10 Cool Chrome Extensions and Apps
How to rotate video with VLC
How to set up Ultrasurf with Firefox
Desktop alternatives to Megaupload
One thing I couldn't do without in my browser are toolbars. Having my favourite bookmarks, tools, and search engines directly accessible from my browser saves lots of time and increases productivity. However, there are limits this usefulness as I am beginning to discover.
There are literally hundreds of toolbars out there. A simple search on Softonic reveals almost 200 results! Currently, I have four toolbars installed in Firefox - the Google toolbar, Torrent Search Bar, Rankquest toolbar and the Live TV toolbar. It's getting to the stage though where Firefox is not only taking increasingly long to open but I'm getting confused between the various bars. One thing I keep doing is entering searches in the wrong boxes. The toolbars are so crowded too with little widgets and tools that I keep accidentally clicking on the wrong ones and losing my page.
To emphasise the perils of toolbar overload, PC4Media posted a snapshot of the hilarious results. As they point out, many of these toolbars are doing nothing more than trying to gain 'real estate' on your screen - nothing much more than a big advert. However, they also point out that toolbars are an important innovation because they open up the browser market that's dominated by IE and Firefox:
All browsers are free and there are only a few alternatives. So, there is little incentive or business justification for anyone to innovate there. With toolbars, on the other hand, there is lots of incentive to innovate and have the newest coolest feature (eg search desktop, RSS readers) because it drives people back to the search site where they may click on paid ads.
Some toolbars are simply a nuisance though as this story from Passive Voice points out. This particular user installed the StumbleUpon toolbar and ended up having to reinstall Firefox as a result of the problems it created:
...I started to notice weird things happening in Firefox. For instance, I couldn't delete individual history items anymore. If I wanted to hide my obsessive visits to DJ Waldow's blog I couldn't do it without clearing my entire history...The second problem I noticed is that I could no longer use my home key in certain circumstances. If I were to hit the home key in the Google search box or in the location bar it simply would no longer work.
The moral of the story? Keep your toolbars to a minimum unless you really need them!
Great post! It seems to me that you raise two important issues: First, some toolbars provide terrific functionality and are really useful. Others are not. Everyone should know about the good ones that will be useful for thier particular needs. Second, since toolbars provide specialized services-- and frequently let you carry the functionality of a site with you around the Web, it's easy to have too many toolbars. What we most need is a great browser add-on that let's you make toolbars visible and invisible with a click. I handle the overload problem by using the View menu and hiding any toolbars I don't think I am going to be using during a session or a day's work. Then, if I need it, I make it visible. You are highlighting an issue that can really make a difference in people's productivity. Bruce Judson
Thanks for the comments Bruce. I agree that a browser "toggle view toolbars" function would be a valuable addition. However, I'm not sure it would stop any problems they were causing unless it disabled them completely as they would effectively still be installed in the browser, it's just that you can't see them. This is definitely one area of browser software that is open to innovation and should keep Firefox and IE from going stale for quite some time to come.
There sould be more of a warning when programs are installing toolbars - something along the lines of UAC in Vista - or at a minimum, it should be mandatory that toolbars and "extra" programs are opt-in during installation, rather than opt-out. Surely, InstallShield / InstallAware and the other installer providers could make this happen?
your so dum no one has that much toolbars