Do you find that you have the same browser windows open all the time? (All of your Google stuff? Hint! Hint!) Well I certainly do. I have my GMail, Google Reader, and Calendar open all the time, I never close them. Anyway, I found this great hint on how to integrate them more cleanly into the browser.

Original link: Set Up Space-Saving, Permanent Gmail and Reader Tabs in Firefox

First you need to download the following firefox plugins:

Install all 4 of those, and restart Firefox.

Now restart and open the tabs pages that you want to integrate, I would suggest:

Now right click on the tab and select Permatabs > Permanent tab. Do that with each tab.

PermaTab

PermaTab

Next right click on the tab and select FaviconizeTab. Again do this with every tab. This gives you a very small icon in the top left hand corner where you can always go to get your important tabs.

FaviconizeTab

FaviconizeTab

Now to optimize a little more (unread counts).

Start with GMail.

  • Open Tools > Add Ons
  • Then select the preferences for Better Gmail 2.
  • You will want to select: Show Unread Message Count on Favicon (Bogs)
GMail Unread Count Setting

GMail Unread Count Setting

Now we will do the same with Google Reader

  • Open Tools > Add Ons
  • Then select the preferences for Better GReader 0.8.
  • You will want to select: Show Unread Message Count in Favicon
GReader Unread Count Settings

GReader Unread Count Settings

If everything has gone according to plan your Firefox should now have permanent tabs, that take up no room. Something like this:

Clutter Free Firefox

Clutter Free Firefox