look really good but long term they all just feel like fancy input delays.
rubyn00bie 6y ago
I, rather unfortunately for myself I suppose, find most animations on the web or even CPU intensive sites to be... well, quite frankly, piles of shit. I would opt to stop letting web page authors just mangle my CPU cycles because they've opted to poorly animate an SVG or some HTML element. If anything I'd prefer each got a CPU budget and that was all they could use, unless they request more CPU time from the user, then voila! People who want to be annoyed can be, and the rest of us can go back to "browsing the web."
robin_reala 6y ago
For most people you can’t get more memory without swapping in your device for a newer one. All mobile phones, all tablets, and a good chunk of laptops have soldered in memory with no expansion possibilities.
adrianN 6y ago
Getting a faster CPU is about as difficult as getting more memory for almost everybody, because people need to buy new machines to do so. Either because they own a machine that can't be upgraded (hello soldered ram), or because they don't have the technical skills to do so. Personally I'd rather wait longer for things to complete than have my whole system grind to a halt because it starts swapping like crazy.

gruez 6y ago

browser vendors can barely keep one renderer/javascript engine free of 0days, I can't imagine how secure a browser would be with double the codepaths.

eurasiantiger 6y ago
Nothing is free of 0days.
- DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
  hello_world.c is still pretty secure, right?
  - traverseda 6y ago
    Not since spectre.

thih9 6y ago

I wish this was a display option instead. I.e. “Disable animations in all web pages (gracefully)”.

cercatrova 6y ago
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/prefers-reduced-motion https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/pref...
ficklepickle 6y ago
There is a CSS media query for that: prefers-reduced-motion Now whether any sites actually make use of it is another matter. Also I don't know how the user would enable it. Perhaps an OS-specific, system-wide setting like dark mode. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/prefers-reduced-motion https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/pref...
- dullgiulio 6y ago
  Again, disabling features is a feature given to the site developer, not to the visitor, who's actually running the code. It would be so much better if browsers were User Agents and respected user settings before the will of the site creator.
  - robin_reala 6y ago
    They are? * { animation-play-state: paused !important; transition-duration: 0s !important; }
- duskwuff 6y ago
  > Also I don't know how the user would enable it. In Apple products, it's exposed as an accessibility option: macOS: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/reduce-screen-motion-mchlc03f57a1/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/reduce-screen-motio... iOS: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202655 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202655 tvOS: https://support.apple.com/guide/tv/reduce-screen-motion-atvb1f949820/tvos https://support.apple.com/guide/tv/reduce-screen-motion-atvb... (which also disables autoplaying previews!)