extensions

Preload Firefox for speed

It hasn't been updated since February 2005, but Firefox Preloader continues to help users who want faster boot times while maintaining a heavy load of tabs and extensions. Weighing in with an installer at 840Kb and using about 30MB of RAM, the program dramatically improved start-up times on Firefox when loaded with tabs and extensions.

How dramatic were the improvements? Without using the Preloader, it took 32.1 seconds for Firefox to open, and 2 minutes, 34.2 seconds to finish loading all the tabs. With the Preloader running, Firefox opened in 7.8 seconds, with another 1 minute, … Read more

Firefox Preloader still works, mostly

It hasn't been updated since February 2005, but the free Firefox Preloader continues to help users who want faster boot times while maintaining a heavy load of tabs and extensions. Weighing in with an installer at 840kb and using around 30MB of RAM, the program gave me dramatically improved start-up times on a fully loaded Firefox 3.0.7.

Somebody running a clean, unencumbered version of Firefox probably wouldn't find Firefox Preloader all that useful, so I tested it against Firefox with 22 extensions and about 40 open tabs. The extensions ranged from the bulky Cooliris to the … Read more

Straightforward interface

It may be inelegantly named, but Extension List Dumper performs its task of displaying a list of all Firefox extensions with grace. It's easy to view and save all the data about plug-ins that you could want to know.

Extension List Dumper's user interface is accessed from the Add-on's menu through the newly added Dump List button. A window pops up containing all of your installed extensions, themes, and plug-ins. From there, you can opt to display all or some of the information. For example, you can choose to display the HTML code, IDs, URLs, descriptions, number … Read more

Easy feature boost for your browser

Multifunction apps are great, but they often include features you don't need, or they poorly implement ones you do. ALToolbar at least, doesn't suffer from the latter--it is a well put-together little package, from the standpoint of appearance and ease of use.

The included functions work well, generally, and are easily accessed through the toolbar added to Internet Explorer. However, the Search and Internet Cleaner functions don't offer much beyond those built into IE7, while the Capture tool has some nice, but fairly common, features. The single point of failure for this application is the ALPass and … Read more

Lackluster toolbar

This free Firefox add-on promises to keep you on top of all the latest health and beauty information, but besides a few beauty-related feeds, this toolbar looks and acts like any other.

Hotbeautyhealth adds a customizable toolbar to your Firefox browser. You can add and remove buttons, including shortcuts to your favorite applications. You'll find a weather forecast, e-mail notification, and a pop-up blocker--all of which worked as expected. We were also able to easily add our favorite gadgets to the toolbar. The radio feature proved disappointing, and returned an error when we tried to play it. We expected … Read more

Gmail Labs: The great and the small

If you're a Gmail addict, as I am, you probably know that Gmail Labs is home to a bunch of good and bad add-ons that either extend the mail client's capabilities, change how it works, or make it a bit more entertaining to use. In the long (and growing) list of Labs apps, there something for almost everyone.

Which to use? Some of the apps are great. But, be warned: several are not.

The Great

Canned Responses Canned responses is Gmail's best function for someone who receives a lot of e-mail. I use Canned Responses often because it allows me to create a series of automatic replies and after clicking the "canned responses" link in a compose form, I can send responses to readers telling them I've read their message and will reply shortly, or to PR folks to ask them not to contact me in the future.

In essence, Canned Responses cuts down on the time you need to waste writing out the same reply for a bunch of e-mail queries, and makes it easier to sift through the important stuff. It's fantastic.

"Old Snakey" "Old Snakey" is Google's version of the age-old classic that, once enabled, will allow you to get away from your work for a while by pressing Shift + 7 while in Gmail.

Once you enable "Old Snakey," the game will be brought to the forefront, over your in-box, and allow you to move a "snake" that you control with your arrow keys over a block without hitting the walls and obstructions. It starts out simple with a short snake and slow speed, but it rapidly increases speed and the size of your snake as you pick up more blocks. That's when the game gets really fun.… Read more

Effortless video downloads

Downloading FLV files has never been easier, thanks to FlashGot, an unobtrusive Firefox add-on. Even without a user guide, this simple program will have the least experienced user downloading files in an instant.

Once installed, FlashGot can be accessed through the Tools menu or by the easier method of dragging and dropping a shortcut to your toolbar. If you access it via the Tools menu, you'll find settings for capturing video selections and creating galleries. With both the menu and the toolbar shortcut, you have the option of automatically downloading video files as you find them. Options include selecting … Read more

Safari 4 a big step up, but not as far as rivals

With Safari 3, I admired Apple's chutzpah for bringing its browser to Windows. With the new Safari 4 beta, I'm actually starting to admire the browser, too.

A big user interface overhaul makes Safari look polished rather than clunky on Windows, builds in better search abilities, and makes good use of the fact that people often visit the same sites over and over.

However, the lack of something like the extensions architecture that Firefox pioneered still means Safari 4 (download for Windows and Mac OS X) is better only than Safari 3, not the competition. … Read more

Quickly download FLV files

This handy Firefox add-on lets you quickly download your favorite FLV files as you browse the Web, but we would have liked some way to use this toolbar's wasted space.

Clipta Toolbar with Downloader introduces a slim toolbar to your Firefox browser that makes it easy to quickly browse and download videos at the same time, but there's still too much wasted space for our tastes. The toolbar houses a search field that uses Clipta's own search capabilities, a button that displays featured videos, and another button that shows the number of videos captured during a single … Read more