Firefox “Always On Top” on Windows XP

When watching long streaming online videos I often watch them while I do other things, perhaps even browse other websites. I need something to keep firefox on top!

The problem is the moment that I use another application the focus is taken away from the Firefox window and it goes into the background. This is no good as I can no longer see the video.

I decided to investigate a solution that could keep the Mozilla Firefox window “Always on Top”…

Like most people my first port of call was the Mozilla Firefox community, I made a post called “Always on top“, which asked if there was javascript or a plugin somewhere that can force the window to always be on top.

I quickly discovered that there wasn’t going to be any kind of easy way to achieve this using Firefox alone.

What I needed was a third party application, ideally something freeware, or even better open source.

Here’s a short list of what I found:

  • Actual Window Manager – $49.95
    • Seems rather expensive for something that should be free.
  • Keep On Top – Freeware
    • Very basic, doesn’t really offer anything special
  • AbstractPath PowerMenu – Freeware
    • Gives you context menus that offer: Always On Top, Transparency and Minimize To Tray.
  • RBTray – Open Source
    • Offers the context menus: My Size, Always On Top, and Minimize To Tray
  • WinPin – Open Source
    • Gives you a little pin to the left of your “Minimise” button that will “pin” the window on top.

All in all, I’d say WinPin does the job just fine, if you also want to Minimise to Tray too, try RBTray.