Freeware
Mouse Gestures: Firefox’s Killer Extension
Developer: Optimoz Team
Version: 1.5.2
Price: Free
Operating Systems: Linux, Mac OSX, Windows (Requires Firefox)
Download Mouse Gestures Here.
The Only Reason Why I Prefer Firefox Over Camino on a Mac
I really loved Camino [review] the first time that I used it. It was fast, lightweight, attractive and an all around good web browser - but it lacked one feature that I needed. With the amount of websites I visit each day, I need to be able to go backwards and forwards without having to mouse all the way up to the back or forward buttons. I’d probably develop RSI or something like that if I had to hit the back button every time - and Camino forced me to do just that. What I needed was built in mouse gestures like Opera [review] or an ability to add my own mouse gestures extension like I can do on Firefox [review].
The Mouse Gestures extension for Firefox is, without a doubt, one of the best extensions for the award winning browser. It enhances my productivity tenfold and possibly even more when I’m using the trackpad on my laptop. I really don’t know what I did for all of these years without being able to simply move my mouse to execute commands. It just works so seamlessly with Firefox that it should really be built right into the program.
There are few Firefox extensions that I really can’t live without - and this is one of them. It’s tiny size and negligible memory footprint make it an extension that you won’t even realize is there. Not bad for something that really makes any browsing operations so much easier. It’s highly customizable and can control nearly everything in your browser - and it can do the same in Thunderbird and a variety of other Mozilla programs.
However, as much as I love Mouse Gestures, there are a couple of problems with it. The first is the complex preferences pane that may steer some away from an otherwise exceptional program. While it’s easy enough to get used to, it does look daunting at the beginning - which is a potential drawback for some people. Another gripe, and it’s really my own fault, is that I have to set the gestures to my left mouse button on my MacBook (damn Apple’s desire to keep the one button laptop) and sometimes I end up going back or forwards when I just wanted to highlight some text. Rest assured, it’s not a problem the majority of you will have.
Mere moments after I install Firefox, Mouse Gestures follows. And I highly recommend that you do exactly the same thing. Once you start using mouse gestures for simple commands, you will never go back to doing things manually again. If you only install one Firefox extension, make it this one - it really is that good.
Try Mouse Gestures for Yourself.
- Eric Norton
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