I do not generally use a whole lot of extra stuff in my day to day computing. I use Firefox with very few add-ons and Microsoft Office. For things like lists, I go analog and use paper and a pen. So when it came time to come up with my favorite apps, I was feeling like I didn't have much to say.

Then I remembered Better Gmail 2. It doesn't feel like an app since I never have to open anything, it's just there, making my Gmail a bit more user friendly. Basically, it is a compilation of Greasemonkey user scripts that add features to Gmail compiled by the folks over at Lifehacker. I like the ease of Better Gmail since it combines all the scripts into one easy to install little package.

My absolute favorite feature is the way Better Gmail deals with telling you how much new mail you have. Since I usually have several tabs open, I see Gmail - Inbox (1) or however many messages I have. In tabs I rarely can see the number of new messages and sometimes can't even see that i have new messages. Better Gmail strips away the extra stuff and will list inbox count first on the tab instead of the default longer listing.

The other feature I really enjoy is row highlighting. As you roll over rows in the inbox, each of them highlights. When you've been weeding through your inbox all day, it's really nice to have that extra visual cue to keep everything together.

Better Gmail also adds attachment icons which let you know if the document attached to your email is a PDF, .doc file or jpg before even opening the message. You can also hide the spam count, use various filters and macros more easily and really get in an customize what you want your Gmail to look like. I only use the three I described but there are more than 20 variations and options that you can choose from once you install Better Gmail 2.

Gmail could very well be one of the most hackable web services of all time. One only needs to check our Gmail tag to see what tools are available for enhancing one's experience, and now we have a slick new cross-platform Firefox add-on to link to from our friends at Lifehacker: Better Gmail. As its name suggests, Better Gmail rounds up a number of popular Greasemonkey scripts and other extras into a handy management UI, complete with links to homepages if you need to find out more about any of the included extras. As you can see, this add-on packs a wallop, including many of our old (and new) favorites such as the Macros script (for many more keyboard shortcuts Gmail should really have in the first place), an Unlabelled label hack and a Filter Assistant which brings that handy email client functionality of building filters from a currently selected message. Of course, one could run out and find all these scripts on their own, but Better Gmail takes the clicking out of that process and wraps all this great stuff into one handy extension, complete with the ability to disable it all in one fell swoop in case you need to get back to Gmail's basics.

Better Gmail is of course provided for free here.