For desktop, caching recently closed tabs makes a lot of sense, especially when people typically have a bunch of tabs open. As explained in Google's public documentation from last year, Chrome for Android already has its own way of caching closed tabs - albeit much more basic compared to the upcoming improvement (it doesn't freeze the page to reduce CPU utilization).
If this feature sounds familiar to you, that's because the concept isn't exactly new. It's unclear how Chrome will cache closed tabs under memory pressure, but we think Google will partially instant-load a few tabs (opposed to all). It's like you never misclicked the close button - a big win in a positive web surfing experience. If the person restores the tab within 15 seconds, Chrome will pull the data from its cache instead of reloading the webpage, giving the impression of instantaneous load. When the user misclicks on a tab's close button, Chrome will no longer immediately clear the page from its memory. The underlining code that powers this feature functions similarly to Chrome's back-forward cache (BFcache), Google's method to load a webpage instantly when using the browser's back and forward buttons. One of three commits that enables Chrome to cache closed tabs briefly.
