toolbar

If you're into toolbars, Internet Explorer, and Google, the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer does more than give IE a mere shot of nitro. With a set of features both useful and self-promoting, Google Toolbar 6 feels like it adds eight cylinders to IE's engine, turning it into a powerhouse of personalized functionality for both IE 8 users and those who are stuck on earlier versions.

There's the dedicated Google search window, the effective pop-up blocker, the form autofiller, the translation utility, the spell checker, and the map tool that automatically links addresses in Web pages to … Read more

The first thing I saw when I booted my PC yesterday evening was a notice that Google had prevented my default search setting from being changed. I certainly didn't want to switch from searching via Google by default. I hadn't even been considering a search change, regardless of Bing's pretty wallpaper.

To find out what program was trying to change my search default, I opened Vista's Event Viewer by pressing the Windows key, typing event viewer, and pressing Enter. I clicked Application in the left pane and scrolled to the approximate time the warning popped up. … Read more

Updated July 2 at 10:30 a.m. PDT: The full list of supported languages has been added to the bottom of the story.

Toolbars have long been an effective way for software publishers to add several features to a browser at once, and the Google Toolbar has long been among the most popular of these. Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer introduces revamped translation tools, giving users one-click powers of conversion over many languages.

The toolbar now detects your default language setting and using the Translate button will attempt to convert the page to it. Clicking a link will automatically … Read more

If you want a streamlined way to surf the Web, Runecats Explorer offers a sleek Web browser that keeps the clutter to a bare minimum.

The interface sports a clean, streamlined design that won't hold any surprises for users who've worked with browsers before. The small command buttons at the top are the same as most standard Web browsing programs, forward, backward, stop, home, favorites and print are all available. A generous URL space is provided below. One unique aspect of Runecats is its separate box to generate a fresh tab. Off to the far right, it also … Read more

It will only work on Internet Explorer, and only in the U.S. right now, but if you're looking to extend the same timesaving search convenience of Google's mobile apps to your desktop, the new Google Toolbar (download) from Google Labs will do it.

The My Location feature found in Google Maps for Mobile--and recently integrated into Google Mobile App--uses cell tower triangulation or GPS to find your approximate or exact location. That localizes your search terms, so queries for "weather" or "coffee" pull up results close to you, and save you from … Read more

Google on Thursday introduced Toolbar Labs, a mechanism to let users of the browser add-on try experimental new features--including the first two, a locator service and support for simplified Chinese.

The move is the newest demonstration--and the second in a week after the relaunch of Google Labs--of the company's beta-testing philosophy. The company uses labs experiments to launch products rapidly even if they're still half-baked, to get early feedback on products it needs to steer in the right direction, and to draw attention to its technology.

"A few things to keep in mind as you check … Read more

This free browser works, but doesn't offer users any compelling reasons to replace their current program. GreenBrowser is set up in the basic style of popular browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer.

The good news for new users is how intuitive the buttons feel and how quickly anyone familiar with those systems can adapt to GreenBrowser. Its homepage offers a variety of links to entertainment, technology, and news sites. The program also touts "special" features to auto-fill forms and prevent ads, but these have become standard in many browsers.

While GreenBrowser searched for sites and functioned properly, … Read more

The launch of the DiggBar on Thursday was big news. Not only for URL-shortening services, but for the idea of one site bringing some of its features along for the ride, even when a user has left it to go somewhere else.

The idea is not new, though; some services have been doing it for years. We've put together a list of some of the big sites that do it, and why it matters.

Google/Ask/Yahoo/Live Image Search

Searching for images on Google, Ask, Live, and Yahoo all bring along a framed toolbar, or a special framed bar that segments the content. When you click on an image from the results on any of these engines it keeps a little frame on the top of the page that gives you copyright and size information, along with a link to the full-quality version. More importantly though, it lets users start another search or simply hop back to the results page.

Why it's important: All routes go back to the search results--and more importantly, back to the ads that were on the page. If the company can get you to start another search, that's another ad impression. Also, from a user's point of view, it's comforting to have a quick breadcrumb trail to get yourself out of there if it's a page you didn't want to end up on, especially if it's coded to keep your back button from letting you leave the page.

Facebook

Facebook has had a link sharing feature since late 2006. Only recently, however did shared links come with a navigation bar that comes with the users when they click off-site links. The bar includes who posted the item (in case you're passing along something one of your friends originally shared), as well as the option to add your own comment, or re-share it to your news feed or to other Facebook buddies.

Why it's important: Like what the search engines do for images, Facebook is doing for any link its users share. It simply adds some of Facebook's features like commenting and re-sharing, right on top of the site. It's a much bigger deal for Facebook users though, since for anything that needs a lot of real estate, they can check it out in its original location (read: out of Facebook's limited-size news feed), all without feeling like they've left the site. … Read more

This free toolbar is supposed to bring online TV to your desktop while you browse the Web, but the only thing it brought to the table was a cluttered interface and faulty performance. While you can remove some of the clutter, there didn't seem to be a way to solve the functionality issues.

Online TV Toolbar fits snugly in your Internet Explorer browser. The tiny shortcut icons make the toolbar appear cluttered and hard to decipher. It is customizable, so you can remove the default buttons and add buttons for your favorite gadgets and applications. Like most toolbars, it … Read more