Lately, I’ve been noticing a disquieting issue with Firefox 2.0. It typically seems to die around 850 – 892 MB RAM utilization (total RAM utilization will vary); sometimes, I get lucky enough to get higher, toward almost 1 GB RAM utilization before it croaks.
When I got my Mac Pro as a stock configuration, I was thinking, “Gee, is 2 GB RAM enough?” At first, things were fine: I was able to launch plenty of different apps and run them concurrently without a hitch. True, some things ran a bit slower than others, and I wasn’t really putting a serious demand on most of the running processes. But, inevitably, I began to push the machine harder and harder as my computing needs escalated. Finally, I acquired additional much-needed RAM, and voila! Fun times, folks, fun times.
The Exception (Duh-Duh-DUH!)
That is, except for Firefox 2.0.
Even after the RAM upgrade, Firefox was still max’ing out around the 900 MB-ish limit on RAM utilization before crashing and taking all of its windows and tabs with it (‘natch).
So now I’ve gotten into the habit of running both Firefox and Safari concurrently and dividing the tabs and windows between the two apps, so that if something happens to Firefox, I’ll still be able to keep running with Safari while Firefox is restarting and reloading all of its contents. This workaround has saved me quite a bit of time, because it frequently takes quite some time for Firefox to relaunch all of the last known windows and tabs.
The Next Step
Quite fortuitously, Firefox 3.0 was released on June 17. I even reported on it, as the Firefox folks were attempting to set a Guinness world record for most software downloads in a 24-hour period.
I’ve downloaded Firefox 3.0 and am now contemplating the best way to operate both Firefox 2.0 and 3.0 concurrently (and perhaps even with Safari also running). Once I’ve determined that Firefox 3.0 is more stable, then I can retire Firefox 2.0.
Hopefully, the Curse of the Memory Limit will be lifted!
N.B.
As of this writing, I haven’t heard any further news about whether Firefox has made a Guinness world record. The note on the “Spread Firefox” page for the world record attempt mentions that it may take a few days to come up with the results. So, like you, I need to practice some more patience. 
