Google Toolbar For Firefox

In an earlier article about PageRank, I stated that the Google Toolbar was only available for Internet Explorer for Windows. That has recently changed and a beta version of the Toolbar is now available for the upstart browser Firefox. However, it won't work on computers that are still running Windows 98. In fact, it won't run on Windows XP either, if you haven't updated to the latest service pack.

System requirements:
Windows XP/2000 SP3+, Mac OS X 10.2+, or Red Hat Linux 8.0+ as your operating system. Firefox 1.0 or later

If you're a Firefox fan like me, you can install the Toolbar to your computer directly from Google. Just surf to Google's Options page and click on Toolbar under Google Tools at the bottom of the page. Google will detect your browser and send you directly to the correct download page.

Click on the Download Google Toolbar button, read and accept the terms and conditions, and the Toolbar will be installed automatically. (Provided, of course, your operating system is one of those listed above.)

The new Google Toolbar for Firefox offers all the functionality of the original, including the PageRank Display. I'd like to remind my readers not to get caught up in PageRank Obsession. Use the display simply as one of several tools to help determine if a website is safe to link to.

By the way, if your operating system isn't supported by the official Google Toolbar, you can still install the Googlebar, an open source toolbar for Firefox that emulates the search functionality of the Toolbar. The Googlebar does not include PageRank Display.