run firefox in 2 different modes
As a developer I have a problem with firefox. I have come to depend on firebug and all the tools, color picker, Dev tools, etc. All these are great. However I find myself in a constant battle. I usually need these tools 1 or 2 times a day but I browse all day. All my cookies, values I typed before, passwords and lots more are in firefox. However, when I run firefox it shows up to using a Gigabyte of memory in no time. When I run it in safe mode it never goes past 400k. So This question is more a request. I don't want to stop browsing in Firefox but that seems to be happening to me more and more often. Firefox has become a tool more than a browser and because of it, it has destroyed its ability to do what it designed to do in the first place. I realize that all the tools i have installed are of my own choosing.
My request though is can't there be a way to instantiate a new firefox where we can select which extensions\plugins run in a selective manner?. Each browser would still have all the data I need (cookies, passwords, auto-fill, etc.) but one would only have the plugins\add-ons I need for what I am tasking .If I am browsing I don't need my dev tools. Posting from Chrome right now...
Modified by the-edmeister
All Replies (4)
Create another profile and only install the plugins and extensions in each profile as needed. Then you can start Firefox with each profile and have the configuration that you need.
Plugins can be enabled and disabled when needed (Tools > Add-ons > Plugins) without the need to restart Firefox. Extensions require a restart after making changes.
@Cor-el I did do that for a while, the problems is that occurs is just too commonplace. A. As time goes by one profile will inevitably have most of my cookies\password information.
Modified by daxmax
You can synchronize your personal data between multiple Profiles using the Firefox Sync extension in Firefox 3.6 (Sync is built into Firefox 4.0).
I think between the two suggestion this will ultimately work.