By Jim Farmer

When Mozilla's Firefox 3 was released on June 17th, it was downloaded more than eight million times —  now recognized by Guinness Book as the highest number of software downloads in any 24-hour period.
   
By July 7th, more than 31 million people had downloaded the new version of Mozilla’s free browser. According to Wired Magazine, Internet Explorer claimed 95% of the browser market in 2004. Today, Firefox now claims an 18% share.
   
Back in 2006, Mozilla's development team asked users to send in suggestions for new features to be added to their next major Firefox release. The emails flooded in and between November 2007 and April 2008 Mozilla tested five betas of Firefox 3 before releasing the final version to the general public on June 17th. Mozilla claims that Firefox 3 is their user-friendliest release to date, featuring over 15,000 improvements. It’s now easier to use and more secure —  while actually using less memory. In addition, a new rendering engine allows for faster web page loading.
   
In addition to the technical enhancements, one of the most common requests was for increased customization options. After the release of Firefox 2, it became clear to developers that customization and expandability were very important to users. As a result, Mozilla worked hard to add powerful extension capabilities to Firefox 3, carefully blending them into the established environment.
   
Although considered unneccessary by some, Firefox 3's customization options are plentiful and it’s now easier than ever for armchair programmers to createnew plug-ins. Over 5,000 different add-ons are now available and the number grows daily. With so many options, it’s now easy and fun for users to add new capabilities and features to their browser in a modular fashion, maximizing workflow and allowing us to do more things right in the browser.
   
Finding Firefox 3 extensions couldn't be easier. A built-in extensions manager and browser is available in Firefox 3 under TOOLS —>ADD ONS. You can browse for add-ons, see what’s popular, and read comments from current users.
   
Extensions are available in a slew of different categories and the wide range of offerings is truly amazing — from dictionaries and translators in dozens of languages to java and Flash-based video games, horoscopes, and weather updates. A simple click can tell you the current Homeland Security Threat Level, prevent certain types of content from loading, or allow you to check in on your MySpace and Facebook accounts.
   
Read on for a quick look at seven new Firefox 3 extensions that we wouldn’t want to live without.

DOWN THEM ALL
This is the only download manager actually built inside of Firefox. In addition to downloading at speeds as much as 400 percent faster than usual, it also allows you to pause and finish downloads at a later date without the need to start from scratch. Most importantly, it can automatically grab all the linked content on a page, eliminating the need to click and save every file individually.

WOT
This add-on warns against potentially risky sites that try to scam users or send spam. WOT (Web of Trust) rates a site's authenticity, based on its database of info about 19 million websites, plus tips from its large online community and phishing site listings.
AD BLOCK PLUS
Who doesn't hate those annoying pop-up ads? By right-clicking on a banner and choosing Ad Block, a user can disable ads that offend and knock them out of commission forever. Invaluable!

STUMBLE UPON
Stumble Upon is a social network of people who share their opinions about web sites, making it easy to find sites that interest you or to connect with other users who share your tastes.

BUG ME NOT
It seems like more and more sites require you to enter personal info and create an account in order to access their content, ultimately resulting in more spam for you. Bug Me Not lets you right-click in the name box of any site's log-in screen (any that users have added to the database) and it will automatically log you in as a registered user with the info generously contributed by someone else in the Bug Me Not community.

PIRATE BAY TOOLBAR
Like downloading torrents? One of the web’s most popular file sharing communities offers this toolbar that allows you to search for torrents without even visiting a web page, as well as accessing convenient categories such as “TV Shows” and “Top 100.”

Their homepage features lots of big numbers and dollar signs — but unlike some other programs, AWE Empire actually delivers on its promises. Besides their unparalleled portfolio of sites, AWE supports participating webmasters with a huge assortment of handy affiliate tools such as traditional banners, pre-written text, and fancy iFrame plug-ins with live camera feeds that consistently pull in the clicks. Welcome to the future!

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