Seems like Firefox is now too big for 32bit systems.
http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Firefox-is-bursting-at-the-seams-1393772.html
It's a somewhat known fact that OS developers are forcing users to switch to x64 systems, even if x86 could still manage more than 4 GB of RAM if desired.
That article/blurb is pretty light on details of the problem, and possible solution, if any was reached. Also, why can't they optimize some more after the initial build? Are they still using the same optimizations from the first comiles from 4 years ago?
They need to quuit following in the footsteps of Mickey$oft. Just because HDD are bigger and systems are faster, that doesn't mean you should start getting sloppy with code. I have some older Dells that no longer can bowse the net since the browser sucks up all the memory the system has.
I can't stand the amount of RAM Firefox uses, it's ridiculous. But on the other hand I like the browser over all others I've tried.
I was an Opera user a long time until I grew tired of not being compatible with a few pages which the programmers didn't seem to care.
And, the solution is to just compile for 32 bit under 64 bit Windows.
The extra ram is there, & this solves the problem.