The only issue I have with massive number of tabs, is the start-up time of the browser, which increase dramatically with the number of tabs (it's at least quadratic).
That's how it's supposed to work, but for me the tabs seem to consume memory even when they're not loaded (after a restart). I completely can't understand how this is a difficult thing to implement properly.
8 or 16 gigabytes of RAM (got an upgrade)
8 virtual desktops, about 5 occupied with browser windows
1 to 20 windows per desktop
1 to 20 tabs per window
That is likely 100 to 300 tabs total. No, I really don't want to close them. I want more open, but performance is a problem. I like to keep going back to tabs that have been open for months. It hurts to close tabs because then I lose track of what I am working on; the scroll bar position matters and the page might even be gone from the web. Sometimes I write a comment on a web site like this one, then let it sit for days if I am unsure I want to post it.
Even if I didn't lose my state, reloading a bookmark is slow.
With bookmarks, deletion is a pain.
How would I even know when to bookmark something? I might open 10 links from a news site or search engine, each in a different tab. Do you propose that I bookmark them immediately, even though they are probably tabs that I will soon close and never wish to see again? If I see the page and think I want to consider it for a few hours maybe (or longer; how should I know?) do I bookmark it? Perhaps I should wait the few hours or days...? Why should I even have to make this decision?
Are you exaggerating ? If not, may I suggest an alternative way to browse the web ?
I use multiple virtual desktops. Each desktop logically caters to one task. Each browser window is logically grouped under one activity.
For example my desktop may look like this :
Virtual Desktop 1 ( Communications ):
* Outlook
* Lync
* Flowdock etc
Virtual Desktop 2 ( Development ):
* ConEmu/ Command prompt
* Intellij
* Browser Window with multiple tabs for referring stuff
Virtual Desktop 3 ( Procrastination ):
Browser Window 1:
* Various pages opened from HN
Browser Window 2:
* Various pages concerning World War 2
* Various pages investigating different investment strategies.
The advantage of this approach is that once you are done you can close browser windows and tabs. Done with researching World War 2 ? Close that window, all associated tabs close automatically. If you accidentally close a tab, you can always bring it back with Ctrl + Shift + T. If you want to refer to a previously opened window, you can always do a simple search in browser history.
Keeps your system responsive and makes it easy to find things.