Netbook Network

Although Firefox could never have the vast amount of features found in Opera, it certainly has a lot of add-ons that pretty much work as extra features to the browser. What we’ll be showing you today is mouse gestures in Firefox 4, using the Firefox extension FireGestures. A quick video demo is shown above, and more information can be found after the break.

To get yourself mouse gestures in Firefox, you’ll need to install the FireGestures plugin. Download it here and then restart Firefox. You’ll find FireGestures in your add-ons manager (Firefox button -> Add-ons). Click the “Options” button to begin managing and setting up FireGestures to your personal preferences.

Here, it is possible to do things such as customize the mouse trail and other various settings. FireGestures doesn’t have a big popup displaying gestures like in Opera, but a simple mouse trail. That means you’ll have to memorize the mouse gestures you have – good thing you can customize them though.

If you go to the Mapping tab within the Options menu of FireGestures, a list of actions and gestures pop up. Being an Opera fan, I had configured all the gestures to the same as Opera’s setup. To edit a gesture, double click on it. “U” stands for moving the mouse up, “D” stands for moving the mouse down, “L” stands for moving the mouse to the left, and “R” stands for moving the mouse to the right. For example, I have “UD” assigned to my reload action, and as shown in the video, if I gesture up to down, the page reloads.

There may not be a limit in the number of steps it takes to perform a gesture. You can even try out silly things like drawing a house to go home “DRURDRUL”. Gesture recognition is excellent and doesn’t require you to make perfect corners or straight lines. Watch out for accidentally closing tabs and windows, though.

Mouse gestures definitely have a learning curve, and I would recommend practicing with Opera first (visual mouse gestures come in real handy for beginners). However, once you’ve mastered the art of gesturing to control your browser, browser actions are easier than ever. Open and close tabs in split seconds without having to move your mouse all the way up to the New or Close button. Go back and forward without using the back and forwards button. You get the idea.