5 Mozilla Labs add-ons worth trying out

With millions of users worldwide, Firefox is the one of the most popular applications  around. The open source browser from Mozilla has been taking the web forward since 2004. Apart from working on their front line products like Firefox and Thunderbird, the Mozilla team loves to experiment with new ideas. Many of their experiments have now become default features in Firefox and Thunderbird. So, if you can’t wait to try them out, here are five of the best experimental add-ons that you can install on your Firefox.

F1 : The idea behind this add-on is to make sharing content as simple as possible. Ever so often, we come across an article or video that is so interesting that we want to share it with as many of our friends as possible. To do that, we either have to install a lot of add ons, or keep switching between different tabs. With F1, Mozilla plans to simplify things by making the sharing feature a part of the browser itself. Once you install F1, you can start sharing content with your friends who are on Twitter, Facebook, or Linkedin. If one of your friends is not that social-savvy then you can mail that link to him/her without switching to another tab or reloading the page. The most appealing thing about this extension is that you can share almost anything with anyone just by hitting one button, that is F1. Pressing F1 will pop up a small menu where you can add your views about the link along with the shortened URL. The service supports most of the major services like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Ymail, Gmail and even Google Apps.

Download :  F1 by Mozilla Labs

Mozilla Instant Preview :Mozilla Instant Preview is Firefox’s answer to Google Instant. The add-on once installed, will start loading any entry you highlight in the AwesomeBar, thus giving you an instant preview of the page. So, if you start typing “twitter” in the address bar, you’ll see a bunch of suggestions depending on your history. Now, when you highlight a particular suggestion, a preview of the page will show up in the background.Here’s a screenshot of Instant preview in action.

 

I opened a blank page and just typed in the word twitter; upon highlighting the first suggestion ( using the down arrow key), Twitter’s homepage loaded instantly in the background. Then when I highlighted the third suggestion, it’s preview showed up much quicker than I expected. Finally, when I hit the Esc key, I was back to the blank page. Overall, this is a great experimental feature which if developed further might give Firefox a definite edge over Google Chrome. Being in experimental stages, Instant Preview is not quite finished yet, but there are no major bugs as far as I can see. So, go ahead and give it a shot.

Download : Instant Preview

Colorful Search tabs: Many times we want to look something up on Wikipedia or Twitter, but end up searching for it on Google instead. Also, things get tedious when we have to search for something on multiple sites. Search tabs is an innovative Mozilla experiment which aims to solve that problem. Whenever you search for something using your search bar or the default search engine, this add-on puts colorful tabs at the bottom, which on clicking, will perform the same search but with a different provider. The colors of the tabs correspond to various popular search engines; for example, red represents ebay, grey represents Wikipedia, blue represents Twitter and so on. On clicking a particular tab, the search results open in a new tab, so it gets easy to compare the search results.

Download : Search Tabs

Recall Monkey : Firefox’s AwesomeBar is a powerful tool that looks through your history and bookmarks to give you the best results possible. But what if you only wanted to search through your history? Well, the Ctrl+H thing does work, but it’s not that quick. Recall Monkey is a new add-on that lets you search through your history right from the address bar. Once installed, just prefix r before your query and you’ll get results based only on your browsing history. You can also prioritize your favorite sites, so that search becomes even more relevant.
Download : Recall Monkey

Less Chrome HD : If you’re looking to save some valuable screen space, this add-on is all you ever wanted. Less Chrome HD is an experimental add-on which hides the location bar navigation when it’s not needed. That is, once you move your cursor away from the tabs, the address bar and the navigation buttons disappear, showing only the tab bar. Now, when you hover over the tabs, the navigation bar will reappear, thus presenting itself only when it’s really needed. Overall, a great add-on, which might become a default feature in Firefox someday.

Download : Less Chrome HD

So, those were the best 5 Mozilla Labs add-ons around. Though these experiments are in their infancy right now, it would be great if more and more people could install them and give some valuable feedback. Firefox Sync and Personas too started out as experiments before becoming default features. If you’re using Firefox 4 or higher, these add-ons can be installed without the need to restart your browser. So, go ahead and try them out.

Image Credits : othree