WebProNews

Late yesterday evening, Microsoft let out an updated MSN Search Toolbar for download with the added feature of tabbed browsing for Internet Explorer 6. The echoes of "why didn't we think of this earlier?" were still ripe in the Redmond campus hallways. Mozilla was reported to have snickered.

With the aim of simplifying your browsing experience, users will be able to open multiple sites, accessible from tabs beneath the menu bar.

Tabbed browsing allows a functionality made popular by Mozilla's Firefox browser, a popularity that Microsoft admits spurred the upgrade. The feature is added to the MSN toolbar, which has been downloaded by 100 million people, to let users save their browsing routines with an unlimited number of tabs.

This has the appearance of a paper filing system, with customized tabs that display the users favorite sites. If a user visits a particular news source like, ahem, WebProNews, a weather site, and a chat room on a regular basis, the sites can be made easily available at the top of the page under "My Tabs," and toggled to appear at will.

Adding a "more powerful functionality in a pretty robust tool offering," Jim Osmer, MSN Product Manager seems excited about it.

"The whole premise [of tabbed browsing] is helping people find another way to find it quickly and easily, and it made a lot of sense to tie it into the toolbar," Osmer said.

Current users of the MSN Search Toolbar will be able to receive an automatic update of the new feature. New users can download the program at http://desktop.msn.com for free.

Osmer revealed that additional toolbar updates will be available on a nearly monthly basis.

Currently, the upgrade will also come with improvements to the Windows Desktop Search, including Windows Explorer and Office.

Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.