Take a cutting-edge browser, and add a Seventies-era user interface. This crazy-sounding idea stands at the core of Pentadactyl (free), a Firefox add-on that makes Firefox look and feel like the famous open-source text editor Vim (and, to an extent, Vi, the editor that preceded it and was initially released in 1979). If you've ever wanted to use Firefox for hours without reaching for your mouse even once, this may be the add-on you need.

If you're not already a Vim user, Pentadactyl is probably one of the most confusing things that can happen to your browser. Unlike Vimperator, installing Pentadactyl doesn't require a browser restart. You just click the Install Now confirmation button, and find yourself with no address bar, add-on bar, or any other bars for that matter. You're suddenly left with a bare window that contains almost no browser chrome--just tabs on top. Welcome to Pentadactyl. Thankfully, the Pentadactyl Help system immediately pops open, so you can just start reading to figure out how things work now, and the first thing explained is how to bring the toolbars back (although they suggest you keep them off).

One problem with Pentadactyl is that because it remaps so many keys, websites that use shortcut keys--like Gmail and other Google products--may not play well with it. Pentadactyl resolves this by offering a "pass-through" mode that passes all keys except Escape directly to Firefox. You can trigger it manually, but if you want it to always trigger when you switch to Gmail, you need to configure Pentadactyl for it. Even after doing this, the J/K keyboard shortcuts used in Gmail still didn't work for me.

Pentadactyl also has an extended hints mode that can be used for performing other operations with links. Let's say you want to copy where a link saying "funny picture" points to. Normally, you would have to reach for your mouse, point at the link, right-click to open the context menu, and click Copy Link Location. With Pentadactyl, you just have to type ;yfunny and hit Enter. Such is the power of Vim, and by extension, Pentadactyl.

If reaching for your mouse sounds like the sensible thing to do, Pentadactyl is not for you. But if you're already using Vim, are fascinated by arcane keyboard shortcuts and infinitely configurable interfaces, or just really dislike toolbars, Pentadactyl can transform your browsing experience.

--Erez Zukerman