For many years, Firefox browser has taken the lead in Internet surfing. Not only for web developers, but Firefox’s plug-ins have provided easy access and preferred user functionalities with only a click of the mouse. Developers swarmed the Firefox development area contributing multitudes of plugins. Developing functionalities became a trend for viral sharing in the world-wide web and though most of us eagerly installed plugins, we forgot the disadvantage of this action.
Most users are not technical people so they just install plugins that catches their fancy, not aware this will contribute to the loading time and often, the lag or crashing of the specified browser. And now, based on observation (objectively speaking and I’m no technical expert), even if a user has become educated in installing only the necessary plugins, the Firefox browser has somehow decreased from its initial fast performance.
Thus came the browser wars. Firefox, Internet Exporer 6, 7, 8 (and now beta 9), Safari, Opera and Chrome browsers are neck to neck in touching user preference. As a front-end web designer, Firefox has become the ultimate tool to design and debug design errors. Safari, by far, renders websites most beautifully while IE tools are still used because for some strange reason, IE is still used by most. Us designers though, if given the power to obliterate any browser, that would be IE, most especially IE6. Opera and Chrome are used for easier and faster viewing due to their simple interface due to lack of plugins installed.
Recently, Chrome has garnered attention as it went into having its own set of plugins. This is an exciting moment in installing functionalities to test a fast browser and see if its fast performance will remain. That would be a dream come true.
Currently going through Google Chrome extensions, I’ve noticed vast collection of plugins similar to those from Firefox.
Here are some plugins I think will be helpful for everyone to install in Chrome.
Google Mail Checker
Displays the number of unread messages in your Google Mail inbox. You can also click the button to open your inbox.
Webpage Screenshot
Fast&Simple solution to Save & Share & Print & Edit screenshots of any webpage. Capture to PNG/JPG drawing tools, and sharing features.
Clip to Evernote
Use the Evernote extension to save things you see on the web into your Evernote account. It even lets you search through your notes.
Google Calendar Checker (by Google)
Quickly see the time until your next meeting from any of your calendars. Click on the button to be taken to your calendar.
Chromed Bird
Chromed Bird is a Twitter extension that allows you to follow your timelines and interact with your Twitter account.
iReader
View news stories and other articles in a very easy to read, clutter-free, scrollable display.
Google Share Button
Use the Share extension to share webpages via your social networks, email and blogs.
Facebook
Access your Facebook account, chat and notifications anytime right on Chrome.
Ghostery
Protect your privacy. See who’s tracking your web browsing with Ghostery.
Note Anywhere
with this extension, you can make notes on any web page, any position. when you open that page again, the notes get loaded automatically.
And there are many more!
Go and look for your preferred plugins and you can come back here to report how it has been for your chrome browser. :)
