The Firefox web browser has quite a few add-ons that offer a configuration of the scrolling smoothness in the web browser. Smoothwheel is one of the add-ons but there are also additional hacks to fix the choppy scrolling in the web browser.

The Google Chrome extension Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller provides Google Chrome users with the ability to fine tune the web browser’s scrolling as well.

The configuration provides access to four mouse and keyboard scrolling parameters that can be changed to suit the individual needs of the Chrome user. The four available parameters are step size which defines the pixels that are scrolled with each tick of the wheel, the smoothness factor at the beginning and end as well as the acceleration sensitivity which defines the step size when the mouse wheel is flicked quickly.

The values can be changed by editing them in the provided forms on the configuration page. The new values become active once the focus is removed from the form they have been entered in. It is usually a good idea to open a website that consists of a few pages to be able to test the new values effectively.

Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller can be downloaded from the official Google Chrome extension repository. It is compatible with Google Chrome 4 browsers (via Download Squad)

The add-on is actually not only compatible with Firefox but also with the email client Thunderbird and other Mozilla based applications such as Seamonkey, Songbird or Flock. The extension will automatically change the mouse scrolling speed in the application it was installed in.

The options of the add-on provide access to very extensive parameters that can be used to fine tune the scroll speed. Available are both basic and advanced settings.Basic mode contains settings to change the speed and step size. Speed ranges from very slow to turbo while the step size ranges from 1/10 page to 1 page or 10 pixels to 500 pixels. It might take a few tries before the ideal scroll speed settings can be found but it is very well worth it in the long run.

Holding down the alt or shift key will increase or respectively decrease the scrolling step size to allow for a bigger or smaller scrolling area. Additional options are available in the basic settings window like enabling the same scrolling speed when using the computer keyboard to scroll. The advanced settings on the other hand can be configured to change adaptive duration and steps and a fps limit. SmoothWheel is a great add-on for users who are not satisfied with the mouse scrolling behavior of Firefox or other Mozilla software programs.