Firefox: Add-ons Galore

Anyone who's been prompted to switch to some open-source program has probably had to endure plugs, prompts, and pokes to get Mozilla's Firefox. To avoid contributing to any annoying ad-nauseum that might turn you off from Firefox, I'll just assume for the sake of this post you've got it. Hey, you're probably viewing this post on Firefox right now! Good for you!

As mentioned in earlier posts, the benefits of open source software include the ability of communities of users to improve the programs in various ways. Mozilla's popular web browser Firefox is no exception. To view the list of all of the possible tweaks and tools you can stick on your copy of the software, you can check out the full catalogue at Mozilla's site. A quick scroll down the "Categories" list shows the diverse types of ways you can personalize your web-browsing experience. Some are purely cosmetic and just touch-up your interface, as in the "Appearance" section. Others are true utilities for "Privacy & Security" and "Download Management" -- the latter of which includes an add-on I use and personally recommend.

DownThemAll! does exactly what its name implies: lets you download "all." In this case, "all" refers to images on the current page in your web browser, as well as links/targets the page points to. (DownThemAll! is actually something I read about on a couple different software recommendation lists.)

Another favorite add-on of mine is FireFTP. An FTP program allows users to transfer files (FTP = file transfer protocol) from their computers to a website's directories. FTP programs are essential for webbuilding. This may not be something handy for the average user, but for neophyte webmasters and webmistresses. FireFTP is easy to use with a simple interface. I've used several FTP programs over the years, and FireFTP is my favorite free one out there.

In the same vein of webbuilding aids, I'll also recommend Web Developer. For the fledgling coder, a quick sprint around the internet can quickly become intimidating when he/she stumbles upon all the spectacular layouts out there. Sometimes, you just want to see how the webmaster's done some neat little trick or how they've managed to get pesky HTML tables under control. While viewing the page's source is an option ("View Source" in IE, "View>Page Source" or Ctrl+U in Firefox), anyone new to coding can get lost in the bundles of HTML tags and scripts and what they do. With CSS Viewer, you can see different scripts and tags highlight the areas they control. This gives you a better idea of what does what.

These are just a handful of what the bounty of Firefox add-ons has to offer. Additionally, these are just a few that I've found useful. Your web browsing experience needs are going to differ from mine and everyone else's. Take a look around what the Firefox community has to offer and see if anything catches your eye. The add-ons section comes with handy download statistics and user reviews to help you make a more informed opinion. Also, quick google searches are going to leave you with plenty of lists of handy Firefox add-ons (or plug-ins), such as this one or even that one. Some lists are even specialized for purposes such as eCommerce. I think I've successfully belabored the point.

Happy Adding-on (or add-on-ing, rather)!

Introduction Part II: Freeware Ain't What It Used to Be

As mentioned in the previous post, freeware has long had an association with being nothing but a slew of evil programs filled with menacing coding that would unleash pop up ads at the worst times, give your computer some nasty spyware that allowed program villains to peek into your most valuable information, or just kill your machine outright. While no one should drop his or her guard when installing a new program, freeware isn't necessarily accompanied by the claps of thunder anymore. The Internet has yet to become a super safe playground, but getting a free program isn't an automatic acceptance of candy from a stranger. Many sites that allow you to download software (some of which host downloads for many different programs) offer a malware-free certification. You can take a look around CNET's Download.com for an example.

Many savvy computer geeks actually prefer some of the freeware offerings out there over the big paid ones, if expert opinions mean anything to you. Some of the more popular ones that you'll hear recommended many times over are OpenOffice, FireFox, and VLC Player. These are all, incidentally, open source software, too. To reiterate the point I made in the last post, a program is considered "open source" if its coding is freely available to all. Not all Freeware programs offer this, but there's plenty of "closed source" Freeware that are highly recommended, as well. Examples include DVD43 and ImgBurn.

For those wishing to jump on the bandwagon, or at least take a good survey of the landscape, SourceForge is a key download site for open source programs. It's a good place to start. One may also wish to roam around SoftPedia for Freeware downloads in general.

**A Quick Post-Script:

Important note about free downloads, though: free downloads are not always Freeware. They are sometimes Shareware, which are the equivalent of trial versions --usually limited in functionality--, for which a user must pay a fee in order to keep. Open source programs, as a general rule, will not present this confusion.