The way some folks use a bazillion browser tabs isn’t the only difference between the way I use my browser and the way some of my friends do.

I know lots of folks that love their browser plugins. They’ve got session-savers, 3rd party integration toolbars and plugins up the wazoo. They rely on these tools as a big part of the way they use their browser.

I have a handful of tools (mainly bookmarklets) that I use in my browser as well, but I’ve tried hard not to rely on things that are browser specific, or that require installation and maintenance (keeping several machines up to date with all that stuff takes time I need to spend on other things). The only plugin I’m using is the PwdHash plugin (for reasons previously discussed)¹, and I have the web interface so I’m not completely reliant on the plugin.

Installing lots of plugins and toolbars makes your browser experience less portable – which is one of the big conceptual benefits to a browser. I want things to happen inside the browser window, not as a browser feature.

1. And the Firebug extension for my development browser. [back]