IE Gets Two New MSN Toolbar Add-Ins

Microsoft on Wednesday released betas of two add-ins for its MSN Search Toolbar. One add-in allows users to store and access their Windows Live Favorites in a sidebar adjacent to the browser window, while the other offers thumbnail previews of search results before visiting the actual pages.

The Windows Live Favorites add-in enables users to import their current favorites from both Internet and MSN Explorer, and use them right away through the service. New sites can be added with a single click, and favorites can be searched by name, address or keyword.

Users who take advantage of the Windows Live Favorites service would be able to access their saved Web pages from any computer with an Internet connection, including machines based on operating systems other than Windows, Microsoft has said.

The preview add-in allows users of MSN Search to view thumbnails of Web sites beside the links in each search result. Mousing over the thumbnail will magnify the image for closer inspection. Microsoft said this would speed up the search process by eliminating the need to click on every result.

These two plug-ins join three other pre-existing ones for the MSN Search Toolbar, including weather, games and an anti-phishing add-in.

The Windows Live Favorites add-in requires MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search and Microsoft Windows XP or Server 2003 with IE6. The search preview add-in will work on Windows 2000 and Internet Explorer 5.01 or later.