address-barfirefoxgoogle-chrome
In chrome I can type a single word, such as 'cats', and it will google search it.
In firefox, it tries to go to cats.com or something. This functionality annoys the hell out of me, especially as I use Chrome at home and Firefox at work.
Is there a way to make firefox behave a bit more intelligently, ie. if there is no .com or other extension, don't bother trying to go to the URL, just go straight to search?
No bloated extensions necessary. Simply add a new Search engine in Chrome options:
Chrome Settings > Basic > Search > Manage Search Engines
That will allow you to easily search your bookmarks by simply pressing b then a SPACE or TAB.
Not only does Chrome have this, the browser adds them automatically as you use site's search boxes.
Go into the Options -> Basics Tab -> Manage. You'll see a list of "Search Engines". Some of them are supplied by Google when you install Chrome, others are learned as you use the browser. Double-clicking an entry will let you edit it, where you can change the keyword from the default (domain name) to something shorter or more memorable.
To use your example, I hadn't used imdb.com yet in my Chrome install. So I went there, used the search, clicked "Go", and got my results. After getting back to the "Manage Search Engines" dialog, imdb.com was at the bottom of the list. Double-click it, set the keyword to "imdb" and go back to the browser. Now when I type "imdb" in the address bar, the first auto-complete entry is to search imdb.com. The browser asks to "type Tab to search imdb.com", but I just hit space anyway like I do in Firefox and it works.
Best Answer
If it fits your needs, you can use the Omnibar Add-On, which is modeled after Chrome.