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Firefox. Savor the word for a little. Then wonder why it isn't included with every copy of Windows. How could such a wonderful, secure, and open-source web browser still be turned down for, what I consider, its predecessor, Internet Explorer? Unlike Internet Explorer, it's lightweight, multi-platform (not counting the discontinued Mac version of IE), and comes in dozens of languages. Heck, there's even a portable version made for USB drives!

As you've probably figured out from the first couple of sentences, Firefox is a web browser that hits the sweet spot. There are tons of themes and extensions to make your life easier; as if Firefox itself hasn't. Some themes compliment OS-emulating visual styles. For example, if you're trying to make XP look like a Mac, there's a Safari theme that goes nicely with your OSX visual style. Other themes just, well...look good. Then there are the extensions. Oh, the extensions. There are literally thousands and thousands of them. Because the extensions are more important than the themes, I'll be listing only the some of most useful [and cool] extensions Firefox has:

del.icio.us Bookmarking: If you don't already have a Delicious account, grab one. Now. Delicious, or rather, del.icio.us, is a "social bookmarking" site that keeps all of your bookmarks online. You can tag bookmarks to make them easier to find. Your bookmarks can be synced with Firefox's and can be accessed from any web browser, anywhere. I use the site primarily for bookmark storage and secondarily as a "web directory to other cool sites".

Greasemonkey: If you could somehow concentrate the awesomeness of all the extensions into one, it would be Greasemonkey. It's an extension for Firefox that loads up user-created scripts that modify a web page in realtime. Some of them add more features; others remove ads. For example, there's a script that will put integrate Google Calender and Gmail on the same page. There's also one that will display bigger profile pictures on Facebook. This is a MUST have extension for anyone who wants to surf the web their way. Basically, you're not just changing the browser, you're changing the Internet (metaphorically). Grab user scripts from www.userscripts.org

Adblock Plus: While Greasemonkey has some good ad-blocking scripts, I'd prefer a dedicated extension that goes by the name of Adblock Plus. In my own experience, it outperforms any other similar extensions I've tried. What I really like about this one is that it grabs a blacklist of

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