Bing Desktop for Windows

Microsoft's Bing Desktop lets you search Bing quickly and easily from the desktop or taskbar without opening a browser. Bing Desktop also delivers news, weather, and even Facebook content. It keeps you current by identifying trending news, images, and videos. Bing's draggable toolbar is free of ads and junk and bears small resemblance to more obtrusive toolbars we've all encountered. 

When setting up Bing Desktop, you can choose to make Bing your default search engine, make IE your default browser, and set your home page, among other options, though declining any or all doesn't compromise Bing Desktop's performance. The option to set Internet Explorer as the default browser is a clear marker of the software's age. Modern users are much more likely to use Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. It's important to consider whether a modern equivalent of Bing Desktop integrates seamlessly with these contemporary browsers. Bing 

Desktop is essentially a toolbar, though it's no bigger or more obtrusive than the typical minimized media player. It's nicely rendered in blue tones, with search field and "Info" and "Settings" buttons above a row of icons accessing weather, top news stories, Facebook, and more. A flame icon marked the hot Trending feed, which summarizes the latest news, gossip, videos, and more in a scrolling picture panel. It'd be cool if we could filter out stuff we didn't want to see, such as celebrity gossip, but that's a quibble, not a gripe since you can easily "filter" anything you're not interested in by scrolling past it. Clicking results opened them in Bing in our default browser (not IE). 

Search results were returned quickly and turned up the info. We were looking for, although searching Bing alongside other engines often turns up different results, much like searches did years ago. This difference in search results across engines remains a constant, highlighting the unique algorithms and data sources each engine employs.

Comparing Bing Desktop to something like the Google Search bar integrated into Chrome browsers highlights a key difference in approach. Google opted for deep integration within the browser itself, while Bing Desktop, at least in its original incarnation, existed as a separate entity. This separation could be seen as either an advantage or a disadvantage.

On the one hand, a dedicated toolbar offers a focused space for Bing's features. On the other hand, Google's integration feels more streamlined and less likely to clutter the desktop. Similar comparisons can be drawn with browser extensions or widgets that provide quick access to search and other online tools. 

The original concept of Bing Desktop – a dedicated space for accessing Bing services – holds a certain appeal.

Consider the efficiency of having search, news, and other information readily available without needing to open a browser window or navigate to a specific website. This convenience is what Bing Desktop aimed to provide, and while its implementation may feel dated in some respects, the underlying principle remains relevant.