After, using Internet Explorer for years, the speed and amazing customization abilities of Firefox astounded me. I finally understood why people went on and on about “Firefox, the best browser ever”. Even so, it took me a while to find customizations (plugins) which could really tap into the full power of this new browser. Here are the top choices I use as a web developer and full time internet surfer.

1) Download Status Bar
No Kidding, If it were not for this smart plug-in, I would become a raving maniac a long time ago. The number of small file downloads I make on a regular basis causes the constant download box pop-ups to turn into a big pain. The Download Status Bar packs all the information you want to see such as download name, speed, and amount completed into a status bar which appears at the bottom of your browser for easy and uninterrupted browsing.

2) Firebug

This plug-in is the ultimate tool for any web developer using HTML, CSS, and Javascript. It allows you to edit your web page and view the changes in real time. You can hover over elements in your code and see exactly how your div’s are being positioned and displayed with a highlight tool. Over all it’s other features, my favorite is the ability to edit HTML and CSS for any element in an instant.

3) Xmarks (FoxMarks)

Over the years, I have often lost computers to fatal errors and blue screens. In doing so, I lost all my bookmarks which are essential to my daily work online. This nifty service saves you from ever having that problem. It backs up your bookmarks every time you exit the browser and they are then made available to you online or restore-able to a new computer.

4) DownloadHelper

Ever seen media players in a web-page with no download option? This easy to use plugin tracks actively streaming videos and mp3′s and makes it possible for you to download videos from most popular sharing sites.

5) DownThemAll!

For easy file downloads, this download manager is the first of it’s kind available in Firefox. It makes the job of downloading split files a whole bunch easier without installing extra, spyware ridden software.