Switching between browsers used to be easy – not anymore. However, with a number of actions which involve customizing these programs with extensions, run apps or even sync open tabs to mobile devices.

Having said that, here are 3 things to keep in mind before switching between browsers:

#1: Syncing browsing data between all devices
Moving quickly and easily between open tabs in a browser is a feature that Chrome offers. However, this is available with other browsers too with Firefox having Sync and Opera having Link  for Android users, in particular. While Firefox is available on Android, Opera has mobile browsers for Windows Phone, iOS and Android. As for Safari on Windows PC and on an iPhone, you have lesser options when it comes to syncing but iCloud can help you with that.

#2: Bookmarks
While it’s difficult to go anywhere without your bookmarks, this issue was probably solved a long long time ago. Moving bookmarks between browsers is rather easy, and can done for all four popular browsers by using the Import or Export options available on all of them.

#3: Look for alternative add-ons or extensions
If you browse a lot (and who doesn’t these days!), there’s no doubt that using a few add-ons can make your experience all that better. Of course, before you switch your browser, make sure that critical services such as a password manager or even options for Evernote are available. What you must remember is that you will have to give up some add-ons for other as you might not find the same extension on another browser. That said, a number of popular services will be available on all browsers but not so for the niche stuff.

Simply put, the cloud is really the Internet especially when you use it for tasks that can be carried out by local software and hardware.

For example, if you back files to your hard drive, then that’s local. However, if you use Dropbox or any other online storage service, you’re using the cloud.

Another clearer example would be that of Outlook. If you are using the email client on your desktop, that is local. However, if you are using webmail in the form of Outlook.com, then you’re checking email in the cloud.

Even though the word ‘cloud’ suggests that it isn’t real, this is anything but true since your data, which you’ve saved in Dropbox or even Google Drive, is stored on a server somewhere.

Even this does seem promising, the problem of backing your data up can be tedious in the cloud as it is limited to the speed of your internet connection. Locally, backing your data is much faster as you would have noticed.

As for the price, while there are a number of free cloud storage services available, you will have to work within restrictions. For example, you get 2 GB of free storage with MozyHome but will have to pay $120 annually if you want 125 GB of space. Buying an external hard drive for $50-$80 for 1 TB should work out cheaper.

Finally, there’s the issue of privacy and security. If you don’t encrypt your files before uploading, you will have to assume that someone will be reading the information on your files including the service provider, government or even illegal hackers.

Browser extensions have been designed with the express purpose of making your browser more useful than it already is.

Of course, there’s not much to improve when it comes to the UI with the exception of Chrome’s New Tab page.

That said, here are 3 browser extensions that can help brighten up your web browser:

#1: Pinterest Tab

First up, you don’t need to have a Pinterest account to use this extension but you still get a beautiful picture for your tab from this social network that focuses on images. When starting the extension, you will be asked to choose image topics such as food, travel to name a few. However, it also gives us access to Google Calendar as well as a direct link to Pinterest itself.

#2: Earth View from Google Maps

This extension does not need any set-up whatsoever. Once you’ve installed it, every time you open a new tab, you can a beautiful satellite photo from Google Maps. It’s hard to tell whether this is from an extension as indicated by a Google Maps logo at the lower left hand corner as well as an indicator informing you of where this satellite photo has been taken from.

#3: Momentum

This extension helps you add a bit of prettiness along with productivity in your new tab. As soon as you start this extension up, it will ask you for your name as well as what the main focus of your day is. So, everytime you open up a new tab, you will be greeted personally, the time of day as well as the reminder that you wish to focus on. Apart from this, a beautiful photo as a backdrop, a to-do list and the current weather is also displayed.

So, how does one know which email is suspicious and which one isn’t. While there are a number of tips that can make up quite a list, here are three that can prevent you from getting scammed:

#1: Addressed as “Dear Customer”

If you see an email titled ‘Dear Customer’ that asks you to follow a link so as to fill in account details, you can be sure it is a phishing scam. This is because spammers use this old feature known as mail merge when sending emails out to victims that automatically fills in customer names among other types of information. But this is not to say that any authentic emails sent from corporations to you won’t use your name when addressing you.

#2: Links look suspicious

If you’re not sure about an email, hover the mouse over any link that is found in the email but don’t, under any circumstances, click it. When you look at the lower left-hand corner of your browser or email client, you’ll find the exact address that you’re hovering over.

You can easily determine whether that email is a scam or not by reading the link until the first backslash. Now, go back from that point to the first period and you’ll see the address that you are actually heading towards. In most cases, it will not be the URL that it looks like at the beginning of the link.

#3: Contains an attachment

If they can’t get you to follow a link, the next thing is to send you an attachment. For this, make sure that you never download an attachment that you don’t expect from anyone. In some cases, you may be expecting some people to send you some attachments. Use discretion when trying to do so.

Microsoft Outlook is probably as indispensable as a tool can get even if it isn’t loved at all. It can be a headache having to sift through emails all day long answering them or even responding to meeting requests.

That said, here are 3 Outlook organizational tips that can help save time in the process:

#1: Use custom folders

Using Custom folders will ensure that you won’t have to perform a manual search. Simply put, it’s like using a file cabinet. Not only are they easy to create, use and search for but there are no limits to the amount of space you can assign. When using these folders, be careful not to overdo things as it can slow down Outlook as a result.

#2: Use Quick Steps

This is an Outlook feature that helps you automate a series of tasks into one step. Simple tasks such as deleting, copying, forwarding and moving can be automated using this step. Using this feature can really cut down on checking emails especially if you receive a lot of emails daily. Once you define a Quick Steps task, then select the task from the Quick Steps menu. Outlook does the rest. You can even assign a shortcut key to these automated tasks.

#3: Email Templates

If your work involves sending the same email to a number of people, then sending an email using a template wouldn’t be a bad idea at all. In fact, this speeds up the process considerably. For starters, all you need to do is save this letter as an email template. To open it, click on New Items> More Items> Choose Form. After this, select User Templates and the saved the email. The rest is simple to carry out.

Using a couple of search tricks, which depends on how you enter your search terms, you can get certain types of information instantly from Google.

Bing has these options too but Google, as usual, has much more to offer in this regard.

That said, here are 4 common search terms that are useful on a day-to-day basis:

#1: Weather

If you’re headed to a particular city in your country or elsewhere and want to know how the weather is, all you have to do is type in the name of the city along with the word ‘weather’. Based on your findings, you can decide what kind of clothes to carry as well.

#2: Time zone

If you want to know what the time is in a particular or city, then all you have to do is type the city or country name along with the keyword time, and you should have it. Of course, if you two timezones at the same time, then you can add them to your taskbar instead.

#3: Calculator

Not only can you use Google Search as a calculator by typing simple mathematical operations but you can also find that entering simple questions about what you want to calculate also helps. In fact, people go as far as being lazy to type in question such as “What is 5 times 19.62 billion?” and get the right answer.

#4: Currency conversions

If you are traveling abroad, Google can also give you a good idea as to how much your currency is worth at the destination you are headed to. All you have to type is 100 USD to/in Indian currency. You can do this for any other type of recognized, and that includes BitCoin too.