# lightweight browsers?



## Francisco (Nov 24, 2013)

Hello everyone,

I'm working on replacing our "Desktop OS" templates but I'm not sure what browser to be shipping with it.

My usual go-to is Chrome but it can bloat on RAM pretty quick.

Is there any lightweight (RAM wise) browsers that anyone can recommend?

Francsico


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## InertiaNetworks-John (Nov 24, 2013)

Opera?


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## HostUS-Alexander (Nov 24, 2013)

Opera and Firefox use little RAM.


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## Cloudrck (Nov 24, 2013)

In no way would I consider Firefox lightweight. I would look into Midori for a browser with a small footprint.

You also never mentioned what OS


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## Francisco (Nov 24, 2013)

HostUS-Alexander said:


> Opera and Firefox use little RAM.


..Firefox?

By low I'm wanting like...< 70MB kind of deal, top.

Francisco


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## HostUS-Alexander (Nov 24, 2013)

Francisco said:


> ..Firefox?
> 
> 
> By low I'm wanting like...< 70MB kind of deal, top.
> ...


I run FireFox on a 128MB KVM and never had any issues 

- Alexander


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## Francisco (Nov 24, 2013)

HostUS-Alexander said:


> I run FireFox on a 128MB KVM and never had any issues
> 
> - Alexander


Which environment? XFCE i'm guessing?

Francisco


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## KS_Samuel (Nov 24, 2013)

Lynx!


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## HostUS-Alexander (Nov 24, 2013)

Francisco said:


> Which environment? XFCE i'm guessing?
> 
> 
> Francisco


Yes 

- Alexander


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## Francisco (Nov 24, 2013)

Thank you 

Francisco


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## concerto49 (Nov 24, 2013)

Opera now is just a crippled Chrome. It'll use more or less the same memory. Firefox is the only choice. The rest are also separated by processes = memory hog.


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## willie (Nov 24, 2013)

I actually still use Lynx all the time, and occasionally the slightly fancier Links, but I figure you mean a graphical browser.  I used Dillo for a while though I don't know if it's actively maintained any more.  The trouble is that the modern web has become completely dependent on bloatware Javascript libraries, and those in turn are becoming dependent on the performance supplied by the fancy JIT compilers in the latest and most heavyweight browsers.  I don't know a solution.

For lightweight window managers, I like Xmonad, but it may be a little too nerdy for "civilians".


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## lbft (Nov 24, 2013)

Yeah Opera is dead. The old version with their own rendering engine (and actual features) isn't maintained any more and without updates to the site-specific fixes more and more sites will break in it over time (plus I'm sure there'll be security bugs in the not too distant future).

There's no reason to choose Opera over Chrome or Chromium now.

(Can you tell I'm a sad soon-to-be-former Opera user?)


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## drmike (Nov 24, 2013)

I hope Opera gets their shit together. It's superior from a security/privacy perspective without kung pow addons.


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## Hannan (Nov 24, 2013)

Firefox with no addons maybe. but it lag if having multiple tabs.


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## Aldryic C'boas (Nov 24, 2013)

Firefox, lightweight?  Not even close <_<  Maybe contemporary browsing on static pages with no interaction/flash/etc..

Midori is a real solid choice for lightweight.  I run that on my netbook whenever I feel the need for G.  Links/Links2 otherwise.


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## drmike (Nov 24, 2013)

Problem with lightweight and today's web is all the javascript crap.

I run with javascript off, but constant issues with sites. Limits where I go some. Probably for the best though.

Jscript off = very fast on anything. No real memory swelling either.


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## SkylarM (Nov 24, 2013)

I'd USE firefox if it wasn't noticably slower/laggier than chrome with web pages


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## InertiaNetworks-John (Nov 24, 2013)

SkylarM said:


> I'd USE firefox if it wasn't noticably slower/laggier than chrome with web pages


Funny, chrome is laggy for me right now. Is that just me?


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## concerto49 (Nov 24, 2013)

InertiaNetworks-John said:


> Funny, chrome is laggy for me right now. Is that just me?


It's if you left it on for 2 years. There's memory leak.


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## InertiaNetworks-John (Nov 24, 2013)

concerto49 said:


> It's if you left it on for 2 years. There's memory leak.


For me its more like 2 hours...


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## WelltodoInformalCattle (Nov 24, 2013)

Same here, Chrome just seems to lag for me while I have absolutely no problem with Firefox.


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## InertiaNetworks-John (Nov 24, 2013)

WelltodoInformalCattle said:


> Same here, Chrome just seems to lag for me while I have absolutely no problem with Firefox.


Gotta love that google.


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## GIANT_CRAB (Nov 24, 2013)

Don't get Scroogled, use IE.

Opera 15 & Opera Next < Opera 12, RIP PRESTO ENGINE.

If you want the burning fox or firefox, you should try nightly build - http://nightly.mozilla.org

Presto engine is the BEST engine for caching, saving a lot of memory.

Opera 12 is still available for download - http://www.opera.com/download/guide/?os=windows&ver=12.16&local=y


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## earl (Nov 25, 2013)

I use Midori with Fluxbox on a 32 MB VPS.. seems to be using a bit of the swap but still pretty good I think.


```
free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:            32         29          2          0          0         14
-/+ buffers/cache:         15         16
Swap:           32         11         20
```


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## Francisco (Nov 25, 2013)

earl said:


> I use Midori with Fluxbox on a 32 MB VPS.. seems to be using a bit of the swap but still pretty good I think.
> 
> 
> free -m
> ...


What are you using to connect? VNC? or NX?

Francisco


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## earl (Nov 25, 2013)

Francisco said:


> What are you using to connect? VNC? or NX?
> 
> 
> Francisco


I use VNC.


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## KuJoe (Nov 25, 2013)

I use midori on any linux OS I use (including on my Raspberry Pi) but I recommend iceweasel for clients when they want to install a desktop on their VPS, it'll run on 96MB of RAM but I never bothered checking the actual usage before.


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## XLvps (Nov 25, 2013)

Francisco said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> 
> I'm working on replacing our "Desktop OS" templates but I'm not sure what browser to be shipping with it.
> ...


Lynx.... = )


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## gxbfxvar (Nov 25, 2013)

Xombrero (https://opensource.conformal.com/wiki/xombrero) is one lightweight browser, but it is mainly targeted for power users who like vim-style bindings.


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