Microsoft upped the ante in the quest for more users with a couple of updates to Windows Live that offer new search capabilities and toolbar functionality.
The O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference continues to provide a platform for product debuts. Microsoft brought along a couple of new toys to share with the crowd, as they announced their latest updates to the Windows Live service.
Microsoft discussed changes to Windows Live Search, and visitors to the Live.com website who miss the numerous articles about it won’t be able to miss the big blue balloon at the top of the page inviting users to toss a query at the new search service.
The Atlas framework, an implementation of Ajax programming, becomes very evident when search results appear. Live Search uses a click-and-hold vertical scrollbar, which the user can pull to the top or bottom of the window to scroll results. The farther it is pulled one way or another, the faster the results scroll.
With so many users having a scroll wheel mouse as part of their systems, that scrollbar may not get a lot of use, since the wheel works just fine. It’s a clever bit of programming, though.
At the top right of the search, a three-position slider changes how the search results display on-screen. The default center setting shows the page title, a text excerpt, and a URL for each result. Move the slider to the left, and the text excerpt disappears. Send it all the way to the right, and the option to “Search within this site” appears below the text excerpt for each result.
Microsoft also displays paid search advertising served by its in-house system instead of Overture, the Yahoo service Microsoft has used for that purpose. The contract with Overture ends this summer, and Microsoft will replace that with its adCenter in July.
Of course, Microsoft has a toolbar to enhance one’s browsing pleasure. The company announced at ETech that it had acquired Onfolio, a privately-held Massachusetts firm, and incorporated its technology into the Windows Live Toolbar (beta, natch).
Microsoft described in a statement how Onfolio will benefit its Toolbar users:
The new Onfolio Add-in for the Windows Live Toolbar beta will give people convenient ways to collect information online and organize it on their PCs. People can harness this information by saving it onto their computer so that it can be easily accessed for use in documents, e-mail messages and blog postings. In addition, new online information is easily discovered and accessed through Onfolio’s integrated Really Simple Syndication (RSS) aggregator and reader.
Microsoft plans to make the Toolbar with the Onfolio add-in available from its Ideas Live website.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
