I just came accross ScribeFire a Firefox extension that allows to blog when browsing a web Page. This is very convenient. For instance, now i’m browsing the Getting Starting Page while I’m writing this post.

ScribeFire: Fire up your blogging via kwout

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tabs and extensions in Firefox are great functionalities. But when both are used thorougly, Firefox memory usage grows in an exponential way: Firefox Memory usage can be several hundred of MB and growing quickly. I listed below some tips taken from a ThinkTechno post  that can help to reduce and control Firefox memory consumption.

1. Use Firefox portable edition instead of the standard edition: This Smashing magazine article states that portable edition uses 35% less memory. I copied the screenshot for Firefox 2.0.0.3 from Smashing Magazine below:

• Standard Firefox:

         

• Portable Firefox:

         

2. Remove extensions that generates Memory leaks.

This page contains a comprehensive list of Firefox entension’s bugs and some fixes.

3. Clear the download history.

This can be done manually, clicking on the Clean-Up button of the Downloads Window. But this can be done automatically navigating to Tools > Options > Privacy > and Uncheck Remember what I’ve downloaded.

4. Restart Firefox periodically

Element14 blog published some settings that should reduce memory usage in Firefox. I’m currently testing those settings, So I don’t know yet if they work or not. I like Firefox as it’s a very stable application. But it’s frustating sometimes, when you look at process memory usage: sometimes Firefox end using about 200 MB. This Memory problem with Firefox explains why I’m still using Maxthon. Maxthon‘s memory usage never exceed 50 MB (it’s what I noticed from my experience). I tried many settings n the Firefox config windows to reduce those “memory leaks”. But none were really efficient. Let’s see if those new settings works. The Firefox Memory Usage FQA contains also useful information about known leaking Firefox extension.

TorrentFreak published a review of Allpeers. Allpeers is a Firefox extension designed to share pictures, music and video within Firefox. There is also an interview of Matthew Gertner from Allpeers. Actually the sofware is a Beta but look promissing. In the current version, as reported, you can only share files with people in your buddy list (friends and family). But in the future the extension will include a full featured Bittorrent client. You might register here to be notified of the public release. In the meantime, you may download the Beta here.