The Internet is huge, so finding relevant web pages isn't always easy. There's also an over reliance on one particular search engine, from Google, for our results. One interesting plugin for Safari has recently been ported to work across Firefox and Internet Explorer and will enable you to quickly enter a search term and see instant results that are most relevant to your requirements.

Inquisitor is an free add-on that used to be Safari-only and is now available for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. It was recently bought by Yahoo and, as a result, is now based around the Yahoo search platform, meaning search results are restricted to this network. It's currently only in beta - and you have to login to the Mozilla add-ons website in order to download - and we couldn't get it working on our main desktop-based Firefox 3. Simply never appeared in our Add-ons manager.

Inquisitor link.

Portability is one area of computing that's seen a great deal of interest in recent years. Many of us now have laptops or portable devices with web access, and the number of applications based on portable hardware is on the up. Obviously the needs of users that travel or work on-the-move are very different to a more static work environment, and require software solutions that enable them to work efficiently, no matter where they are.

Geode 1.5 is an experimental add-on for Firefox 3 that incorporates location awareness with your browser great accuracy. For example you may be visiting a new city, almost anywhere in the world and have no idea where anything is. By using your favourite reviews website Geode will enable you to find places such as restaurants, within a set area of your location.
 
Geode 1.5 link.

When we're browsing the Internet, it's easy to come across a word, a phrase, an address or similar where you're simply stumped. Of course, it's not too difficult to open another browser window (or tab) and simply check Wikipedia or Google. But what if they don't always give you the answer? You can keep on looking. Another solution is a device which would enable you to perform a custom check or search, depending on your choice, from the page you're currently browsing.

Hyperwords for Firefox 5 is an extension that enables you to highlight a word on a page and quickly find a reference in Wikipedia, Google, find a location on a map if it's an address and so much more. You simply right-click on the word and a list of options will appear.

Hyperwords for Firefox link.

Working for a large organisation means you'll also have to abide by their rules and regulations. These often stipulate that you can't use your work email for personal matters, such as trying to organise a vacation. The problem is, you can't install another email client and you can't keep opening your browser to check whether you have received new email.

Gmail Notifier 0.6.3.3 is an add-on for Firefox that places an icon in the bottom right hand side and will inform you if you have new email through your Gmail account. You can then click the icon, when it's safe to do so, and quickly read your email. The add-on can be used with Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 and across your Windows, Mac and Linux version of the browser.

Gmail Notifier 0.6.3.3 link.

Web browsers aren't geared up for serial downloaders. People who spend their time downloading multiple files from the Internet. For this reason, it's better to integrate a more established download manager in to your browser and let this handle your files, resume files that have not download to your system and even speed up the process of obtaining files from a website.

DownThemAll 1.0 is a free Firefox extension that's been in beta for ages and finally seen a release. It integrates deep in to Firefox and takes over all download management. It will speed up the process of obtaining your files and even download the content from a web page, as well as individual files. You can use the same download manager on OS X or Linux, so you can get used to the way it works across multiple operating systems. It will also work with the beta of Firefox 3.

DownThemAll link.

The addition of web browser tabs was a major feature that has since been implemented across all browsers. Rather than open multiple windows, you can simply open a website in a tab instead. Recently browsers have also had the facility to move tabs around on your interface, which can be useful if like working with your websites in a particular order. However, the problem with any tabbed system is that you can't easily see the open website, especially when you have pages from a site open in multiple tabs. It's not always easy to remember which page is open in which tab.

Firefox Showcase 0.9.4.6 is a Firefox extension that enables you to open your websites as a visual preview located alongside the left hand side of your browser window, rather than along the top as standard tabs. Makes it easier to see the open sites within your browser.

Firefox Showcase 0.9.4.6 link.

Apart from being a modern and updated browser, Firefox is a wise choice simply as so many third-party developers are busy producing various add-ons. In the last week, we've put Cookie Swap, Mini Map Sidebar and Weave online. All fantastic and worthwhile add-ons. Everyone likes a customised experienced, which is why one persons idea of interior design differs widely from another. The problem with life is finding the time to experiment. Who has time to download various themes and then worry about whether they'll be compatible with their machine?

Mozilla Personas for Firefox 0.9.2 is an add-on that adds some basic and lightweight theming to your Firefox web browser. It enables you to choose from a number of pre-defined themes, as well as the most popular and selected themes. It will also work across different versions of the Firefox browser, irrespective of the operating system.

Mozilla Personas link.

When you browse the Internet, visit a commercial website, order products online and take advantage of a promotional offer, you'll be leaving your personal information on your computer in the form of a cookie. Next time you visit the page, the information that was stored and purchasing information will be extracted from the cookie. If you share your computer, this means that you'll need to delete your cookies each time you end your web browsing.

CookieSwap 0.5 for Firefox is an add-on that will enable you to swap between different cookie configurations when you use Firefox. This could be useful for setting up various aliases for ordering from a particular online store. Perhaps to use a coupon more than once.

If you spend most of your day browsing the web, your web browser is going to be the application you end up using the most. In some ways it makes sense to make this the hub of all your computer activity, rather than having a separate tool for storing passwords, setting task reminders and so on. If you could handle everything within Firefox, surely it would make life far easier?

ReminderFox 1.4.1 is an extension that enables you to set up your tasks, event schedule and then set reminders from within Firefox. All your tasks and other activities are only a mouse-click away from your web browser. Simply right-click the icon located in the bottom right of Firefox to show a quick list of your tasks.

Notebooks sees Google continuing to provide us with useful and straightforward web surfing applications. This extension for Firefox doubles up as a bookmark manager and a clipboard for specific content you wish to copy, paste and store in one place. Located in the bottom right hand corner of your browser, you can choose to expand your notebook to full size, where it will then begin to resemble something more like Google’s own calendar for web content. You can also share your notebook with other Google users, letting you see what other people are “note-booking” in a similar fashion to popular social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us, digg and last.fm. However, to do any of this you will of course have to have a Google account.

Check it out here.