14 DAY TRIAL // With Internet Explorer 7 made available for Windows XP at the end of 2006 and with Windows Vista at the start of 2007, Microsoft introduced the Search Box in the top right hand side corner. With the delivery of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, the search capabilities of the browser were cranked up a notch. In this context, the Redmond company is now offering search and visual suggestions, QuickPick menu, History results, Search Accelerators and Search query synchronization. IE8 has been tweaked and optimized in order to streamline end users' access to information, beyond simply benefiting from a resizable search field on the IE UI.
“Search Suggestions allow your installed search providers to suggest different queries to you while you are typing. In IE8, we expanded the notion of a suggestion. In addition to providing text suggestions, search providers can now deliver visual suggestions, suggestions which include an image,” revealed Sharon Cohen, Program Manager for Search in Internet Explorer 8.
The QuickPick Menu is designed to offer additional choices in terms of search providers on top of the default search engine. The QuickPick Menu is situated at the bottom of the suggestion area for any query entered in the search box and will feature icons with all the installed providers.
“The last section that you’ll notice in the search box dropdown contains results from your local History. Imagine you’ve already visited a site, you just can’t remember exactly what it was. This is where history results can be helpful, they show you where you’ve already been. The results are searched on by the URL and the title of the page. They are the same results you’ll see when you type in the address bar,” Cohen added.
Following the evolution of Activities since Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, IE8 Beta 2 offers search accelerators. Cohen indicated that the default search provider is synonymous with the default search Accelerator and, in this regard, secondary providers will be featured in the More Accelerators overflow menu.
“One last cool feature you may not have noticed yet is search query synchronization. As you search on your installed search providers, IE will track queries done from within the websites of those providers,” Cohen said, explaining that IE8 would be able to populate the search box with the query items entered in a search engine.
Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) Beta 2 is available for download here.