Essential Firefox add-ons Make surfing safer and more fun

There are several different popular browsers available today for
Windows, OS X and Linux. Internet Explorer is the most popular on the
Windows platform but Firefox comes in second and now has nearly 20% of
the browser market share. One of the great things about Firefox is that
you can extend it by installing add-ons. These add-ons add features and
fun to to the browser. Here is an overview of some essential add-ons for
Firefox.

Google Toolbar

The first add-on for any serious surfer is the Google Toolbar. Provided
by the search engine people it adds lots of features to your web browser
including a SpellCheck button that hunts out any spelling mistakes
whenever you type in a web form, including web-based email and forums.
It also makes it easier to use Google’s search engine and has some
integration with Gmail. Other features include automatic form filling, a
PageRank display (which tells you how Google assesses the importance of
the page you’re viewing) and Google Notebook integration.

DownThemAll

If you find yourself downloading lots of MP3, AVI, PDF or image files
from the web then DownThemAll is a must add-on. The DownThemAll (or dTa)
extension is a download manager that adds simple to use but powerful
download capabilities to your browser. DownThemAll lets you download all
the links or images contained in a webpage while allowing you to refine
what is actually downloaded.

Fast Dial

Fast Dial is a simple but yet effective Firefox add-on. When you open a
new tab on Firefox (and I do hope you are using tabs), Fast Dial
replaces blank tabs with a panel of thumbnails of your favorite sites.
You just click the thumbnail of the site you want to visit and you are
taken straight there. No more routing around in your bookmarks!

Cooliris

The add-on with the biggest 'wow' factor is definitely Cooliris.
Cooliris adds a '3D Wall' to your browser that lets you move quickly
through images and videos. With an integrated search for Google Image,
YouTube, Flickr and Hulu it lets you see, search and browse Internet
images in a way I didn’t think would possible on a browser.

Music

If you listen to music from your iTunes collection while surfing the web
then FoxyTunes lets you control (pause, play, skip etc) your music and
find lyrics, covers and videos from within the browser. Just click on
the orange note icon that appears in the status bar and you are good to
go. If you don’t use iTunes then FoxyTunes also supports WinAmp,
Windows Media Player, Real Player and many other players.

Shopping

If you like shopping on-line for your gadgets then two great Firefox
add-ons are the eBay Companion and the Amazon Shopper.

With the eBay Companion shopping is safer with built-in warnings for
spoof or lookalike sites. Being an auction site it is important to keep
up to date with your activities. The eBay companion provides an
at-a-glance update on all your eBay activities including your what you
are watching, buying or selling.

The Amazon Shopper gives you an integrated international Amazon Product
Search (including Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.ca,
Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp), an Instant Price Check feature to price check
any selected text or link and an Amazon Price Watcher. It is a valuable
tools for those who shop at Amazon regularly.

Others add-ons worth mentioning

There are literally thousands of Firefox add-ons here is a list of a few
more which are worth investigating:

Video DownloadHelper - The easy way to download and convert Web videos
from hundreds of YouTube-like sites.
Forecastfox - Get international weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com,
and display it in any toolbar or statusbar.
Read It Later - Read It Later allows you to save pages of interest to
read later. It eliminates cluttering of bookmarks with sites that are
merely of a one-time interest.
meebo - Instant messaging across all major IM networks built right into
Firefox.
AutoPager - Automatically loads the next page of a site inline when you
reach the end of the current page for infinite scrolling of content.