Solution: Install and enable Flash Blocker Add-in on all of your Mac Browsers.
Details
From the very beginning I was impressed by the MacBook Air 13-inch (2011) performance. Everything was very snappy, and I never saw the "spinning wait cursor", or better known as the Mac Beachball. In the worst case this can become the "The Spinning Beach Ball of Death" (SBBOD).
However, starting about two months ago, I begin noticing the occasional brief Beachball. Recently it has become much more severe, sometimes requiring a reboot to regain my normal, excellent MBA performance.
I also begin to notice a number of users posting in these forums that they were also often getting the Mac Beachball. Most of them seem to think Evernote was causing the Beachball. Maybe it was. Or maybe it was caused by Firefox/Flash running in the background. You would be amazed by how many ads on every web page are displayed using Flash. And these ads run continuously.
After some research I have discovered at least one cause of the excessive Beachball:
Combination of FireFox Mac 14 AND Adobe Flash.
Flash is the main culprit here, but perhaps Firefox needs to do a better job using/integrating Flash into the browser.
I have found two web articles that provide some insight into this issue:
Many web pages have content you don't need, such as ads, but which still use CPU resources to display its contents (see the plugin section below). Some extensions allow you to hide bothering content:
Flashblock allows you to selectively enable and disable Flash content on websites.
NoScript allows you to selectively enable and disable all scripts running on websites
I learned some time ago that running the browser Add-ins that disable Flash can result in a major increase in battery run time. I normally turn on these Add-ins when I am mobile with my MBA, but I tend to turn them off when I have my MBA at my desk, plugged in to power and network.
I have now changed this, and I have the Flash blocker Add-ins turned ON all the time. When I see a web page with a Flash video I want to watch, all I need do is click once on the Flash object. I also run the Flash blocker add-ins for Safari and Chrome.
A key tool is the Mac Activity Monitor. Just type "Activity Monitor" in to the Spotlight Search to find the app, and double-click on it. This will display all of the processes running on your Mac. Click on the "%CPU" column (once or twice until it shows %CPU with a down arrow). This will put the process using the most CPU at the top of the list.
You can now monitor Firefox, and how much CPU it is using.
Please post your experience with the Mac Beachball here.
It would be helpful to all to learn of other causes and solutions.
Idea
JMichaelTX 4,119
Issue: FireFox Mac 14 May Cause High CPU Usage
Solution: Install and enable Flash Blocker Add-in on all of your Mac Browsers.
Details
From the very beginning I was impressed by the MacBook Air 13-inch (2011) performance. Everything was very snappy, and I never saw the "spinning wait cursor", or better known as the Mac Beachball.
In the worst case this can become the "The Spinning Beach Ball of Death" (SBBOD).
However, starting about two months ago, I begin noticing the occasional brief Beachball. Recently it has become much more severe, sometimes requiring a reboot to regain my normal, excellent MBA performance.
I also begin to notice a number of users posting in these forums that they were also often getting the Mac Beachball. Most of them seem to think Evernote was causing the Beachball. Maybe it was. Or maybe it was caused by Firefox/Flash running in the background. You would be amazed by how many ads on every web page are displayed using Flash. And these ads run continuously.
After some research I have discovered at least one cause of the excessive Beachball:
Flash is the main culprit here, but perhaps Firefox needs to do a better job using/integrating Flash into the browser.
I have found two web articles that provide some insight into this issue:
From en.softonic.com/mac'>Ref#1: Pros and Cons of FF Mac 14.0.1:
From en-US/kb/firefox-uses-too-many-cpu-resources-how-fix#w_disabling-cpu-consuming-extensions-and-themes'>Ref#2: -- Firefox uses too many CPU resources - How to fix
I learned some time ago that running the browser Add-ins that disable Flash can result in a major increase in battery run time. I normally turn on these Add-ins when I am mobile with my MBA, but I tend to turn them off when I have my MBA at my desk, plugged in to power and network.
I have now changed this, and I have the Flash blocker Add-ins turned ON all the time. When I see a web page with a Flash video I want to watch, all I need do is click once on the Flash object. I also run the Flash blocker add-ins for Safari and Chrome.
A key tool is the Mac Activity Monitor. Just type "Activity Monitor" in to the Spotlight Search to find the app, and double-click on it. This will display all of the processes running on your Mac. Click on the "%CPU" column (once or twice until it shows %CPU with a down arrow). This will put the process using the most CPU at the top of the list.
You can now monitor Firefox, and how much CPU it is using.
Please post your experience with the Mac Beachball here.
It would be helpful to all to learn of other causes and solutions.
EDIT: Fix Ref URLs
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