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For past couple of weeks, I have observed that whenever I boot-up the latest version of Skype, my Powerbook 15 starts to get warmer, and fan kicks in more often. Making Skype calls slowed down the whole machine, and for the longest time I could not figure out why. Well, accidentally, using the activity monitor explained why. During a course of a chat with Andy Abramson, I saw that Skype was taking up nearly 27% of the total CPU. In idle state it takes about 4% of the total CPU, versus Gizmo Project that consumes less than half-a-percent of CPU power. Anyone care to explain the technical reasons for this, and if Windows people experience the same CPU-hogging?
18 threads?! That’s part of the problem right there. Anyone who’s done any systems programming knows that you minimize your use of threads to the extent possible. Despite the fact that they are “lightweight”, they still suck resources, in many cases unnecessarily. Also, their implementations on different platforms can cause subtle bugs when you are using common code in different environments.
I can tell you that it’s taken nearly a year to get the threading right in my client. Yeah, I suck, but to optimize things like CPU usage in all situations just takes working things out over time.
Thanks. I was wondering the same. I have switched to Gizmo.
My immediate speculation would be that you are a becoming a “supernode” with great frequency:
http://www.corante.com/getreal/archives/2005/05/01/skype_be_afraid.php
note the URL above should have underscores between words – here’s tinyurl:
http://tinyurl.com/7cnl9
It has been discussed in this thread.
http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=32439&start=30
I pulled the Macintosh beta off my powerbook after about a day of watching my machine slowdown. My son also pulled the Windows beta from his new Windows XP box because it was too buggy.
We communicate fine now with the last stable version of Skype.
Besides the possibility of your PC becoming a supernode there could be another reason for the CPU hog – Skype uses 256 bit AES encryption to encrypt the data stream.
I’m going on your record Om. Skype sucks period! They changed passwords on mine and others accounts and we can’t get into Skype. See the Skype forums. This is a MAJOR blunder on Skype’s. There is no telling how many customers they lost. And EBay paid how many billion for this sucking PIG!!
The real question is why are you using Grab? Screen capture functionality is built into the OS. Command-shift-3 for a normal shot, C-S-4 for a selection or add caps lock to the mix if you want just a window.
Om,
What version are you using?
I have no issues with the new Beta (December 1st) on my 17″ Powerbook.
Bastiaan