Although as a company we deliver most stuff to run on Linux servers, I see more and more Macs show up in the office. Our developers either blackmailpersuade us to get them these new toys or they decide to make the investment themselves.

Now, apart from some extensive abuse ten years ago, I have always been a big Apple fan. I started coding for the Macintosh prior to System 7 and released several applications through the years. After Steve Jobs cancelled the Newton, I tossed all my Apple stuff into a corner and fully switched to Linux. I did not come back for more abuse until MacOS X 10.1.

At that time, for browsing, I used Camino exclusively. Mozilla just didn't feel like a MacOS application. Then, when Apple release Safari I switched almost immediately. I can't remember exactly what swayed me, but it must have had something to do with the level of integration with the OS. But, since a few months now, I exclusively use FireFox.

Firefox 3 is great, but doesn't yet totally cut the mustard out of the box. So, here is my list of Firefox add-ons that make it work really well on the Mac:

• GrApple Yummy (blue):
  This makes Firefox look like Safari.
• System Proxy:
  This nice little extension makes Firefox look at the MacOS proxy settings instead of its own. Ideal for people like me that make extensive use of the MacOS locations.
• Quartz PDF Plugin:
  Out of the box Firefox does not have the ability to view a PDF file in the browser. This is one of the things I really liked about Safari. Both the Schubert and Acrobat plugins do not work in Firefox (on Intel). Just when I was about to start developing my own, I found this plugin that does exactly what I need.
• Fission:
  A plugin that will use the address bar to show progress, just like Safari.
• Resizeable Textarea:
  Somehow those textarea's are always the wrong size. This little add-on makes it possible to resize them, just like Safari.

The above are just a few of the plugins I use daily, but they're definitely the ones that made me switch from Safari to Firefox.

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