add-on

Must-have restartless Firefox add-ons

The future of Firefox's add-ons arrived in Firefox 4 with the introduction of "restartless add-ons." Based on the new Jetpack API and Add-on SDK, restartless add-ons--also known as bootstrapped add-ons--don't require a restart to be used or removed. Not coincidentally, they also provide Firefox with a venue for competing directly with other browsers, which use add-on frameworks that were created after the technology that supports restartless add-ons was created.

Firefox doesn't offer many restartless add-ons just yet; at the time of writing, there were only 143. Also, there's been documented problems by existing add-on … Read more

Speedy Firefox 4 Mobile lacks Flash

The bottom line: Firefox 4 Mobile brings both familiarity and power to the Android browser scene, but it's Firefox's killer Sync that will drive attention to Mozilla's new mobile browser.

Review: Editors' note: Portions of this review are based on CNET's review for Firefox 4 for desktops.

Mozilla's first foray into the Android Market ports much of the desktop Firefox experience to your mobile device. The look and feel of the desktop browser have been remarkably replicated, and the browser itself doesn't feel alien compared with other Android browsers.

If you have a Maemo … Read more

Three productivity-enhancing Firefox add-ons

About a year ago Google Chrome became the first browser I open each day to check the daily news, e-mail, and social networks. It's just faster, plain and simple. But Firefox remains the browser I use for work because of the many productivity-boosting add-ons that have been released for the program.

Recently I've been using three Firefox extensions to help me get more work done in less time: one removes all the extraneous material from Web pages to show only the main content, another monitors the amount of time I spend on work-related and non-work-related sites, and the … Read more

Mozilla Dash clears the board

Home Dash is a new add-on from Mozilla Labs' Prospector project that re-imagines the Firefox interface for Firefox 4 on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It removes nearly all defining features from the interface in an attempt to emphasize the contents of the Web page you're viewing. Gone are the status bar, bookmark bar, navigation buttons and URL bar, leaving behind only the dedicated Firefox 4 menu button from the upper left of the interface.

All those components get replaced with a translucent Firefox logo below the menu button. Click the logo or use the Control + T hot … Read more

Mozilla blocks Skype's Firefox-crashing add-on

Mozilla has barred a Skype extension for Firefox, accusing it of causing 40,000 browser crashes a week and of dramatically slowing page-load times.

"We believe that both of these items constitute a major, user-facing issue, and meet our established criteria for blocklisting an add-on," Mozilla said in a blog post yesterday. Because the extension is installed by default when Skype's main software is installed, a "large number of Firefox users who have installed Skype have also installed the Skype Toolbar, knowingly or unknowingly," Mozilla said.

Mozilla is in contact with Skype programmers and will … Read more

DownThemAll powers up to next version

It's hardly the only multifeatured download enhancement add-on in Firefox's deep add-ons catalog, but DownThemAll is one of the best. It just got better with an upgrade to version 2 that supports Firefox 4, can customize download speed limits, and sniffs out media including support for HTML5.

While support for Firefox 4 was essential to the add-on's continued life, the granular controls over download speeds are a welcome surprise. You can now set different maximum download speeds by individual download, by server, or as a global preference. Separately, you can also set download limits by server.

Firefox'… Read more

Free Outlook add-on simplifies data export

Microsoft has done little to improve the import and export features in recent versions of Outlook. In fact, the program's Import and Export Wizard appears unchanged since at least Outlook 2003.

One change for the worse is that it takes several more clicks to reach the import/export function in Outlook 2010 than it does in earlier releases of the program. In older Outlook versions you simply clicked File > Import and Export to open the wizard, but in Outlook 2010, you must click File > Options > Advanced > Export.

You can save yourself a few clicks and … Read more

We love wee URLs

Goo.gl Lite is a free extension that adds Google's Goo.gl URL shortener to the Mozilla Firefox toolbar. When you click the Goo.gl Lite icon, the program automatically generates a shortened URL and copies it to the Clipboard.

Goo.gl Lite installs much like other Firefox add-ons, although once it's installed, we needed to open the Firefox toolbar manager and drag the Goo.gl Lite icon to our browser's toolbar. Clicking Tools/Add-ons let us enable, disable, and uninstall it via the Add-Ons manager. Though the program offered no options, none are needed, since it … Read more

Opera 11 joins the add-ons club

Mobile Opera may be driving the Norwegian browser company's growth, but that doesn't mean that the desktop browser is getting ignored. Debuting today, Opera 11 for Windows, Mac, and Linux has only gotten more stable since the beta version of the browser launched last month.

The most requested of the new features is the lightweight extension API framework, which brings to Opera a long-missing capability to directly add to and customize the browser. Having launched while the browser was in beta, there are already several popular extensions available, including ad-blocker NoAds; YouTube downloader FastestTube; Image Preview Popup for … Read more

Outlook is easier with Subtextual Pro - $3.99 limited time offer

Subtextual makes your life easier by allowing you to compose private and secure messages to selected recipients in the To, Cc, or Bcc fields of your emails while simultaneously sending a message to a broader group. No plug-in is necessary for your recipients to view the subtextual messages and makes it an ideal tool for business users, who frequently send sensitive information in emails. For a limited time only, you can get Subtextual Pro for just $3.99.!

Some other features included in Subtextual Pro are:

Send and remove attachments to selected recipients only Assign follow-up tasks privately to Subtextual … Read more