The Newest Firefox Add-On's I Can't Live Without

I've written before about various Firefox add-ons - the micro-applications that install inside the popular Firefox web browser to expand its functionality. These are the newest ones that I absolutely can't live without.

Better Gmail

What can't this plug-in do? If you use Gmail, you will appreciate it greatly.

It provides more than 25 options to let you customize the way Google's Gmail web-based mail client works. You can force all mail links that you click on websites to open in Gmail, force Gmail to encrypt your connection to protect your privacy, and integrate Google's web-based RSS reader into the Gmail interface. There are plenty of interface tweaks, too, such as the ability to hide the now useless "invitations" box and the "labels" box.

One of the most useful features is Filter Assistant. With it enabled, when you read an email that you want to create a filter for you can immediately create the filter from inside the e-mail frame (eliminating a trip to the Gmail settings page).

You can download Better Gmail from this link.

Download Statusbar

This tool integrates Firefox's download window into a small statusbar at the bottom of your browser. When you mouse over the progress bar for a particular download you can see all the stats, such as percent downloaded and estimated time remaining.

It is a great way to tidy up your browser, and it is incredibly robust with complete visual and action customization. Download Statusbar can be downloaded from this address.

asterfox

Fasterfox is a tool that optimizes Firefox's settings for maximum speed. You have several options to choose from but I just keep mine on "Super Charged."

Where Fasterfox really comes in handy is its Enhanced Prefetching feature. It uses an idle connection to scan the links on a web page you have open and prefetches the data. When you want to click one it will load immediately as Fasterfox has already done the brunt of the work.

Fasterfox is available at here.

Tab

Tab integrates Internet Explorer's rendering engine inside Firefox. This way, if you encounter a website that does not render properly inside Firefox, you can click the IE-Tab icon and the page will immediately reload in Internet Explorer - in the same tab (or in a new tab if you choose, but still in Firefox).

In the past I've recommended solutions that launch the site you are viewing inside Internet Explorer, but IE-Tab cuts out the middle man and brings Internet Explorer inside Firefox.

IE-Tab is available from here.

PDF-Download

Ever annoyed when you click on a PDF link and have to wait what seems like an eternity for the Adobe PDF integrated reader to load? Join the club.

With PDF-Download, you can control what happens when you click a PDF link - options include opening with it the default browser plug-in (i.e., slow death), converting it to HTML to view it, downloading it to your desktop, or opening it with a alternate reader (such as Sumatra PDF Portable).

PDF-Download will help you save your sanity, and it is available here.

SpamAvert

Last, but not least, is SpamAvert. This tool allows you to insert random email addresses into web forms that you don't trust. Just right click and select "Paste SpamAvert address" in the form field where you want the random address to go. Subsequently (per your settings), the web mail interface for the email address will open unobtrusively in the background so as soon as you are done filling out the form you can click over and see the email that the site sent you. The add-on remembers the addresses you use so that you can go back and check them later.

SpamAvert also subscribes to an RSS feed for the mailbox and adds it to your bookmarks menu, so you can check for new messages without even pressing a key on the keyboard or worrying about passwords.

Download SpamAvert.