Five Great Add-Ons for Firefox 3

f you've installed Firefox 3, you know that your favorite add-ons and extensions may no longer work. But there are plenty of great ones that are already updated for the new version of the browser. Here are five of the best.

Foxmarks

I frequently switch between two PCs --- a desktop in my office, and a laptop for the road --- and I've found it just about impossible to keep the same bookmarks on both. This nifty Foxmarks add-in (shown below) neatly solves the problem. Install it on each machine whose bookmarks you want to keep in synch, and it synchronizes them automatically or manually. The bookmarks are also stored on a server, so you can access them from any machine, even if Foxmarks isn't installed on it.

Got an extension that won't work with Firefox 3? This add-on can solve the problem. It will force Firefox 3 to use your existing add-ons, even if newer versions aren't available. Keep in mind that forcing an extension to work in Firefox 3 can cause compatibility problems. So use this one at your own risk.
By the way, the add-on has plenty of other uses for developers. But normal folks who want to force their extensions to work with Firefox 3 should download it as well.

Anyone who has ever wished they could bend Google to their will should download this add-on. It gives you a tremendous amount of control over the way Google and its associated sites work. Want to remove all ads from Google and Gmail? It can do it. Want to add links to the Wayback Machine in your search results so that you can find Web pages from long ago and far away? It'll do that as well. It will also anonymize the Google cookie UID so that Google can't create a profile about you, and much more.

Mouse lovers will want to install this one. It lets you execute a wide variety of commands and run scripts with five types of mouse gestures. So if you want to move forward or back, open tabs, close tabs, reload pages --- do just about anything --- you can just make a gesture with your mouse, and it will be done.

Good news: What may be the most popular add-on of all time works with Firefox 3. This extension does exactly what it says: It blocks banner ads so that you can surf the Internet without flashing, annoying advertisements. Nothing more, and nothing less.