Extensions

Extensions in Firefox and Mozilla are add ons that give Mozilla/Firefox additional functionality. Some extentions include one that makes Firefox a pure tabbed browsing environment while others will be more familiar like the Firefox Googlebar which emulates the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer. There is a good number of extensions of various functionality and scope that can be found at The Mozilla Update Page

The Firefox Googlebar

Themes

For those who use applications like Winamp, Litestep, and WinBlinds, the concept of skins or themes should not be foreign. For the uninitiated, skins and themes allow the customization of the look and feel of Firefox. Themes can be found again on the Mozilla Update site under the Themes portion. For those that are willing to dabble a bit in creating their own theme, here is a good resource to get started

Conclusions

Firefox is a cool product with a lot of potential. It upgrades browser functionality whereas Microsoft has left IE for dead stating that it is good enough in its current state. With the alarming number of security flaws in IE, Firefox should be looked at seriously as an alternative browser. While I have not yet migrated fully to Firefox, I do most of my browsing on it, I would say about 90%. This is coming from a former jaded Netscape user who switched to IE5 and never looked back till Firefox came around.

For the poweruser, Firefox is a pretty ideal browser. Being a no frills package it weighs in at under 10MB for the entire browser when the current trend in the industry is to get bigger. Firefox offers a lot of oppurtunities to fine tune the browser to the needs of the end user through from the backend all the way up to the visual style of the browser. For the more intrepid, the source code is also available to poke around at. A final note is that it is free. Give it a shot. At worst it will not be used and will take up only 10MB. At best it might save your computer from a trashing when you miss the bulletin for the next IE Critical Vulnerability. For most people, it will provide things that Microsoft has not yet got around to, such as tabbed browsing and pop up blocking. Choice is a good thing and Firefox is that one of those choices that is not as radical as a suggestion to switch to Linux but yet can improve the Internet experience.