ReadWriteWeb

Even though we have quickly come to enjoy using Google Chrome after its launch yesterday, we still miss a couple of things from Firefox that Google's browser just doesn't offer yet. Most importantly, Google doesn't yet have any architecture in place that would allow developers to program extensions for it. For Firefox, the extension ecology that developed around it has a been a major contributor to its success and many users who might prefer the speed and simplicity of Chrome over Firefox won't be able to switch because they have become dependent on certain extensions they use every day.

Mozilla just wrapped up its Extend Firefox 3 contest and, after reviewing over 100 entries, its team of judges has announced the winners for Best Add-ons, Best Updated Add-on, and Best Music Add-on. In the Best New Add-on category, the winners were Pencil by D??ng Thành An, Tagmarks by Felipe Tassario Gomes, and HandyTag by Rémi Szymkowiak, while the Best Music Add-on category was won by Fire.fm from Jorge Villalobos and Jose Enrique Bolaños.

The contest was meant to showcase extensions that made use of the new capabilities Mozilla introduced in Firefox 3 and managed to combine this with excellent usability and the use of open standards.

Three Firefox extensions were named winners of the Extend Firefox 2 awards this morning after being selected from a list of more than 100 submissions by a panel of tech celebrity judges . The Minimap Sidebar Extension (fast mapping), SamePlace (multiclient browser IM) and Shareaholic (multi tool bookmark submitter) were the award winners and 12 runners up were named as well.

Though basing a business on a browser extension might seem crazy, for the select few companies highlighted in Mozilla events like this it can lead to a big increase in user numbers, especially if support from Mozilla continues.