Windows Live Toolbar

CNET editors' take

• Reviewed by:
  Elsa Wenzel
• Edited by:
  Robert Vamosi
• Reviewed on: 07/27/2006

The download of Windows Live Toolbar 3 was nearly instantaneous in our tests, but during the otherwise quick installation, we weren't sure whether to install the Standard, Custom, or Advanced modes. We chose Standard, which accepts Microsoft's suggested content, but when we changed our minds, we couldn't go back to pick Custom, nor could we cancel installation without causing it to install the Toolbar with its default settings. If you'd like to keep your IE settings the way they are, make sure to uncheck the options that would set Live.com as your home page and turn Windows Live Search into your default search engine.

Windows Live Toolbar 3 embeds Windows live Search within Internet Explorer 6 and 7. Without clicking around the Search Web site, you can drop down a list of choices from the Toolbar to look up either general queries; home in on Images, News, or Local content; or jump to Stock Quotes or Weather, and more.

Initially after installation, Windows Live Toolbar 3 didn't appear within IE. To make it show up, we selected Tools under IE's View drop-down menu. The Toolbar then appeared with its search field and icons below IE's address bar. The Standard icons include links to Microsoft properties, such as MSNBC news, MSN.com, the Gallery, Windows Live Favorites, the Onfolio sidebar for collecting content from your Web searches, Windows Live Messenger, Spaces, and Mail. You can also click a button to subscribe to RSS feeds, which display within the Onfolio sidebar, not within a drop-down list, as offered by Google Desktop. We expected to remove and add icons by right-clicking them; but instead, you can control them all at once through the Windows Live logo drop-down menu to the left of the Toolbar's search field.

However, you can find plenty of additional tools from Microsoft and third parties at the Windows Live Gallery of Custom Buttons. With so many choices, ranging from the practical to the whimsical, we weren't sure where to start. Tools to choose from include those to whisk us to YouTube, movie news, Wikipedia, Windows Live Local Maps, online shopping, Yahoo Flickr, and travel tips. You can also embed tabbed browsing and add games.

When a Microsoft pop-up asked whether we wanted to add the Phishing Detective in addition to the built-in antiphishing filter, we accepted. The Toolbar's antiphishing features are designed to protect you from handing your private data to scam artists posing as legitimate banks and shopping Web sites. Windows Live Toolbar also blocks pop-ups, which is great for security, but we found it trickier than the Yahoo Toolbar to accept certain pop-ups that we needed. PC Health, another Standard icon within the Windows Live Toolbar, connects to Windows Live OneCare Advisor for an on-the-spot safety scan, and it links to Windows Live OneCare (free for 90 days).

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