How long is a piece of string ? It is nearly all a matter of personal choice and preference. To a large extent #Plugins will have little or no effect if disabled and it is easy to set plugins to be disabled, or to ask before use. That serves to both minimise their effects and remind you of when they are needed. *[[Disable or remove Add-ons]] **[[Why do I have to click to activate plugins?]] *[[Use plugins to play audio, video, games and more]] Google Update presumably updates Google Software, and Virtual Earth may be Google software. Shockwave Flash is commonly used but that may well include adverts and such that you may consider a waste of bandwidth and resources Adobe PDF reader is commonly used, but Firefox does have its own capabilities for dealing with pdf files now. *[[View PDF files in Firefox without downloading them]] **[[Use the Adobe Reader plugin to view or download PDF files]] RealPlayer software may be important to you. It may also interact with and sometimes interfere with FlashPlayer use

Hi, Check these pages: Recommended by Firefox (install/update): [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/use-plugins-play-audio-video-games Firefox plugins to play audio, video, games and more] Not recommended (delete or disable) by FF: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/ Firefox list of blocked add-ons]. hope this answers your question.