Tabs are a feature in Firefox we all take for granted some times.  It has become so normal for us to uses them, they just don’t seem that exciting anymore.  Well, if you feel like your tab bar has lost some of it’s specialness – be sure to check out these ten terrific tab tweaking tips.

Close Tab With Two Right Clicks

Rather than hunting down the X to close your current tab, what if all you had to do was wish upon a star, and then right click anywhere on the tab you wish to shut down?  I will let you know how to get that done, without the need of the “wishing upon a star”.

Tab Counter

Who doesn’t want a Firefox add-on that counts the number of tabs that are open? Tab Counter is the name, and counting tabs is its game.

How to Duplicate a Tab

Need to duplicate a tab in Firefox, so you can have the same content loaded up in two Firefox windows?  Not sure, you could just copy and paste the URL into both browsers – but who has the time?  I have an easier solution to fix this problem.

Save Your Memory and Organize Firefox Tabs

I can tell you from experience, having too many tabs open can be a real pain.  On occasion though, it is something you have to do, so you might as well find an add-on that will help you navigate through your tabs more effectively.  That is where TooManyTabs comes into play.

Tile Your Firefox Tabs in the Browser

We are all looking for ways to get more done in the browser visually, and at times I would like to look at two tabs at the same time.  Looking for a way to tile my tabs, I found a great add-on that does the job really well.  The Tile Tabs add-on for Firefox does [...]

Close All Tabs in Firefox

Sometimes we all go a little tab-happy when it comes to our Internet browsing ways.  You might be browsing around, one lazy Friday afternoon, and before you know it – you have twenty open tabs and then decide, "hey, maybe I should get back to work!".  Well, have no fear, because I can get all [...]

Tab Utilities

Looking for a Firefox tab extension that does a little ‘bit of everything?  Look no further than Tab Utilities. This add-on for Firefox really is your proverbial utility knife when it comes to controlling, editing or optimizing your browser tabs for better performance.

Firefox Tabs on Top

Tired of seeing your tabs under your navigation or bookmark toolbars? Maybe you just want to see how Firefox would look with tabs on the top?  With the Firefox extension, Tabs on Top – you can easily move your browser tabs to the top of the screen.

Tab Rotator

Have the need to rotate your tabs?  No, I do not mean to turn them upside down. Tab Rotator, an add-on for Firefox, will automatically switch between the open tabs in your browser after a certain amount of time.

Just Put It On My Bar Tab

When you load up a dozen or more tabs all at once, Firefox can slow down to a crawl.  Now, you can either choose to stop overwhelming Firefox with too many tabs or you can grab this helpful add-on for Firefox that will only load up the tab you need at the time, with multiple [...]

Have another tab tweak you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments!

Overall, it looks like they are going to release new betas (till Firefox 4 is released) every two to three weeks.  The major changes this time around are moving the tabs to the top of Firefox and the introduction of the single Firefox button.  The Firefox button will be the place where you can get to the most used options in a single click.  (Mac and Linux fans will have these changes soon too).

A few more Windows features Beta 1 will deliver includes:

• New Add-Ons Manager: gives you more space to manage your Add-Ons, Themes and Plugins. Customizing your browser has never been easier!
• HD Video: Watch hardware-accelerated, super-smooth, HD-quality HTML5 video on YouTube using the new WebM format.
• Privacy improvements: Mozilla always puts privacy first, and this latest beta fixes flaws in some Web standards that could expose your browser history.
• Crash Protection: Experience uninterrupted browsing (now available on all platforms) – when a plugin crashes or freezes, you can resume browsing by simply refreshing the page.
• Performance: We know that performance is important. In this version, we focused on improving responsiveness at start-up and during page loads. This is just the beginning for performance improvements in Firefox 4.

Check out the rest of the details over at the Mozilla blog.

Also, as you can see pictured above, Firefox 4 Beta 1 includes a new feedback add-on.  Anytime you run across something you like or don’t like, click the feedback button and, well… give them your feedback about it.

• Download the Firefox 4 Beta 1

Are you excited yet? We are closer to having our hands on Firefox 4 than ever before.  If you check it out, be sure to leave your own thoughts and reviews about Firefox 4 Beta 1 in the comments.

Firefox 4 will be a big change when it comes to how we all interact with the browser.  One slight change that people either cheer or boo is adding tabs on top of Firefox, rather than the current position most of you use today.

So why has Firefox made the jump from the current tab position to putting tabs on top of the browser?  Alex Faaborg does a great job at explaining thing here:

If you are not a fan of having your tabs on the top of the browser, do not think of changing browsers or not updating just yet.  They make it clear that Firefox’s user interface is still totally customizable, so you can drag your tabs back down to the Firefox 3 position if you fear the user interface change.

Both the Operetta and Operetta Advance themes for Firefox will give you that Opera look and feel you have been looking for.  The main difference between the two themes is that Operetta has the tab bar in the usual location (under the bookmarks) and Operetta Advance will move the tab bar to the top of the browser (on top of the menu).  So you have two choices to work with, depending on where you want the tabs bar.

Here is what Operetta looks like in action.

For comparison’s sake, here is the Operetta Advance theme.

Both themes give a great looking interface, without having to switch to the Opera browser to use it.  You can pick up both the Operetta and Operetta Advance themes (Windows only, for both themes) on the Firefox Add-ons web site.

It is ok to look at other browser’s themes from time to time.  That doesn’t mean your a cheater, it just means you like looking at new things every once in a while.  Chromiefox is a coat of “chrome” for Firefox.  Available for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX, this theme will bring you the look and feel of Chrome without having to switch browsers to get your fix.

Here are the other flavors of Chromiefox to check out, based on the OS you use:

As a word of warning, the author of the theme does say there are some compatibility issues with some third party add-ons.  So that maybe something to keep in mind. 

  What about having your tabs on the very top of the browser like Google Chrome?  You can get this desired effect via Userstyles.org (must also have the Stylish add-on installed).  To pick up the experimental hack, go visit:  http://userstyles.org/styles/10470 .