Firefox 93 and newer editions will work slower with old hardware - no more OpenGL compositing

Svyatko · September 16, 2021, 8:35pm

With Firefox 93 Mozilla is throwing away OpenGL compositing (rendering), only Webrender will stay.
User will need compatible GPU, otherwise FF will use software Webrender.
I cannot find exact data about Webrender system requirements. It worked on AMD Terascale 2 with OpenGL 3.3 support. Maybe it’ll work with all AMD/ATI Terascale chips (Radeon HD 2000 series and newer), but not previous ones.

Another flaw: even with fully compatible GPU with slow CPU Webrender works slower than OpenGL compositing (~ 20% slower).
Here for slow CPU I mean this: using FF loads CPU to 100% continuously.

You may use FF ESR (78, 91) for some time: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Release_Management/Calendar

Mozilla is eliminating desktop users.

Svyatko · September 20, 2021, 9:38pm

Bug filed: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1731663

Possibly answer is in https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1677825

arvidjaar · September 21, 2021, 6:50am

Quoting from this bug:

We have never shipped the OpenGL compositor on Linux

so I am really curious what this thread is about.

Svyatko · September 21, 2021, 5:07pm

It worked for me.

Svyatko · September 21, 2021, 5:24pm

Mozilla wrote wrong answer: 1731688 - OpenGL compositing works faster than Webrender, but is throwing away

At least I get system requirements for Webrender: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1731664

WebRender will work without hardware acceleration on all platforms.

WebRender requires D3D10.0 level hardware on desktop on OpenGL ES3 on mobile.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL_ES

AMD Terascale and actual GCN-architecture (Windows, Linux)
Nvidia (Android), Tesla G80+: Linux, Windows 7+
Intel HD Graphics Sandy Bridge and higher (Linux)

Svyatko · October 22, 2021, 9:08pm

FF ESR 91.x uses OpenGL renderer with additional force enablings and disablings. And OpenGL renderer works faster than software Webrender.
Previously I mentioned that OpenGL renderer works faster than hardware Webrender (at least in some cases).
Adding here unusable for desktops Proton interface, which I cannot disable. OK, I can disable it, but after that FF becomes even more unusable.

So I wonder: what they are doing there, in Mozilla? :sarcastic:

glistwan · October 24, 2021, 10:31am

Is it better with Chrome? Does it still use OpenGL? Maybe it’s just difficult to mantain and that’s why Firefox is dropping it.
I’m just speculating here I have no idea actually why they are doing this

Svyatko · October 26, 2021, 7:58pm

I’m not using Chrome.
Mozilla directress set huge salary for herself. She needs to proclaim old projects being useless, and her projects being outstanding.
Some Mozilla projects were abandoned, some developers were fired. FF market share declines speedily.
Perestroika-era improvement.

Fraser_Bell · October 28, 2021, 1:28am

Mozilla is falling apart.

mrmazda · October 28, 2021, 9:35am

That started at the inception of the Mozilla Suite replacement by Firefox. At least what made SeaMonkey good mostly still makes it better. FF UI has really been degraded since Chrome was born for FF to emulate. Because my primary browser is (2 versions of) SeaMonkey, my primary FF profile remains at ESR52, used only for specific purposes where the UI matters more than security.

Fraser_Bell · October 28, 2021, 11:49pm

Thanks, old friend. When Installing and Setting Up 15.3, I spotted the SeaMonkey option, followed the page, and found the information interesting. I have therefore installed it and am preparing to test it out. I am especially pleased to see it is no longer controlled by Mozilla, which in my mind has been destroying Firefox for the past several years.