Gmail is my favourite e-mail client and anything that makes my life easier when using it is always welcome.

Gmail Manager Extension is an excellent application which allows you to check your e-mail directly from Firefox's toolbar. You can manage multiple accounts and receive new notifications directly to your desktop instead of having to check Gmail all the time. The program displays account details including unread messages, saved drafts, spam messages, labels with new mail, space used, and new mail snippets. You can specify at what intervals you want to check for Gmail and can customise exactly where you want to place the notifier either in your toolbar and statusbar. I already use a toolbar which can check my Gmail although I stopped using it a while back because it sometimes used to freeze-up Firefox periodically. However, this extension poses no such problems and prevents the awkward need to change into a new tab to see if you have new mail all the time. On the downside, it would have been nice to have been able to choose a few default notification sounds or alerts to alert you to new e-mail when you are away from your computer but it's hardly a major drawback.

If you're a Gmail user, you'll love this simple extension which makes keeping track of your favourite e-mail client a breeze.