IE Battery conversation

Any other tech-related topics
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
webfork
Posts: 10818
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:06 pm
Location: US, Texas
Contact:

IE Battery conversation

#1 Post by webfork »

Note: This was previously discussed in another thread but I feel like this is verging on a thread hijack so I gave it something separate in the Chit-Chat subforum.

---

Microsoft continues to make this case for battery efficiency and I'm not sure why. I'm happy there's an emphasis on power and well-written software certainly increases battery life, but this just seems so incredibly thin. Like at their marketing meeting, someone said "We're not competing on features, speed, compatibility, platform independence, privacy, plugins, or open source so ... does anyone care about battery life?" It's like they went with their absolute last option.

Also ad blockers probably have the most impact on power usage as just blocking a few advertisement videos (both due to bandwidth and decompression) has a major power difference. The available options for IE ad blocking seem well behind Firefox.

User avatar
SYSTEM
Posts: 2041
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:19 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: IE Battery conversation

#2 Post by SYSTEM »

webfork wrote:Microsoft continues to make this case for battery efficiency and I'm not sure why. I'm happy there's an emphasis on power and well-written software certainly increases battery life, but this just seems so incredibly thin. Like at their marketing meeting, someone said "We're not competing on features, speed, compatibility, platform independence, privacy, plugins, or open source so ... does anyone care about battery life?" It's like they went with their absolute last option.
Edge is competitive in speed and compatibility, but not really ahead of the pack in either.

I think emphasizing power usage is not a bad idea. I bet there are users out there for whom power usage is the #1 criterion.
webfork wrote: Also ad blockers probably have the most impact on power usage as just blocking a few advertisement videos (both due to bandwidth and decompression) has a major power difference. The available options for IE ad blocking seem well behind Firefox.
What do you mean? Firefox doesn't have a built-in ad blocker.

If you mean ad blocking extensions, Edge gained extension support in the Anniversary Update, and Adblock Plus is now available for it. (Although uBlock Origin is usually considered better, and it doesn't have an Edge version.)

The only major browser that has a built-in ad blocker is Opera, and even they have the ad blocker disabled by default. I figure that blocking ads by default would likely result in a severe backlash where a large number of websites would simply block the browser in question.
My YouTube channel | Release date of my 13th playlist: August 24, 2020

User avatar
webfork
Posts: 10818
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:06 pm
Location: US, Texas
Contact:

Re: IE Battery conversation

#3 Post by webfork »

SYSTEM wrote:I bet there are users out there for whom power usage is the #1 criterion.
Maybe there's some new market data suggesting that, but it was news to me when Microsoft started talking about it. Speed and compatibility with important sites have always been at the top of the list; it seems for people that if it doesn't work well with a site they need or want to use 10x a day, they don't care. Maybe if all the speed benchmarks come down to milliseconds, you've got to look to other metrics.

Also if a browser developed by the company that developed the underlying operating system (and increasingly in control of the hardware) doesn't have a power advantage, that would be surprising. I suspect it's much harder for cross-platform tools.
SYSTEM wrote:Firefox doesn't have a built-in ad blocker
I'm speaking of the available options for ad blocking. There are a nice variety for Firefox and very little for IE.

Also the private mode in Firefox is blocking more and more junk under the heading of "tracking protection", though I can't say whether many people are using that or if that ends up blocking any flash media or video.
SYSTEM wrote:... blocking ads by default would likely result in a severe backlash
Agreed. Media sources who rely on ad revenue are certainly looking for anyone to go after for hurting their revenue stream. It's unfortunate because advertisements get more and more unpleasant both in terms of content, privacy, and distraction with time. I can't find the article that talked about it originally but that whole topic is just a race to the bottom. I keep hoping someone will work collaboratively with an advertisement system that's based on content while still being lightweight, unobtrusive, and respecting of user privacy.

User avatar
SYSTEM
Posts: 2041
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:19 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: IE Battery conversation

#4 Post by SYSTEM »

webfork wrote: Also the private mode in Firefox is blocking more and more junk under the heading of "tracking protection", though I can't say whether many people are using that or if that ends up blocking any flash media or video.
AFAIK, Firefox tracking protection is only intended to block tracking (e.g. analytics) and not ads.
webfork wrote:
SYSTEM wrote:... blocking ads by default would likely result in a severe backlash
Agreed. Media sources who rely on ad revenue are certainly looking for anyone to go after for hurting their revenue stream. It's unfortunate because advertisements get more and more unpleasant both in terms of content, privacy, and distraction with time. I can't find the article that talked about it originally but that whole topic is just a race to the bottom. I keep hoping someone will work collaboratively with an advertisement system that's based on content while still being lightweight, unobtrusive, and respecting of user privacy.
The situation is that more and more users block ads, and website authors try to extract the same amount of money from the increasingly smaller group that doesn't block them. As a result, ads have been becoming more annoying. That drives even more people to block ads. We're in a negative feedback loop.

The most notable attempt of solving the problem is the Acceptable Ads program of Adblock Plus.

I personally had Acceptable Ads enabled when I used ABP, but then I switched to uBlock Origin because it's technically better.
My YouTube channel | Release date of my 13th playlist: August 24, 2020

User avatar
webfork
Posts: 10818
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:06 pm
Location: US, Texas
Contact:

Re: IE Battery conversation

#5 Post by webfork »

SYSTEM wrote:AFAIK, Firefox tracking protection is only intended to block tracking (e.g. analytics) and not ads.
It is blocking small flash elements and the FAQ (which I can't find the link for) noted that there may be site breakage in the course of blocking advertising trackers, which constitutes a fairly thin ad-blocker. The Consumerist is saying it's actively blocking ads, so that might be a battery/bandwidth improvement. I've only been using it occasionally and don't have a clear view there.

User avatar
webfork
Posts: 10818
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:06 pm
Location: US, Texas
Contact:

Re: IE Battery conversation

#6 Post by webfork »

webfork wrote: I've only been using it occasionally and don't have a clear view there.
Update here: firefox appears to use Disconnect.me basic or strict protection.

Image

(This image is from the nightly build, but it looks the same in regular Firefox.)

Anyway, the disconnect.me site boasts battery savings.

Post Reply