Windows Live Toolbar was a

browser extension A browser extension is a small software module for customizing a web browser. Browsers typically allow a variety of extensions, including user interface modifications, cookie management, ad blocking, and the custom scripting and styling of web p ...

toolbar The toolbar, also called a bar or standard toolbar (originally known as ribbon) is a graphical control element on which on-screen icons can be used. A toolbar often allows for quick access to functions that are commonly used in the program. Some ...

for

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Microsoft Wind ...

. It superseded MSN Search Toolbar. Windows Live Toolbar provided a simple search interface that starts to list results as the user types in a search query, and uses

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

as its search engine. The toolbar also allows users to synchronize their

favorites across multiple computers, and provides an interface to

Windows Live Windows Live is a discontinued brand name for a set of web services and software products developed by Microsoft as part of its software-as-a-service platform. Chief components under the brand name included web services (all of which were exposed ...

and

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

services. Microsoft also added more tools to Windows Live Toolbar by acquiring Onfolio and integrating it into Windows Live Toolbar. Founded by JJ Allaire,

Allaire Corporation Allaire Corporation was a computer software company founded by Jeremy and JJ Allaire in Minnesota, later headquartered in Cambridge, then Newton, Massachusetts. It commenced operations in May 1995, had its initial public offering on NASDAQ (trad ...

co-founder and creator of the programming language

ColdFusion Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web-application development computing platform created by J. J. Allaire in 1995. (The programming language used with that platform is also commonly called ColdFusion, though is more accurately known as CF ...

, along with Adam Berrey and Charles Teague, Onfolio was an online research tool that could be used to collect data from the web and make annotations such as inking and text highlighting. Onfolio could be used to download online pages for offline viewing, including document files such as Adobe

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

. It could also be used as an

RSS reader In computing, a news aggregator, also termed a feed aggregator, feed reader, news reader, RSS reader or simply an aggregator, is client software or a web application that aggregates syndicated web content such as online newspapers, blogs, pod ...

. Users could share the information and feeds collected by Onfolio via

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

and

blogs A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

. After Microsoft acquired Onfolio, it integrated the product with Windows Live Toolbar, which was the only way to get Onfolio. As of August 2008 however, Microsoft announced that the Onfolio has been discontinued. Older versions of Windows Live Toolbar also provided a

form filler A form filler is a software program that automatically fills forms in a UI. Form fillers can be part of a larger program, like a web browser, password manager or even an enterprise single sign-on (E-SSO) solution. A form filler is the opposite o ...

and a highlight viewer, but these features have been removed. Windows Live Toolbar is included with

Windows Live Essentials Windows Essentials (formerly Windows Live Essentials and Windows Live Installer) is a discontinued suite of Microsoft freeware applications that includes email, instant messaging, photo sharing, blogging, and parental control software. ''Essentia ...

"Wave 3" release. However, it is no longer a part of the "Wave 4" version of Windows Live Essentials (released on 30 September 2010); it is replaced with

Bing Bar Microsoft Bing (commonly known as Bing) is a web search engine owned and operated by Microsoft. The service has its origins in Microsoft's previous search engines: MSN Search, Windows Live Search and later Live Search. Bing provides a variety ...

. According to Microsoft, Windows Live Toolbar was officially discontinued on 31 March 2011. For the IE Favorites syncing option previously included initially as favorites.live.com and then in the Windows Live Toolbar, it is now part of the Windows Live Essentials suite, in the Windows live Mesh solution.

References

External links

Official website
(Archive) {{Windows Live

Toolbar The toolbar, also called a bar or standard toolbar (originally known as ribbon) is a graphical control element on which on-screen icons can be used. A toolbar often allows for quick access to functions that are commonly used in the program. Some ...

Windows-only freeware Desktop search engines Internet Explorer add-ons

See also

References

External links