12 Essential Firefox Extensions

As hard as it is to believe, there are many people who have not yet upgraded their internet browser to Firefox. Yes, Internet Explorer 7 allows you to have tabs (a feature Microsoft copied from Mozilla.) But you can customize Firefox to your heart's content to make your online excursions easy and enjoyable.

The thing to be careful about with Firefox is not to add too MANY extensions. This will bog your browser down. I know it's hard...but you can do it!!

When I first downloaded Firefox, I had "extensionitus" bad. But after a while, you start to realize which extensions are a necessity for you and which ones become a security blanket that you really don't need. Now, I just peruse the most popular extensions to see if there is anything new I might possibly want to add. Here are some extensions that I just can't browse without:

1. Adblock Plus: Blocks bandwidth munching ads that slow down your browsing.
2. Better Gmail: Enhances Gmail with over 25 features. Plus, makes it look purty too!
3. Colorful Tabs: Makes every tab a different color. Easy to distinguish between tabs.
4. Cooliris Previews: Allows you to preview links with a mouseover, instead of clicking.
5. Download Status Bar: View and manage downloads from tidy status bar.
6. Gmail Notifier: Notifier for multiple Gmail accounts.
7. Google Reader Notifier: Notifier of new info to feed subscriptions.
8. Greasemonkey: User script manager.
9. IE Tab: VERY IMPORTANT! Let's you view pages formatted only for Internet Explorer.
10. NoScript: Extra protection from unauthorized javascripts.
11. Tab Effect: Just cool-looking cube effect when switching tabs.
12. Tab Mix Plus: Tab customization.

So, if you haven't tried Firefox yet -- what are you waiting for? It's free!

If you do use Firefox, what extensions top your list? Is there an extension that you find invaluable for the classroom? Leave your suggestions in the comments.