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Tool that installs the search engine's buttons to your browser toolbar

Tool that installs the search engine's buttons to your browser toolbar

Vote: (88 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: Microsoft

Version: 7.1.362.0

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(88 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

Microsoft

7.1.362.0

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • The toolbar is not unpleasant to look at and is not distracting either; it's a good-looking but unobtrusive toolbar, that exists merely to fulfill its intended functions.
  • The tools that come with Bing Bar are customizable, and include a few tools most people will find quite useful.

Cons

  • Microsoft is a company located in and heavily focused on the United States, and many of the news stories and features Bing Bar brings up are more relevant to the US than they are to other countries. Many news stories and features may be irrelevant to every nationality of user. This could be considered a con for people living outside of the United States.
  • The search terms entered into Bing Bar disappear every time a new tab is opened.
  • Bing Bar no longer works with any web browser other than Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer users can use Bing Bar to access Microsoft's search tools quickly. Previous versions of Bing Bar used to support FireFox too, but the latest version only supports Internet Explorer versions 7 and up.

Once the toolbar is installed, it provides users with shortcuts to a variety of services provided by Microsoft, including a search bar for faster online look-ups. As the user types, Bing Bar auto-populates search terms. The bar can be set up to show results in the same window too, without new opening tabs or windows. The same goes for the other features Bing Bar has, which include news, weather forecasts, and details on trending videos, plus Facebook integration. Bing Bar's Facebook integration allows users to chat via Facebook's chat program and 'like' webpages, again without any inconveniences.

Another good feature of Bing Bar is how cooperative with Microsoft's Live services it is. Bing Bar notifies users when they receive new email via Microsoft's Hotmail emailing service, and grants access to a number of other Windows Live features, including calendars, groups and more.

Additional apps can be downloaded for Bing Bar in the toolbar's settings. The apps are somewhat limited in number, but that does not mean there are not any good ones either. It is also possible to easily enable or disable notifications for specific applications, in accordance with the user's desires.

Pros

  • The toolbar is not unpleasant to look at and is not distracting either; it's a good-looking but unobtrusive toolbar, that exists merely to fulfill its intended functions.
  • The tools that come with Bing Bar are customizable, and include a few tools most people will find quite useful.

Cons

  • Microsoft is a company located in and heavily focused on the United States, and many of the news stories and features Bing Bar brings up are more relevant to the US than they are to other countries. Many news stories and features may be irrelevant to every nationality of user. This could be considered a con for people living outside of the United States.
  • The search terms entered into Bing Bar disappear every time a new tab is opened.
  • Bing Bar no longer works with any web browser other than Internet Explorer.