Multiple Processes for opera.exe
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ebonystinger last edited by 3 May 2014, 03:30
Hi,
I recently upgraded to Opera 20 from Opera 12. When I start Opera (with speed dial) six processes of "opera.exe" appear in the task manager. Is this normal ?
Thanks.
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A Former User last edited by 3 May 2014, 04:39
It's normal, the UI, each tab, plug-in and add-on run on its own process so when one of them crash or hang the whole browser doesn't freeze or have to shut down.
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ebonystinger last edited by 3 May 2014, 12:38
I guess Opera is becoming more and more like Chrome.
Thanks for the info.
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A Former User last edited by 3 May 2014, 12:49
It's using the Chromium project code underneath since the version 14 (skipped in desktop together with 13).
Just be aware that this is a trend and Firefox is the only major browser that haven't implemented it yet (they're slow to implement a project they call "Electrolysis").
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christoph142 last edited by 3 May 2014, 12:57
I'm wondering why so many people think that this is something bad and start complaining about it cause it's not!
Besides what Rafael mentioned already, it actually speeds up the application since processes can be run independently in parallel on different cores of your CPU. -
burnout426 Volunteer last edited by 3 May 2014, 13:06
I'm wondering why so many people think that this is something bad
I think it's awesome. But, it depends on how much free ram you have and how many tabs/processes you want to be able to have open at once. Sometimes those two things can conflict with each other.
Others just don't like the concept of it even if it doesn't cause a problem.
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07y05m24d last edited by 3 May 2014, 13:46
Single process programs didn't seem to have issues with multi-threading and multi-core.
I suspect the primary benefits are process stabilization and security; taking advantage of code already in the operating system.
Regarding security, it's much harder for one process to gain unintended access to and/or modify the memory structures of another.
Regarding stability, running add-ons and plug-ins out-of-process results with better stability and responsiveness. When that add-on or plug-in hangs a thread it isn't necessarily detrimental to the entire process. But it takes much more thought, planning and programming to build that type of stability into your program; and it won't be as good as that, which is built into the operating system.
In effect, it's much easier to achieve better security, stability and responsiveness by going out-of-process.
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by 3 May 2014, 18:29
You can use Opera's task manager to see the processes.
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suntana last edited by 3 May 2014, 19:18
Ahhhhh, so THAT's why there are those multiple opera.exe processes. I had definitely noticed them and had meant to ask about that.
With Opera 11.52, Opera 11.64 and Opera 12.16 I HAD been getting many cases recently of that error message that Opera Needs to Restart. I haven't encountered that error message with Opera 20.0.1387.91 so far.
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lem729 last edited by 3 May 2014, 19:38
I have maybe 29 instances of Opera.exe*32 in my Task Manger (under the processes tab). I'm using Windows 7. That seems like a lot of instances of it. ebonystinger only had 6. Is something wrong with my setup. I'm using Windows 7. Now I do have a few tabs open
Now I have over 20 extensions. Maybe they set up separate processes. Most of the processes are not using that much memory. It's just that 20 simultaneous processes sounded like a big number. I have plenty of RAM on my computer -- 8. -
blackbird71 last edited by 4 May 2014, 00:43I have maybe 29 instances of Opera.exe*32 in my Task Manger (under the processes tab). I'm using Windows 7. That seems like a lot of instances of it. ... Is something wrong with my setup. ... Now I do have a few tabs open
Now I have over 20 extensions. Maybe they set up separate processes. Most of the processes are not using that much memory. It's just that 20 simultaneous processes sounded like a big number. I have plenty of RAM on my computer -- 8.There's nothing wrong with your setup for the browser configured like you've described. As @rafaelluik explained above, each browser extension will use its own separate process, the GUI will use a process, and each tab will use a separate process. With 20 extensions, a GUI, and an open tab, you will indeed see over 21 processes.
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lem729 last edited by 4 May 2014, 01:15
Thanks blackbird71. I read the thread too fast, and missed the part you reference. I thought, wow, 29 is a lot. (actually, I may have -- smile -- 25 extensions. Sometimes I download just to test, and then latter, get rid of.
Now I used to have a check in my Chrome settings saying, to keep certain background processes running when I wasn't in Chrome, and I did start to get GPU warnings from my Norton security suite. Because in addition to Opera, Chrome was doing a helluva lot of stuff, even when I wasn't using it. And I hardly use Chrome now. I pulled the check out of that Chrome setting (I'd forgotten I'd put it there or even why) (maybe it was a default), and I'm doing better with my available RAM and the GPU. I haven't gotten a Norton warning since.
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dededere last edited by 27 May 2014, 21:00
oh so this is why my old notebook gets overheated and restarts via bluescreen
great job Opera ^^ realy...AWESOME -.-' -
lem729 last edited by 27 May 2014, 21:31
Hmmm, well I have no idea what the resources are of your "old" notebook. That may be the problem for you. And yes, it is my understanding that Opera 21 takes more system resources than the version that it superseded (Opera 20). However, the multi-processes make that less likely, than without them. When I was browsing with Chrome quite a bit, I got CPU used up messages, and blue screens. Since I started browsing more exclusively with Opera Bing (19-21), I haven't had a blue screen, or a message about a CPU problem.
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dvk-ru1 last edited by 27 May 2014, 21:48
If a high CPU load leads to such an overheat that the laptop goes blue screen, it's a more dramatic problem than just Chrome's hunger for resources. Even if you find another browser, the difference won't be too great. You'd better check the hardware, clean the dust and replace some thermal grease, maybe.
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lem729 last edited by 27 May 2014, 22:27
3 months, no problem, since I stopped with Chrome (I had been using that along with Opera 12), and started using Opera 19-21. Also, I had Chrome on a setting to keep on, even when I wasn't using Chrome. There were some games I used. That might have been the problem too. It wasn't a laptop. Mine was a desktop.
Also I did get messages from my Norton Security program warning that "Chrome" was using almost of my CPU. I never get messages like that about Opera (haha, crossing my fingers), at least not yet.
Now dededere does have an old notebook, and that bluescreen problem may well be more than Opera.
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by 27 May 2014, 22:32
oh so this is why my old notebook gets overheated and restarts via bluescreen
great job Opera ^^ realy...AWESOME -.-'Probably not unless you're opening lots of tabs with pages that uses cpu a lot.
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evoid last edited by 28 May 2014, 09:32
[mod edit: stay on topic and don't hijack posts please]
Speed is not everything... one needs some luxury and style too. Opera lost that somewhere. Multiple instances is not really a good way forward, even if it does increase speed. -
tcolgan001 last edited by 7 Aug 2014, 22:31
After updating to multiprocessor version had definite computer slow-down.
It's back to 12.17 for me (a version that also works with outlook).
In addition, always thought that there was a definite advantage of a single-process browser. If things screw up, just shut it down and restart it. Multiple processes seem to multiply like rabbit droppings. Need to open task manager to clean them all up.
Anyone else feel the same?
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supernicknick last edited by 8 Aug 2014, 06:48
Opera 12 64bit runs plugins on a separate process, so if for example Flash crashes, Opera 12-64 doesnt. Or so have been my experiences. Running windows on a separate process is a memory eating gimmick imho, i have yet to see any benefit from that. In fact, if it goes crazy it is kept within a few cores (i have 8 in total) and doesnt affect the rest of the PC.
