Tim's Tops: Firefox Add-ons

If you haven't yet heard of Firefox's add-ons, you've been missing out. Well, I'm here to fix that! Before I go on though, if you don't have Firefox, I suggest visiting my post on it.

What is an add-on?
Firefox comes prepackaged as your ordinary web browser, complete with the actual browsing functionality, bookmarking capabilities, download manager, add-on manager, password manager, as well as one integrated add-on called Personas Plus. Personas, if you haven't tried them out yet, are part of a great customization add-on idea, but they are only one type of add-on available. An add-on is something that extends or "adds on" functionality on top of what Firefox already has. Personas Plus is only one example however, and the capabilities of an add-on may range from aesthetics to downloading capabilities to website integration and beyond.
On top of their functionality, add-ons registered on the site are deemed safe and secure. Like everything else I support, add-ons will not share your information unless you allow them to, they will not infect your computer with viruses, all they do is add functionality to the already awesome Firefox web brower.

What would you recommend?
Through my experience with Firefox and its add-ons, I have compounded a list of add-ons that I believe every user will find useful available on its collection page. As an example, here are three add-ons I think every Firefox user shouldn't browse the web without!

Adblock Plus: More often than not, websites on the internet play host to annoying advertising tools such as tracker cookies, pop-up advertisements, and (for users with slower computers) flash banners that make loading a page take forever. This add-on stops advertisements from ever being loaded by your web browser, ensuring your security and increasing the quality of your web browsing experience. I would recommend disabling it (via the icon often placed in the top right corner after installation) for sites you feel don't need it. I, personally, only keep it active on sites that I feel have invasive advertising strategies (pop-ups in particular).

Xmarks Sync: Do you use more than one computer for your web browsing needs? Do you use multiple types of browsers (Chrome, Internet Explorer or even Safari)? Do you visit websites which require you to remember a password? Well, in addition to Firefox's built-in password manager, Xmarks is your answer to synchronizing your passwords across all of your computers. A powerful tool, its synchronization method can also help you backup your passwords and bookmarks in case of a computer failure, and it eliminates having to enter the same password on every one of your computers and browsers.

FoxyTunes: Your pal for listening to music while browsing the web. FoxyTunes sits on your status bar (that bar at the very bottom of your browser) and provides controls for several types of media players so you can browse while you browse. To name a few media players it supports: Windows Media Player, Winamp, Pandora.com, Youtube.com, iTunes, Yahoo Music and even Xbox Media Center.

Here's the main site for Firefox's add-ons. I recommend giving it a good browse if you like the idea of add-ons.