If you are as obsessive as me about having a clear desktop, a clean browser is an essential for you, too. Today, I finally got what I desired out of Firefox. As a bonus, I also got around integrating Firefox with Windows Seven as much as possible without installing any external applications, like Winfox.

Tidying it up

The very first step in tidying Firefox up, is to install Omnibar. Omni bar is an add-on that will integrate “location bar and search bar into one”, and also “shows search and url suggestions”.

After installing Omnibar, I was struck by the picture: the bookmarks toolbar I once loved so much looked so ugly, now. So, I just hid it.

After I had done all that, I installed Compact Menu 2, a very cool add-on that let’s you hide the menu bar inside one, tiny button. So, that’s just what I did.

By doing just these three simple steps, my Firefox now gives me about 70 pixels more reading space, and 70 pixels less crowded, clickable widgets.

Windows Seven Taskbar Integration

After that, I was tempted, and persuaded, to try out "NEW Glasser by SzymekPL”, which gave me a very nice, sleek glass effect on the whole Firefox frame.

This was too cool to leave it alone, so I just Googled for Taskbar integration, and found out that in Firefox 3.6, taskbar integration is a built-in feature, and is simply disabled by default. So, I got on with it, and enabled it by first typing “about:config” in my location bar, and then toggling “browser.taskbar.previews.enable” to true. Now, I have individual tabs preview in my Windows Seven taskbar for Firefox.

If you want to take it even further, and use jumplists and another Windows Seven goodies in Firefox, you can install Winfox, but I, personally, don’t fancy the idea of installing another application just to smooth my original application up a little.