Windows Live Toolbar

What we liked:
A search box, within the toolbar sends your query to Microsoft's Live Search and a drop-down list beside it lets you pick from web, news, local, images, RSS feeds, Encarta, and more. Past searches are stored, so re-running previous ones is an easy point-and-click process. A highlighter colours the search terms in the results - a vast improvement over the way that search engines normally work.

The local search is brilliant, providing contact details for local businesses and a map showing you where they are located. Another way to search is by using SmartMenus. Select some text on a page and a button appears by it that provides handy options to search the text or look up a definition.

Also useful is the News button, which takes you to the BBC News site, while an arrow to the right displays a list of the latest stories. The Favorites button accesses Windows Live Favorites, storing your Favorites menu online and synchronising it with other computers you use.

There are other shortcut buttons, too. The PC Health button takes you to the Windows Live OneCare website where there is a free scanner that looks for adware, spy ware and viruses. It isn't a substitute for security tools, but it is useful. The Spaces button goes to Windows Live Spaces, which is Microsoft's version of MySpace, and the Email button takes you to Windows Live Mail. Windows Live Messenger can be opened from the toolbar too.

Handily, the Windows Live Toolbar can be customised. A gallery of extra shortcut buttons is available online (http://gallery.live.com/default.aspx?l=2).

How it can be improved:
Annoyingly, IE7 adds a search box to the browser alongside the Windows Live Toolbar, cluttering up your Desktop. Microsoft should have included the option to remove IE7's search box so you just have the one in the Live Toolbar. There's no excuse for this oversight because both IE7 and Windows Live are Microsoft products. Of course, Google and Yahoo also add an extra search box to the toolbar, which is equally irritating. But with the power of IE7 behind it Microsoft should be able to offer a slicker toolbar than its rivals. Also, the toolbar can't be used in Firefox.

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