FireFox

With the release of the new version 1.5 of Firefox, there's never been a better time to download the open-source browser, take it for a drive, kick the tires and see what it can do. In the case of a browser, mainly what it can do is show you web pages, hopefully quickly. So the real satisfaction comes from finding enhancements and add-ons, because you can only have so much fun timing page loads with a stopwatch.

Fortunately, Firefox is famous for its pluggable extensions architecture, which allows you to download little snippets of code that act as the software equivalent of small consumer electronics devices, only they are free.

From Firefox's Tools menu, select Extensions to see what is already installed. Then, at the bottom of the window, you can see a little link that says "Get More Extensions." To fully experience Firefox, click on that and continue downloading add-ons until your browser stops working. Version 1.5 is more robust than earlier revisions, so this may take a while. Persevere. Eventually enough extra browser functionality can paralyze any computer.

Some extensions don't yet work with the new version of Firefox, but most actively maintained add-ons have been updated, or will be shortly. If your favorite isn't there yet, you can always e-mail the developer. They love that.

To get you started, here's a list of the Firefox extensions you absolutely can't live without.

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