I have made no secret about the fact that the one feature I am looking most forward to in Firefox 4 is the new Firefox Panorama tool (formerly known as Tab Candy).  Now, I have shown you why Panorama is really handy when it comes to getting rid of the extra browser windows, but now they are also introducing a very nice search feature too.

So lets say you have all your tabs grouped up, you have several websites loaded up – but you want to find your email in a hurry. You can click the little magnifying glass on the side, type the name of your email client (like Gmail) and it will be highlighted for you.

Here is a short video from Aza explaining more about how the new search feature would work:

Overall, this is one more thing that is making me want to get my hands on Firefox 4 even more. I love the fact that the search is so fast, and I can’t wait to start using Panorama in my everyday browsing.

With just one keystroke, you can zoom out of your browsing experience and see all your open web pages like thumbnails.  You can then reorganize and arrange these windows in different ways.

What is so special about Tab Candy?

You could easily create a group for your mail, calendar and RSS reader.  Then you could make another group of tabs for your work related web pages you have to look at.  Many extensions out there for Firefox try to do this, but Tab Candy is the first execution of this tab reorganization that has really gotten me excited to see more.

Check out this video by Aza Raskin to get a better picture of what Tab Candy will mean to the way you really use the browser.

Mark my words, this will be the must-have feature in the next generation of the browser wars.  I might sound like a fan boy when I say it, but this is why I love Firefox.  They don’t tell you how you have to browse – they give you many different ways to get the job done, and you can use the way that works best for your own needs.

Right now Tab Candy’s future in Firefox 4 has been delayed due to some implementation challenges, so let me be one of the first to tell them, “Please get this feature added to Firefox 4, I really need it!”.

Here are the most popular add-on collections for the Firefox browser:

Windows 7 Theme for Firefox 3.5

32430 subscribers – This collection of add-ons were gathered to help you make Firefox 3 more seamless in the Windows 7 operating system.  Not only do you get the nice theme and tweaking add-ons, but you also get some great time conserving tools too!

Web Developer’s Toolbox

7934 subscribers – Speed up the development process by using add-ons to troubleshoot, edit, and debug web projects without ever clicking away from Firefox.

Reference Desk

5033 subscribers – Make the librarian jealous with add-ons that help students, researchers or anyone with a tough question find and document all the answers.

Lifehacker’s Must-Have Extensions

3849 subscribers – Then of the must-have add-ons for Firefox, as picked by the brilliant minds over at Lifehacker.com. Included are ten of the best add-ons for Firefox out there today.

Better Pack

2564 subscribers – Lifehacker’s “Better” add-ons, compiling multiple Greasemonkey tweaks for YouTube, Reader, Gmail, Google Calendar, Flickr, and other sites.

Power User Pack

1537 subscribers – Collection of Add-ons for power user, sys admin, developer, surfer, and more.  Most powerful add-ons which would change interface to better and tidy, add some cool functionality.

Traveler’s Pack

1270 subscribers – When the travel bug bites, these add-ons make it easy to plan, book and document your trip — without getting lost along the way.

Family Organizer

1211 subscribers – Create a safe and fun online experience while planning everything the family does offline with add-ons that keep the family cooking.

Social Circuit

1176 subscribers – Whether it’s LOLing with a BFF, finding a job or staying connected with old classmates, social networking add-ons keep the most popular sites front and center.

Icon-Only Perma-Tabs for Gmail and Google Reader

592 subscribers – Keep your Gmail and Google Reader tabs open at all times, but shrink them down to show the favicon only and add your unread count on the icon.

Know of an add-on collection that can get the proverbial job done better than the ones I listed above?  Leave a comment and share it with the group.  Also, if you have pulled together your own unique collection – share those with me too in the comments.

Need to filter your Facebook information? 

Have to many friends, or do you just not care that Bobby ranked up in Mafia Wars or Julie found a cat in FarmVille? Thanks to the Facebook Filter add-on for Firefox, you can customize the kind of content you see from your Facebook friends.

Once installed, you can hide:

• applications
• events
• photo tag alerts
• group joining alerts
• fan alerts
• is not friends with alerts

That in turn, will help you get back to Facebook’s meat and potatoes of content, just the status updates.  You can get to the Options window by selecting “Facebook Filter Options” from the Firefox Tools menu.

You can pick up the Facebook Filter extension on the Firefox Add-ons web site.

Here are all the Google services you can quickly show or hide via the extension.

You can customize how much space you want to save with the options across the bottom (by making the menu a toolbar or a drop down menu).  You also have the option of a horizontal or vertical menu.  You can then right-click on your toolbar, go to “Customize” and then drag and drop the GButts Toolbar you created on to your toolbar layout – anywhere you might need it.

If you are a heavy Google user – the GButts add-on should be right up your alley.

+ Download and Install the Separate Tabs Extension for Firefox!