Google’s Chrome web browser is a memory hog. It’s been that way for a while and it’s somewhat annoying. However, I’m still a big fan of Chrome because it integrates so well in my day-to-day operations. So much so that I find it hard to move away. I was using Firefox for a time, then switched back to Chrome, only to switch to Brave (which disappointed me when it stopped syncing), then back to Chrome.
So it seems that I’m sticking with Chrome for the time being. I’m even using Chrome on my new Mac Mini, much to the disdain of my intern who is frequently encouraging me to use Safari. But I’m sticking with Chrome for the time being. Even though my main computer is now a Mac, I still use Windows PCs quite frequently, so Chrome helps me keep everything uniform and synced.
I’m also a big fan of some of the extensions available in the Chrome Web Store. They offer some handy features that aren’t included in the default installation of Chrome. One that I discovered some time back was the Great Suspender and it worked marvelously. Remember when I mentioned that Chrome is a memory hog? Well, the Great Suspender’s claim to fame was that it suspended the processes associated with tabs in Chrome that sat idle for a period of time. This freed up some resources that my go-to web browser really didn’t need to hold in reserve. I don’t recall how long I’ve been using the Great Suspender, but it’s been at least a year, if not more.
So this week I was disappointed when a message popped up on one of my Windows machines telling me that the Great Suspender had been removed from my browser due to malware. Perhaps disappointed isn’t the correct term – maybe I should say that I actually shocked. This was an extension that I have not found extremely valuable and useful, but I came to rely on it. I decided to wait and see if I would get the notification on my Mac and sure enough, Sunday morning a message popped up telling me that the Great Suspender had been removed from my Mac as well.
It’s a shame when an extension goes bad, but I doubt it was the intention of the original developer. An article on Windows Central described that situation, saying that the previous owner of the extension planned to sell last summer. Apparently, that’s exactly what they did, resulting in the new owners taking advantage of the situation.
The extension’s page on the Chrome Web Store now has a 404 error page left in its place. It’s a shameful end to an otherwise glorious past.