Bing Bar

"MSN Toolbar" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Windows Live Toolbar.
Bing Bar

Screenshot of Bing Bar version 7.3.124.0
Developer(s) Microsoft
Stable release 7.3.132.0
Operating system Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP with Service Pack 3
Platform Windows Internet Explorer 7 or later
Type Browser extension (Toolbar)
License Freeware
Website toolbar.discoverbing.com/toolbar/

Bing Bar (formerly MSN Toolbar)[1] is a browser extension toolbar for Internet Explorer, developed by Microsoft. Bing Bar replaced Windows Live Toolbar in Windows Live Essentials 2011 ("Wave 4") announced on June 23, 2010.[2] Bing Bar was previously supported on Mozilla Firefox but Microsoft discontinued support.[3]

Features

Bing Bar incorporates features from Windows Live and from the Bing search engine. The Bing Bar user-interface enables visual effects such as flip, slide and rollover animations, colors and themes. The toolbar features "flyout" content windows, which enables users to view the latest content from the MSN Portal without requiring them to move from the internet page they are currently browsing. From the same preview pane, the user can search that section of the site. The news, weather and sports content buttons feature a 'Breaking News' notification to alert the user when a high-priority story or severe weather alert has occurred. The user can customize the theme and color scheme of the Bing Bar as well as choose which MSN content buttons to present within the user interface. Bing Bar also displays the current local weather forecast and stock market positions.[4]

The Bing Bar features integration with Microsoft Bing search engine. In addition to the traditional web search functions, Bing Bar also allows search on other Bing services such as Images, Video, News, Shopping, Maps, Travel and XRank. When users perform a search on another search engine, the Bing Bar's search box will automatically populate itself, allowing the user to view the results from Bing, should it be desired.

Bing Bar also incorporates Windows Live features such Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live ID. When signed into Windows Live ID through Bing Bar, the user will receive notifications and an instant preview of new emails in their Hotmail, inbox, can instantly send the current page via email or instant message to their contacts and can quickly access other Windows Live functionality. The email button on version 7 of Bing Bar adds support for reading Gmail and Yahoo! Mail.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Install Free Bing Bar". Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 11 July 2010. Bing Bar (formerly MSN Toolbar): [~snip~] The free Bing Bar uses Microsoft Silverlight technology to provide you with access to Bing and MSN content. If you don’t already have Microsoft Silverlight installed on your computer, it will be automatically installed for you – for free.
  2. ↑ "Windows Live Essentials beta". Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 9 July 2010. Windows Live Essentials beta programs [~snip~] Bing Bar: Get search results from Bing without leaving the website you're on.
  3. ↑ "Bing Bar support for Mozilla Firefox (Revision 3.0)". Microsoft Support. Microsoft Corporation. October 5, 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2010. Microsoft will no longer support Bing Bar in Mozilla Firefox.
  4. ↑ "The Bing Bar". LiveSide - The Bing Blog. LiveSide.Net. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  5. ↑ Muchmore, Michael (18 February 2011). "Bing Bar 7.0". PC Magazine (Ziff Davis). Retrieved 26 May 2011.

External links