Web Browsing Redefined

Posted by Dave

Hello World.

If you haven’t heard of Mozilla, well then… now you have. Mozilla is an open-source project designed to make the internet an easier thing to use. Being open-source means that it is completely free, and that anyone who is interested can change the program, add to it, or totally remake it. What this means for you, however, is that there are heaps of free things for you to use.

Recently, Mozilla released a new web-browser called Firefox. Firefox works the same way as Internet Explorer or Netscape, only better and with extra features. Some of these feature include pop-up blocking to keep away those annoying ads, tabbed browsing (meaning you can keep multiple pages open in the same window), and Google search right from the toolbar.

If you are not already using Firefox, you should be.

But the best thing about Firefox is the extensions feature. Extensions are programs designed by users that add something to Firefox. These could be anything from changing the way it looks, adding a toolbar, or simply adding a single setting. I have discussed some of my favourite extensions below:

Gmail Notifier - This extension puts a small icon into the lower-right hand corner of Firefox and pops up a message when you receive a message into your Gmail inbox, much the same way MSN messenger does for Hotmail. (must have a Gmail account for this to work)
FoxyTunes - This extension allows you to control your music player from within Firefox. It puts a small icon in the lower-right hand corner which expands to show player controls. You can select almost any music player from the included list, including Windows Media Player, iTunes and Winamp.
RadialContext - This one changes your right click menu into a radial one. It is a little confusing to use, but when you get used to it can make navigating much easier.
Super Drag’n'Drop - This extension allows you to “drag” any link to anywhere on the page to open it in a new tab. It makes opening new links much quicker and easier if you are opening many at once. You can also “drag” any picture to save it to your computer.

So, what are you waiting for, go get Firefox now!

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