I recently installed the latest Release Candidate of Firefox 3 (RC3). Firefox 3 checks the compatibility of your installed add-ons to see if they will function correctly. During this process I was reminded of a few add-ons that I had installed some time ago and rarely use. My current list and why I use them is as follows:

ColorfulTabs – This is mainly a cosmetic add-on although it does make distiguishing between tabs a little easier when you have numerous tabs opened. However, this add-on is not supported in Firefox 3 so I will be uninstalling it.

Download Statusbar – Tidies up management and monitoring of downlooads in Firefox by adding a downloads bar above the statusbar when you start a download.

DownThemAll! – Configurable download manager/accelerator for Firefox. I have only just installed this plugin but is seems quite good so far. Comparable to Free Download Manager.

English (Australian) Dictionary – Because I am AUStralian!

Extended Statusbar – Opera like statusbar that displays speed, percentage, time and loaded size. Helpful but once again is not compatible with Firefox 3 as yet.

Fast Dial – Allows fast access to your favourite pages using a thumbnail list of user defined favourite sites. I have this set as my home page.

FaviconsizeTab – The width of the specified tab is resized to the size of the icon (removes name). I use this to minimize the space taken up by the tab that I generally always have open throughout the day.

Google Reader Notifier – A Google reader icon is added to the bottom right hand corner of Firefox and notifies you of new posts. I use Google reader as my main RSS feed reader so this add-on is very helpful for me. This add-on is not yet compatable with Firefox 3 so I will be trialling the alternative Google Reader Watcher soon…

GooglePreview – Inserts a website preview window into Google and Yahoo search results. Helpful to identify pages that you have already visited.

iMacros for Firefox – Record and replay Macros in Firefox. Handy for those repetative tasks.

Image Zoom – Adds zoom functionality to images in Firefox. Save the eyes trying to desifer an image, just zoom in!

Link Alert – Changes your cursor to indicate the file type of a link. This add-on allows you to select from a list of predefined file types and add your own.

Nightly Tester Tools – Used for testing the latest build release of Firefox. I use this add-on to force FIrefox to install incompatible add-ons to see if they will work.

PDF Download – Presents you with an option to either download the PDF, view it with an external app. or view it as HTML. This add-on was mainly helpful for me when my Firefox Acrobat Reader plugin was playing up.

PicLens – Transforms Firefox into an amazing photo and video gallery viewer. This add-on is one of my favourites (see PicLens in action).

Pronounce – Pronounce English words. A voice will say the selected word using the correct pronunciation.

Split Browser – Splits your browser window according to where you specify. Very helpful for making comparisons.

Taboo – Allows you to save you current open tabs, their location and even partially filled in forms.

TwitterFox – This add-on notifies your at set intervals of your Twitter activity. I haven’t been able to get into Twitter so I was hoping that this add-on might help me use it more.

VideoDownloader – Download embedded video and audio from websites. This add-on does not work with Firefox 3, boy do I miss it! (alternative – Flash Video Resources Downloader).

Thats it! I can safely say that I do somewhat use all the add-on that I have installed. While writing this post I found many other add-ons that might prove themselves useful Stay tuned for an update…