- Image via Wikipedia
For those of you using FireFox, you’re probably aware that the primary benefit of FF over other browsers is its extensibility. With plug-ins written for FF, you might not ever have to leave your browser … ever. There are so many things you can do with it, it’s pretty much an indispensable tool, and I have no idea why more businesses aren’t using FireFox as their browser of choice, especially when you consider some of the problematic security- and virus-related issues of Internet Explorer.
So, I thought I’d share some of my favorite extensions and plug-ins for FireFox. These are tools I’ve found essential for surfing and working on the Internet, and I can’t imagine a browser experience without them now.
Cool-Iris Preview
Cool Iris preview is a nifty little program which lets you hover over a link on web page and delivers the target page in a separate, Cool Iris window. Instead of having to rely on a thumbnail to preview the content, you can actually visit the page … without having to either open a new window or open a new tab. You never leave the page you’re on, so if it turns out you don’t like the content of the page being linked to, you can shut the Cool Iris window and forget it forever.
Why it’s Cool/Essential
I love Cool Iris because I read a lot of blogs, and sometimes those blogs don’t have the full content sent to feed readers. So, rather than have to open the blog in a new instance of the browser or a new tab in the current instance, I can let Cool Iris open the blog in a new window, check it out and decide if I want to read the rest of it. If I do, then I just … well, read it. When I’m finished I close the Cool Iris window and I’m back at my patiently waiting feed reader, and I’m on to the next feed. Sweet.
This is especially useful for articles which cite multiple other articles or archives of the site. I can do all the background leg work and never leave the original article.
Oh, and if you want to preview the linked content, without having to read it then, you don’t have to leave Cool Iris’s windows open. (You can, however, open what’s called a Cool Iris stack and go through them at your leisure, but I don’t do that.) There’s a button on the Cool Iris window to allow the window to open in a new tab in the browser. Get to it when you want. And, if at some point Cool Iris is bugging you, you can always disable it right from the browser’s status bar. Easy-peasy, breezy.
Now, sometimes Cool Iris is slow to open a new window, and other things you run might interfere with it opening a target but it won’t tell you what or why. So, it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I can’t do without it now.
DarcKnyt 
All these wonderful tools to view the Internet. Too bad there’s nothing in the Internet worth viewing.
Well, there’s your blog, and mine … and V’s … and Sherri’s … and Bryce’s, and Ben’s, and Kristy’s … hm, not sure I agree. 😉
So do you not use Digsby anymore? I leave Digsby open to get the notifications from all email addies, twitter, etc. If only it had RSS capability, it would be perfect.
I use Digsby, but I have to be careful because I get pounced sometimes for chat by folks I may or may not want to chat with (no, not you). And Digsby just adds another memory resource drain, so the more I can do with a single app the better. 🙂
This is a great post, Knyt.
Well, thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Pingback: Thoughts from the Treadmill « Sherri Blossoms
This is an awesome post, Love! Great plug-ins, all. 😀
Thanks, babe. 🙂
Going to go d/l that previewer right now.
You’re gonna love it. 🙂
I like the “mouse gesture” add-on. It makes web browsing faster and more efficient.
I have already installed three of the five plug-ins you mentioned. They are pretty neat.
Well, I’m glad you liked them, Simon! Thanks for stopping by! I’ll have to look for the “mouse gesture” add-on and check it out … thanks for the tip!