Tired of paying for software over and over again? I know - for many people, Microsoft software is expensive, and since there are also free alternatives...but no, wait! I happen to know a lot of people that consider switching to a different word processor or spreadsheet application too hard, but they also complain about Microsoft software being too expensive. Well, here's one for you - cheap Microsoft Office is just around the corner!

Discount, Microsoft, Office? How come these words can be found together? Well, Microsoft thought of releasing a package of products including the Office suite, Internet security software, as well as other services, all coming for an annual subscription fee. Considering that you'll get Microsoft Office and a bunch of other tools for $69.99 per year, I guess we can call this "discount Microsoft Office," don't you think?<-125x125 Button - right->

Formerly known as "Albany," Equipt includes the following applications/suites: Office Home and Student 2007, Windows Live OneCare, Office Live Workspaces, Windows Live Mail, Live Messenger and Live Photo. The plan is to start selling it in the US on the 15th of July, via Circuit City, and other outlets being expected to follow soon afterward.

I know that $69.99 per year doesn't really sound like a deal, but the good part is that you can load Equipt on up to 3 PCs for the yearly subscription fee, so $20 for a PC isn't that bad, after all...

I know, I know - there are always free alternatives around, but if you want to stick with the commercial products, why go for some discount Microsoft Office deal, when more interesting things are waiting just around the corner?

Currently, on Mozilla.com are no less than 5170 add-ons available for Firefox, but I guess there are only a few hundred able to work properly with Firefox 3. Even more, out of those 5170 Firefox add-ons available in all, less than one thousand can really be useful, but that still leaves us with an impressive amount of them to check out. When talking about useless extensions, here you have a few descriptions - "Report the duration of your current browser session," "Change the product name in various parts of the browser. Random name generation ensures perpetual humor," or "This extension allows for customization of the Add Bookmark dialog. The bookmarks tree can be automatically opened and elements can be hidden." Anyway, today I have only one add-on in mind, and its name is PicLens...

<-125x125 Button - left->You know what are those features making some people use Flock instead of Firefox? I don't think it's about blogging features, although they are a good addition, but that excellent Media Bar, turning YouTube and other similar sites into a real show! Now, you should forget about that, because Firefox 3 and PicLens are the only tools you need to turn your YouTube, Google, Flickr, Photobucket or deviantART experience into a unique one. Obviously, you're not limited only to these sites, PicLens supporting virtually any site that has an image gallery inside.

Because images can say more than words, let me tell you something that images can't, in this case. I know it may seem strange to start talking about a bug in an article about the best Firefox 3 plugin, but it's a minor one, and can be easily avoided. Here's what I noticed...
When you open PicLens, and everything works fine, you suddenly press Alt+Tab to check something in another application. So far, so good, but when you try to get back to it, you end up with a blank screen. All you can do is press Esc, and then open it again. The solution to stop this from happening ever again? Well, forget about Alt+Tab while using PicLens, and use the Minimize button located in the upper right hand corner.

To "effortlessly search and zoom your way around thousands of images, videos, news feeds, sports feeds, and more," with PicLens, as nicely described by its producers, all you need is a decent computer running Firefox 3, some 3D graphics card, onboard ones should also be fine but, most of all, a good Internet connection.
Using PicLens comes natural, since you can type in something in the search box, or pick a domain from the list and see all images, news and videos related to it. These are coming from a lot of notorious sources, like MSNBC, ESPN, IGN, and so on.


To maximize a video, be sure not to miss the button in the lower left hand corner. It took me a few hours to spot it, but it may just have been the lack of focus I have sometimes...;)<-125x125 Button - right->

At last, for those scared of setting up things, it's going to be an absolute joy finding out that PicLens doesn't have any preferences to mess with, but I hope to get some 3D and media playing options in the future, and some data buffering ones, too. Anyway, everything works as a charm for now, so I would be rude to say PicLens is really missing something.

Need I say more? I know there are a lot of good add-on for Firefox out there, and some may show up saying "that one is better," and I can't deny the fact that they may be true, but PicLens is the best Firefox 3 plugin that can prove to be useful for the largest mass of users. Am I right with this, or not?