With codename Salsa (initially reported by LiveSide), Microsoft is essentially making its Adobe Flash killer piggyback ride MSN. The move is designed to take advantage of the almost half a billion users of the MSN portal in order for some of the success to rub off on Silverlight. And the new MSN Toolbar is set up to act as a medium. In this context, Microsoft introduced the MSN Toolbar Beta under the codename Salsa. The MSN Toolbar switched over to the Windows Live brand at the debut of 2007, but now it looks like Microsoft is taking it back home. Only that this time it comes with a dose of Silverlight.

"MSN Toolbar Beta uses Microsoft Silverlight technology to provide you with access to Live Search and to content from all of your favorite MSN channels. Before you can install and use Toolbar Beta, you must install Microsoft Silverlight and enroll in the Toolbar Beta program. After installation, Toolbar Beta appears at the top of each Windows Internet Explorer window when you browse the Internet. The first time that you use Toolbar Beta, depending on the speed of your Internet connection, you may have to wait a few minutes while Toolbar Beta downloads content," Microsoft revealed.

You will be able to access the MSN Toolbar Beta program via this link. The Redmond company will guide you through installing Silverlight ahead of the toolbar. Now obviously, the MSN Toolbar does not have even close with its install base to the half a billion visitors of MSN, but still, it will provide a vessel for spreading and standardizing Silverlight.

"MSN Toolbar helps you more easily get the MSN content you enjoy and the information you need whenever you go online. The MSN Toolbar includes: frequently updated headlines from many popular MSN content channels, breaking news alerts and helpful, innovative ways to get search results," Microsoft stated pointing that the system requirements are "Windows XPSP2 (32bit only) or Windows Vista, Silverlight 1.0.20816.0 (RTW) or Version 1.1 (RTW) and Internet Explorer 6 or above (32 bit only)."