I was going to get right into this post, but I realized that I should step back and let anyone who doesn’t know, find out. If you are still using Internet Explorer, and you care about your security, sanctity, and sanity, please download Mozilla Firefox and never use IE again. Firefox has unparalleled advantages over IE, including tabbed browsing, enhanced security, and extensions.
It is these extensions (or plugins) that really separate Firefox from any browser, including Safari. The two extensions that I personally cannot live without are Tabbrowser Preferences and AdBlock.
I use Tabbrowser Preferences in order to force all of my new browser windows to open in tabs as opposed to new windows, significantly speeding up browsing and allowing people who like tons of different pages open at the same time to organize their browsing in one simple window.
While Tabbrowser Preferences is a very helpful browser add-on, AdBlock on the other hand should be a requirement for anyone who visits any webpage. AdBlock is a content filter that allows you to block any kinds of images or inline frames both directly, and using wildcards. Furthermore, AdBlock allows the importing of other people’s AdBlock databases, which spares you the work of having to manually block ads yourself. For everyone’s convenience, I have attached my well refined and time tested adblock list, and encourage all of you to download it, and import it once you download AdBlock.
To import a list into AdBlock, install the AdBlock extension, download my AdBlock Filter File, restart Firefox, go to Tools–>AdBlock–>Preferences and in the Preferences window go to AdBlock Options–>Import Filters. Point adblock to the Adblock Filter File you downloaded and you are all set.
Let me know if you have problems with either of these extensions, and I’ll gladly help you out. If you are interested in finding more useful Firefox extensions, check out Cnet’s three part article on the Best Firefox Extensions.