I have a cruddy old tower PC that was born with Windows 8.1 then "upgraded" to Windows 10. Sue me. It still works for what I need, which is pretty minimal. Still running stand-alone student versions of MS Word and MS Excel. Not flush with funds, and really don't want another computer, tablet, or other kiddie toy.
Got totally frustrated with Google hogging memory. I emptied trash, deleted search history, etc. etc. Still the Task Manager showed Google using 97% of my computer - memory, disc drive, CPU. The successive "updates" from Google and Microsoft over the years have swamped it entirely. I uninstalled my antivirus program* (NOT recommended) because it was chewing up whatever Google didn't get, with nine background processes all waiting to jump in (Google showed 20+). *Never had this problem with Kaspersky. Sorry it is gone, or at least isn't what it was
Thought I'd try a different browser, but the recommended one I picked will not function on my computer at all - inadequate resources. Lucky for me the publisher gave me a refund same day after I tried to install it.
So, I went back to Firefox, which I used back in the '90s. Checked the memory usage the first couple days and it looked better than Google; but I had to choose Google for my search engine, and of course use gmail. Not so good now; programs run OK but the keyboard and mouse response times are ridiculous and getting worse. And there are interrupts while watching YouTube. Didn't have those things with Google.
Whether this is Google sneaking in the back door, or Firefox overloading the system, it just frustrates the heck out of me. I count to 30 or more waiting for an email to open. Or close. Or move to a folder. Sometimes a screen just hangs. And no, I do not want Firefox archiving my credit card or bank information anywhere, you shouldn't even be asking that; this is a PC, not a cell phone.
Firefox is still usable but it's not making me happy. I went to a lot of trouble to make the change, but will do it again now to go back to the evil I already knew.
