The best extensions created for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox

The year 2010 was a year in which many extensions for Mozilla Firefox and Google  Chrome browsers were created, making them winning a special place among the preferred by Internet users. Although the developers of these extensions have preferred to make them unique to one or another browser, others have chosen to exploit the growing market presence of Chrome and Firefox and develop extensions for both. Below we have a list of some add-ons for these browsers:

WOT (Web Of Trust): This add-on shows the user the security level of the webs he has searched. This extension was thought to ensure the user if the site he visits is safe or not

Tab Cloud: This extension allows synchronizing in the cloud the tags already opened in either browser, without having to remember the open sites.

SiteLauncher: This is a really useful extension when launching sites, enabling them to create keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys through a custom shortcuts panel where the user can include favorite pages simple and organized. Ideal for a quick access to the sites the user visit frequently when using Firefox or Chrome.

Rapportive: This add-on set us free of Gmail ads and replaces it showing extended information about the e-mail´s senders, with their latest tweets, information on their Google´s profile, Facebook or Linkedin for example. Without a doubt this add-on is the one all Chrome and Firefox users should use.

Microsoft has finally renewed its strength to continue in the browsers’ competition with Internet Explorer’s long-awaited 9^th version. With a new style and looking similar to Windows 7 and Vista’s interfaces, IE9 displays a minimalist and functional appearance in its Beta version.

Internet Explorer 9

But although Microsoft has only made the beta version available for the users, Internet Explorer 9 Final is expected to be released within the

first weeks of next year. During this period of time, it will be improved and any problems that may arise will be fixed, especially according to the results that thousands of testers, i.e. the users, will experience.

Following Windows 7’s design, Internet Explorer has undergone a remarkable aesthetic change from the previous versions, especially due to the effect of transparences. Also, the search box and the address bar are now at the same level, which they share with the different tabs. This results in more free space for viewing the websites themselves in Internet Explorer 9. This characteristic can only be found in Chrome, although of course, Internet Explorer 9 has the advantage of being a recent release.

For those who have always questioned Internet Explorer’s slow speed in comparison with other browsers like Firefox or Chrome, Microsoft developers have not only taken this difficulties into account and achieved a better relationship between the requirements and the hardware available, but also included in the new browser an application that warns you about what may be slowing down Internet Explorer 9.

As usual in these cases, to download and install Internet Explorer 9 will be the best way to try it out and draw your own conclusions through your user experience. But we can tell you in advance that Internet Explorer 9 will surely succeed.

Firefox 4

Everybody is expecting the new revision of the popular browser a Firefox,

which would be 3.7 version, Mozilla Foundation took a wise decision and released Firefox, whose Beta version is already available. To everybody’s surprise, or at least to the users’ surprise, this version doesn’t seem to be very original at first glance but it is expected to be radically changed before its definite release.

With this new release, Firefox looks forward to stay in the competition against other browsers like Internet Explorer, whose 9 version also promises to be unbeatable. That’s why, Firefox Beta shows, among other new characteristics, a new interface with a sensitive, Chrome-like design but keeping to its original style.

The new arrangement of the elements displays the navigation toolbar underneath, or rather, inside each of the tabs. In this way, Firefox offers a tidier, more fluent navigation experience and makes each tab independent from the rest, as Mozilla explains.

Together with this interesting arrangement of the tabs and the navigation toolbar, Firefox offers a timely possibility of creating ‘app tabs’ for websites like Facebook, Twitter, etc., which will be seen permanently in the browser’s main window. Although this will surely make things easier for thousands of users, there’s a drawback that will hopefully be considered before releasing the definite 4 version: this tabs don’t show the status updates as ‘traditional tabs’ did, so we can’t find out if there were new tweets or new messages in Facebook at first glance.

It must be said that Firefox’s new design can be customized as the traditional view mode, in which the navigation toolbar was above the tabs. In addition to these new characteristics, Firefox is compatible with HTML5 and WebM video standards.

Firefox is getting ready to enter the browsers’ “boxing ring” to flaunt its latest improvements and new characteristics, as well as the ones in the recent 3.6 version. But the interesting features that Firefox has presented so far are not enough to fight this battle, so some of them, such as the app tabs, are expected to be reconsidered before the release of its latest version.

In 2009 Internet Explorer had another significant lost on the browsers’ market

Ending 2009 it is possible to make a balance about the modifications of the popularity of the different browsers that were registered during this year. Although Internet Explorer is still on top of the statistics, its participation dropped once again.

Internet Explorer, who started the year with almost a 70% of the users, finishes closing with the 62.7%. This 7 points loss added to the almost 8 that had already lost during 2008, lets us state that if it continues that tendency, by the end of 2011, though it will remain as the most used browser, it will have lost half of the market. It’s important to point out that the use of the versions 6 and 7 of the Microsoft browser has considerably decreased. This can mean that a lot of users that abandoned the use of old versions didn’t update it for Internet Explorer 8.0, as the reduction on those it’s not compensated with an increase on the last one.

On the other hand, Mozilla Firefox is still positioned as the second favorite browser, closing the year with a 24.61% of the users. Although its growth wasn’t as spectacular as in 2008, in which it increased in its quarter its participation, it’s important to highlight that it keeps its tendency high.

It could be said that during 2008, the majority of users that Internet Explorer lost moved to Mozilla Firefox, in 2009 the decrease on the Microsoft browser can be attributed not only to Mozilla Firefox’s growth, but above it all, to Chrome’s. The browser lunched by Google closes the year with a participation of 4.63%. The number doesn’t seem so spectacular if you don’t take into account that its launch was just 16 months ago.

Other browsers with a remarkable participation on the market, like Safari and Opera, didn’t suffer many modifications. They kept a high tendency and together they represent the 7% option of the users.

To conclude it can be said that Internet Explorer is the only browser that loses users, and at the expense of which the other browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Chrome, and even Safari and Opera grow. If this situation persists, it won’t take any longer until the giant of the computing is dethroned.

Get ready for a new browsing experience with ChromePlus

Almost a year ago, Google launched its anticipated browser Chrome, featuring speed, minimalistic design and user-friendly interface. Although some internauts are using it (according to statistic Chrome only covers 2.59% in the browser´s war) they think there are some features missing in the browser which others do offer, such as Firefox via plug-ins or add-ons.

That’s why we have a new version of Chrome to make up for plug-ins and add-ons. What´s more, this new enhanced version called ChromePlus it´s faster, more dynamic and efficient.

ChromePlus is certainly an improved version of Chrome, but it´s not official, it´s just a version that uses Chrome´s open-source code. This a good thing for the browser and mostly the users, who are the ones to perform constant changes to application to make it the most –in this case the best among browsers- by adding new features and optimizing its performance.

Among the new features, there´s the possibility to view websites sing Internet Explorer´s rendering engine, meaning that IE tabs are integrated into ChromePlus. The other feature –and perhaps the most interesting one- is the mouse gesture option. The Arrow Trace mouse gesture draws an arrow trace on the page while you using the right button of your mouse. In ChromePlus, you can make efficient commands with easy mouse gestures. Practiced mouse gestures can save you quite a lot of time and are fun.

Plus, ChromePlus offers other enhancements. Among them: Download tools supported in context menu and super drag. With the latter you can drag a link in the page with your left button and drop it somewhere else in the page. This can create a new page (tab) to open the link; Dragging and dropping a block of text in the page will create a page and search the text with your default search engine.

With ChromePlus –as well as in Chrome- you can start a private browsing session allowing users to surf the web without leaving any traces in the browsing or search History, as well as cookies. Still, downloads and bookmarks will be saved.

Even though ChromePlus works flawlessly on most Windows operative systems, it doesn’t support 64 bit version of Windows 7, but this implementation will be added shortly, among with other mouse gesture movements and additional features. Once you try ChromePlus, you won´t feel like using another web browser again. By featuring great speed and functionality and combining Chrome´s design and many useful shortcuts, it´s up to you to give it a try.