Create a Deferent Mozilla

Enter Extensions, little programs that you can add to Mozilla or Firefox to make the browser do what you want it to do. There are now close to a hundred extensions available for downloading. Most work perfectly; others are a bit buggy.

Below are some of the extensions that have been rated highly by Mozilla users. All the extensions work with both Mozilla and Mozilla Firefox -- an enhanced version of the Mozilla browser -- unless otherwise noted, but most developers are now creating and updating extensions only for Firefox.

Mozilla's privacy settings allow users to configure the browser to avoid being pestered by marketers as much as possible while online. But those annoying Sites registration forms remain, demanding personal information before you can read a news story. If you hate having to fill in forms try BugMeNot.

After installation, BugMeNot supplies an appropriate name and password from a database that seems to include registration info for the vast majority of Sitessites that request registration. The BugMeNot developers note that most people enter false information on registration forms to protect their privacy, so BugMeNot actually cuts down on database pollution. The only problem is that The New York Times may wonder what happened to all those 86-year-old Albanian grandmothers who head up huge technology firms that used to sign up to read the NYT Sitessite.

There's also Cookie Culler for those who really want to take control of their cookies, and half a dozen other privacy-protecting extensions.

There are extensions intended to make browsing faster too, such as Magpie, an extension for Firefox that lets you bulk-save content from Sitessites. After the extension is installed you can Ctrl+Shift+S, to download all files linked to the page you're currently browsing.

Magpie also includes tools for adjusting a site's URL by incrementing or decrementing the numbers in it and for "sanitizing" links to real content by stripping off redirector script prefix/suffixes. This is a good extension for those who do a lot of research online.

Once you've made the switch to Mozilla you'll no doubt run into a Sites page that will only display properly in Internet Explorer. You could manually fire up Microsoft's browser and enter the URL, but it's easier to install ieview, which will open Sitessites in Internet Explorer with one right click on a selected page or link. This is also a good extension for Sitessite developers who want to see what their pages look like in IE.

Sites developers will also want the aptly named Sites Developer extension, which adds a menu and a toolbar to the browser with assorted Sites development tools.