Thursday, April 25, 2013

Chrome Has Become a Big Fat Memory Hog

Steve Gibson, on his weekly “Security Now” podcast, pointed out that Google’s Chrome Browser has become a bloated memory hog. At startup, with only one blank web page open, Chrome used up 250 MB of RAM. By contrast, he said Opera used only 50. I did my own experiment with the new Internet Explorer 10. My results showed around 48 MB of memory used.

Not long ago, I started using IE10 for the heck of it. I found it fast, responsive and much better than it used to be. It is become my second browser of choice behind Firefox. I run it sandboxed as I do Chrome (although that it seldom used anymore).

In this edition, I included part 2 of the articles on “Going Google.” As I said last week, I will publish them as they come out.

I was dismayed to see my e-mail choice, Outlook.com, will start including ads soon (see story #4). That doesn’t make me very happy, but that is their prerogative…as it is my prerogative to look for a new e-mail host. Not an easy thing to do…Gmail is out as I don’t like it very much. I might just continue to use Outlook.com as it has so many excellent features, but I may have close my right eye to ignore the ads.

I am also experimenting with different calendar options since Microsoft screwed up Outlook.com calendar app. In working with it lately to enter new events, I found I have to take a very unnecessary additional step to enter a location. That is just plain dumb as all my calendar entries have locations.

As for to-do lists and reminders, I’ve settled on Wunderlist as I can use it on all my computers, phones, and tablets. It is a terrific cross-platform app with several nice features.

But enough of my needs and wants, let’s move on with stories that might interest you. -JRC

Microsoft expects cheaper Windows 8 PCs and tablets this fall

Using Intel's new 'Haswell' Core and 'Bay Trail' Atom processors could lower prices dramatically and boost battery life

Microsoft issues new version of patch pulled on Patch Tuesday

Microsoft has issued a new version of a patch after an earlier version caused some users' machines to suffer the blue screen of death.

Apple fans face a big iWait on new product categories, services

Apple teased new products and services in the year ahead, but it's unclear whether a better dividend and shareholder cash will buy the company more patience.

Ads coming soon to your Outlook.com inbox

Since Outlook.com is a free service, used by 60 million people at the last count, ads in the interface were deemed to arrive in your inbox sooner or later.

Want the most reliable Windows PC? Buy a Mac (or maybe a Dell)

A new report from Soluto uses data from its massive online database of PC crashes, hangs, and performance metrics to identify the 10 most reliable Windows PCs you can buy today. Surprisingly, a MacBook Pro is at the top of the list. Hilarious.

How to set up two-factor authentication for Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and more

No more excuses! Microsoft, Google, and Facebook make it easy to improve your account security with two-factor authentication. Here's how.

Going Google (apps), Part 2: Move your docs

In Part 1 of this series on Google apps, I covered the relatively simple process of moving all your mail to Gmail. Part 2 covers why and how you move Microsoft Office documents to the cloud and to Google apps.

15 Best Free Add-ins to Make Outlook Better

There are hundreds of add-ins available for Outlook, but in this post we are covering the best free add-ins to get the best out of Outlook.

The Massive Digital Library of the Future Just Opened Its 'Doors'

After two and a half years of development, the Digital Public Library of America finally flipped the switch on and opened its website at DP.LA. Collecting items from institutions cross the country, the library has already collected more than two million items in its searchable database. And that's just the beginning.

Retro Sci-Fi Screensaver

Turn your normally useful PC into a meaninglessly busy display
like those in old sci-fi movies and TV shows. Fun.

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