Super Awesome Blog

I love the way Google Chrome looks – sleek, simple, without a bunch of extra crap. I don’t really care for how insidious Google’s new browser is however, so I sought to find a good set of mods to my Firefox to give it the look I wanted.

Luckily the Firefox modding community provided:

Total Rechrome is one of the best firefox themes I’ve ever seen.  If you follow the instructions carefully and customize the theme, you’ll end up with a browser that looks (and for the most part functions) just like Google Chrome!  To get the look I have, you’ll also need the Personal Menu and New Tab Button on Right add-on.

I have a love/hate relationship with modifying Windows.  I do it enough you’d think I had the ideal system to my needs, yet I’m constantly looking for new little add ons, enhancements, etc., that make my relativly boring tasks on the computer just that much better.

I run Vista, and one of the things that’s always bugged me is the Win-Tab and uninspired Alt-Tab functionality.  Vista’s default Alt-Tab is a very boring view of each windows contents with a glass border around it.  I demand way more flash when I alt tab, which Win-Tab kind of provides, but something was still missing.

How-To-Geek posted a great find that helped fill my eye candy and functionality gap: Switcher for Windows Vista.  Switcher is highly customizable, both with hot key behavior and with window displays, size, speed, and more. I find the style shown here on the right to be the most useful, but if you prefer you can custmize it to your hearts content. I replaced Alt-Tab entirely, and set CapsLock+Tab to show the previous window, but again you can set any hot keys you like.

The only problem I’ve found is if you use an application (like winamp in classic view) that has many component windows that are all docked together Switcher treats each as its own window, creating a messy and unapealing apperance.

Depending on your computers muscle power Switcher will either run smooth or choppy… with all the bells and whistles Switcher runs great on my computer, which runs Aero just fine.  I suspect older computers that run Vista (people do this?) could use Switcher with some of the fancy effects turn off and look just fine.

Thanks again to the How-to-Geek for the find!

5 Stars Out of 5 (SUPER AWESOME)

FIRESIZER
Firesizer is one of those unique and handy add ons for people who are most likely too picky about their internet browsing (like me.)  You can save window sizes and quickly change Firefox’s window size to any that you like.

NEW TAB HOMEPAGE
An addon that is so simple, its name describes everything it does. Sets Firefox to open your homepage every time you open a new tab.

REF CONTROL
When you click on a link it sends along with it where you came from, or the referer.  This is useful for some sites (like WordPress) but in most cases presents a privacy concern. With Ref Control you can control what pages refer what.   You can see how it works by googling “What is my referer?”

NO SCRIPT
No Script has become the standard for locking down your internet.  Helps control malicious scripts, and generally helps to make Firefox the safest browser you can use.

ADBLOCK PLUS
Adblock Plus will disable most of the annoying advertisements on the internet.  Makes news sites, social sites, etc more aesthetically pleasing.