Dress up Firefox and integrate it into Windows

It’s been a little while since I wrote about computer software, but I’ve noticed a few good add-ons for Firefox that make it blend into Windows a lot better.

As you may or may not know, Windows 7 lets you “remove” Internet Explorer, it leaves the rendering core so it doesn’t break any apps that need that, but it removes the browser front end so that nothing can start IE even if it tries.

This is sure to be a welcome relief to disgruntled Vista users that tried every way to make IE go away, and yet it kept cropping back up, started by asinine programs that were hardwired to invoke only it, and attempting to take over your system again.

In Vista, no matter how hard you tried to make IE disappear, the scourge of the Windows platform uninvited guest kept coming back, but now it’s as simple as going to Uninstall Programs, Turn off Windows Features, unchecking Internet Explorer 8, and rebooting twice. (Make sure you have another browser first), and if you ever want it back, Windows can re-install it for you just as easily.

Now if you’re like me, you generally like Firefox, but you think the Strata theme is butt ugly and wonder why it can’t just look like a normal Windows application. You also like a few things that IE 8 does, like color coded tab grouping and domain highlighting. Firefox just feels wrong and unnatural.

To make Firefox work and look like a normal Windows program, you need two add-ons:

Glasser: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7336

Vista Aero: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4988

You’ll also need to disable the extension compatibility checker in the browser and create an account on the Mozilla add on site so you can disable the Firefox version check there too. (Glasser complains otherwise and won’t install into Firefox 3.5, but works fine if you ignore the compatibility check.)

If you prefer Bing Search instead of Google, the Microsoft people have a Bing add on for Firefox.

(Of course I also use Adblock Plus, worth mentioning.)

When you’re done, Firefox’s interface will be much like Internet Explorer 8, complete with a lot of its features, minus the slowness, security problems, and other crap that plagues Internet Explorer.

Click for Screenshot

There is no Internet Explorer. There Is Only XUL ;)