Undoubtedly Firefox is one of the most feature rich browsers we have seen. Other top end modern browsers like Opera 9.2 and IE 7 also bundled with bunch of fascinate features, yet they left one step behind of FF, due to limited availability extensions/plug-in or whatever you want to call it. Firefox users has the liberty to extend the browsers functionality more than any other browser’s user due to handsome collection of extensions availability and explorations.

There are hundreds of FF extensions available, not all of them are useful (in general sense), and so here are some of the great Firefox extensions that make cyber life a lot easier.

EasyGestures 4.1.1

 Mouse gesture first was introduced by Opera. Now Firefox users can enjoy the similar experience, thanks to EasyGestures 4.1.1. Mouse Gesture allows you to perform certain movements with the mouse to access commonly used features. This Firefox extension boosts the capabilities of your mouse, particularly as you surf, but configuration may be pain in the butt.

Pros: You can access EasyGestures’ tabbed GUI from the “Tools” menu of your browser. It’s easy to start the program; just click on the mouse’s scroll button (as you can guess, you will need a wheel mouse) to access the pop-up menu. The menu offers several functions in a centralized location, most of which are page and tab navigational controls to ease the pain of sliding your mouse pointer all over the screen. Quickly toggle back and forward, switch between tabs, instantly bookmark pages, and head to your home page without going to your toolbar. You’ll be able to look up word definitions, zoom in or out of Web sites, highlight searched terms in a Web page, and more. Currently it supports eight languages including English, French, and Japanese etc.

Cons: The extension works cool, but the bunch of features and customizations can confuse beginners until they get the hang of it. Though it can be used to launch advanced operations like user-definable scripts, URLs, and applications, but unfortunately it doesn’t include a help file, only some basic tips (Though the Mozilla site fairly updated recently with some useful instructions for start-ups). So if you really want to get best out of EasyGestures, you will need to spend some solid time and patience.

Firefox Toolbar for LookLOCAL Maps 1

Tired of bouncing around Yahoo, Google and MS live map? This small extension is just the answer for you. This extension which will add a toolbar to your browser for LookLOCAL Maps, is a convenient extension to the Firefox browser that enables you to map a location, get directions, or search for products and services from any Web site or page you are on without first navigating to an online mapping site. This toolbar, with its uncommon but welcome search features, quickly grabs driving directions and more.

Pros: Firefox Toolbar for LookLOCAL Maps offers two search methods with four entry fields. When clicked, the Directions button places the words “From” and “To” on the search fields. You can configure its options to launch LookLocal’s page, using directions from Yahoo, Google or Microsoft Live Local. The second method, accessible through the Search button, provides a list of map results to places associated with the names you’ve input into “What” and “Where” fields. With driving directions, traffic conditions, vacation information, hotels, and restaurants all a click away, this is far beyond any typical search bar you experienced before.

Cons: The extension works clean. But there is room for improvements in the areas traffic camera zoom, better sharing options, and ability to export KML etc. Lastly when traffic cameras are not in service, they should be omitted from the camera list, it’s really irritating clicking few dozen cameras and see “Camera not in service”.

Adblock Plus 0.7.5.1

Ever been annoyed by all those ads and banners on the Internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page? I am sure every net surfer will agree with one voice, even the ad provider himself : P. Anyway this tiny Firefox extension block unwanted ads quite efficiently.

Pros: Easy to use features. Blocking advertisements is very easy with automatically updated filter subscriptions. You set it and forget it. At the same time, it’s more flexible and powerful than other comparable content blockers like Opera’s built-in function. And this quality extension is backed by great documentation and an active community. You select a filter subscription when Adblock Plus starts up the first time, then even this simple task will usually be unnecessary: the filter subscription will block most advertisements fully automatically.

Cons: Few minor bugs are in action, but more likely to be resolved in upcoming release.

This series will continue to showcase exciting, feature rich add-ons Firefox has to offer, so don’t forget to subscribe to RSS or email alert.