Revealed: Top 11 Firefox Browser Extensions.

It must be Browser Week on Mac360. If choice is good, and a browser is a requirement to use a Mac on the internet, then Mac users are in heavenly bliss.

Firefox usage on both Mac and Windows continues to grow, even on Mac360, in no small part to the extensions available for the popular open source browser.

Extensions are little utilities that can be plugged into Firefox to add functionality. Hundreds of add-ons, including extensions, are available for Firefox that won’t work on Safari, Camino or other Mac browsers.

Click Here for the Firefox Add-ons page and you’ll see what I mean. There’s extensions, themes to change the look of Firefox, Plug-ins, and more, all designed to add functionality and features to Firefox, Mac or Windows.

For what it’s worth, not all extensions for Firefox that work OK on the Windows version will work on the Mac. That’s a shortcoming we’re used to on the Mac side of the fence.

Add-ons for Firefox let you customize the browser to your particular needs, so every extension’s value is subjective. Here’s my Top 11 Firefox Extensions in a vain attempt to get something good for everyone, Mac users, Windows users, and the ambidextrous browser users among us.

#11 - iMacros
We use our browsers a lot; some of us using more than one browser at a time. iMacro has some geeky functions, but works great for the rest of us as a web form filler.

iMacro can automate image and file downloads. Think of it as a tape recorder for your browsing experience. Record actions once, playback and do it all again automatically.

#10 - Customize Google
Without a doubt, Google is the most utilized search engine, Mac or Windows. Google has mail, chat, search, and a gazillion other cool functions.

Customize Google is a Firefox extension to enhance Google, including the addition of links to Yahoo, Ask, MSN, and others, yet can also eliminate Google’s ads.

#9 - Visual Bookmarks
OmniWeb on the Mac has something similar to Visual Bookmarks, except they’re not bookmarks.

For Firefox, Visual Bookmarks creates a thumbnail preview of a site’s web page. I don’t know if you’ll save time, but I respond better to visual stimulus, vs. text stimulus.

#8 - Internote
I admit I’m not the most organized Mac or Windows user, despite half a dozen utilities designed to get me there. I’m not there. I love Stickies.

Internote for Firefox is, well, for lack of a better word, it’s a sticky for a particular web site. Make a note about something you saw on the site, and next time you visit, the sticky note pops up. How cool is that?

#7 - Total Validator
Geek Alert! Web developers love Firefox because it renders pages, uh, well, acceptably, and there are so many developer tools.

My favorite is Total Validator, a little 5-in-1 Swiss Army Knife utility which validates HTML, XHTML, and other elements for a web site.

#6 - Scrapbook
Most browsers let you save web pages for later viewing. So does Firefox with Scrapbook.

You can save the whole web page, a whole site (with restrictions), even snippets of pages, which is very handy. Then, organize all your snippets and pages and make them searchable.

#5 - Foxmarks Bookmarks
I bounce around from Mac to Windows to Linux machines throughout the day, and tracking bookmarks used to be a pain in the rear.

Foxmarks Bookmarks Synchronizer, when it works, works very well and keeps all my bookmarks in complete synchronization. I use the Mac more than other platforms, so I can sync Mac bookmarks differently.

#4 - NoScript
As a Mac user, I tend not to worry much about security issues, but that’s not the case when I switch to Windows. I use NoScript to add a little more protection to my PC.

NoScript lets you control Java, JavaScript and other content that could damage your computer. Windows users need this.

#3 - Fast Video Download
Everyone saves video these days, but browsers don’t make it easy. Enter Fast Video Download for Firefox.

It saves video files from YouTube to MySpace and beyond. Embedded video has exploded on the web and we seem to want to collect and save and forward anything of interest. Fast Video Download helps.

#2 - Wizz RSS News Reader
If you’re not using RSS, you need to. Trust me. Mac or Windows. Safari or Firefox or NetNewsWire or NewsFire or whatever.

RSS just makes browsing faster, easier, more comprehensive, and does more in less time. Safari’s RSS is elegant; typical Apple. RSS in Firefox is not and still many Windows users don’t even know how to spell RSS.

The Wizz RSS News Reader expands on Firefox’s shallow implementation of RSS with more customizable features and languages. Features are not always a good thing, but if you want customization, this is it.

#1 - Themes for Firefox
OK, this isn’t an extension but it extends what Firefox does, which is customize. Personally, I love the Mac with UNO on Safari, but your mileage may vary.

Firefox has scads of themes which can change the look and feel of your browser. Apple doesn’t want us to customize our Macs, but Firefox says, “do anything you want” and guess what happens? People customize.

My favorite theme is Vista-aero. On the Windows side I like MyFirefox, which is a theme to make Firefox look like Windows Internet Explorer 7.x running on Vista.

That’s 11, but there are many, many more. Hundreds of extensions, plug-ins, themes for Firefox. Still, I have a major issue with the way Firefox runs on my Mac. It looks like and feels like Firefox on my PC. It won’t get out of the way, and that attitude is made worse by the dozen add-ons I’ve added to Firefox. It doesn’t make it better.

So what? So I find myself using Camino more because it feels like a Mac application, but all the time wishing it had some of those great Firefox extensions. Sigh. Go figure.

Got a great Firefox extension you want to share with Mac360 readers? What’s hot on Safari? Talk back to us in the Comments section below.

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