I think more can be done because of all the browsing history etc, letting people refine what they are looking for when they open a new tab on the blank page itself, based on the places they have visited etc. I guess the additional challenge is how to do it in a slick way so that it is not seen as ugly and intrusive.

I have been trying a few just now, and in a word: no. They aren’t smart enough and,mainly, they require a lot of pre-configuration.

Instead, form filling should take a few lessons from the awesomebar:

1. Use data from forms on all visited websites to give suggestions. So if I have ever entered “David Naylor” into a box it will be suggested when I want to enter it (and start typing “D…”) on a website I never visited before.

Using all the saved entries as suggestions will give us a problem of very/too many suggestions. This can be countered by the following improvements:

2. a) Count form entries per site: When visiting Gmail, keep track of the fact that I’m entering my own user name almost every time and put it at the top of the suggested list (even before I type anything). Then stick my girlfriend as number two, etc. (Currently entries are listed in the order they were first entered, right?)

2. b) Count form entries across sites: When I visit a new webshop, understand that I’m most likely to type “David Naylor” when I start typing “D…” into a form.

3. I guess, ideally, Firefox should understand whether I’m about to type into a “name” box or an “e-mail” box and use that knowledge to bring up the relevant suggestions quicker/further up. This function would have to be implemented with non-english websites in mind though.

4. When asking whether to save a password, give the user the option to “log in automatically” (fill login + password and submitting) in the future.