 With the widespread success of Google’s toolbar, many companies have developed their own toolbars. However, most of these toolbars are little more than marketing tools designed to steer surfers to a sponsor’s site or search engine. A select few, however, aim to make your surfing more productive and pleasurable.
The following 10 toolbars represent a diverse offering of the best of what is currently available. All of these toolbars are configurable with Internet Explorer, although many are also agreeable with other popular browsers. And the price is right—free.
One caveat: Make sure you read the toolbar’s privacy policy. Some toolbars collect personal information for marketing reasons, tracking your online habits, and a myriad of other information. Most of the toolbars we list here do not collect personal information, but the few that do have reasonable privacy policies. As always, make sure you use your antivirus software to scan any software you download.
Google Toolbar 3.0
toolbar.google.com
The toolbar that started the craze is still a top contender. Google’s bar allows you to access Google features from any Web page, as well as the ability to search within the pages of any site with the Google search engine. This handy toolbar also offers a pop-up blocker, automatic forms filler, spell-check, translator, and an auto-link feature that turns street addresses into links to online maps. In addition, you can integrate the software with the Google Desktop Search that makes it easy to browse your computer and launch applications. A Firefox version is also available.
Yahoo! Toolbar
toolbar.yahoo.com
Yahoo!’s toolbar offers a pop-up blocker, as well as an antispyware utility. You’ll find that easy access to Yahoo! Music Engine and other various Yahoo! services, including news and weather, are nice extras. However, an account is required to use many of its features. Yahoo! has released a new version of the toolbar for the popular Firefox browser, but it lacks some of the features of the Internet Explorer model. Yahoo!’s message boards provide welcome support for any software questions.
A-ToolBar 3.0
www.metaeureka.com | 
Pull-down menus showing just some of the choices available from the extensive array of tools in A-ToolBar. |
This formidable toolbar boasts an incredible 50 tools. As one might expect from such versatility, however, some of the features are less useful than others. Biorhythm charts and a love calculator might not be at the top of your list, but others, such as Desktop search, dictionary, and a currency converter, are certainly handy. Moreover, the full suite of 20 network and Web tools will fill advanced users with joy. Pop-up blocking, metasearching, and the ability to add new search engines make A-ToolBar an A+ in our book.
Quero Toolbar
www.quero.at
Slim and simple, Quero keeps the focus on searching instead of offering dozens of confusing and seldom-used tools. And rather than take up valuable Desktop space, Quero replaces the standard address bar of Internet Explorer. Choose from 12 useful search engines while the built-in Flash and pop-up blocker suppress unwanted ads. Quero also provides keyboard shortcuts and find-as-you-type functionality to IE. And for those whose eyesight needs a bit of a boost, the built-in zoom is a welcome relief.
jetToolBar
www.cowonamerica.com | 
An expanded jetToolBar offers convenient access to almost everything on your computer. |
This well-designed toolbar sits unobtrusively on your Desktop, allowing you to easily organize, find, and launch programs, utilities, and bookmarks. More than a dozen tabbed categories of shortcuts for applications allow convenient access. Furthermore, the generous allotment of seven sizes of buttons and categories to choose from makes for easy readability. Fully customizable, jet’s drag-and-drop features are ideal for quickly adding and removing buttons and categories. You can dock the toolbar on any side of the screen. If you have a mic, you can even run the program with your voice.
Advanced Searchbar
www.advancedsearchbar.com
Although this toolbar’s name probably won’t grab your attention, its features certainly will. A vast selection of about 100 search engines, 60-plus news providers, and three-dozen email clients awaits you. Advanced Searchbar integrates with many popular spyware-removal programs, blogs, and instant messengers. Icons allow easy access to scores of applications, including the built-in file shredder, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) reader, calculator, pop-up eliminator, weather reports, driving directions, and Web page translation.
Viewpoint Toolbar
www.viewpoint.com/pub
The Viewpoint Toolbar provides a unique and timesaving way to surf by allowing you to preview search results with real-time thumbnails and annotated text. You can easily save, search, and share favorites using the same graphic approach. DogEar marking makes it easy to recall and bookmark important sites. Additional features include pop-up blocking and a digital photo manager.
Furl Toolbar
www.looksmart.com
Anyone who has ever felt the frustration of a short memory or a dead bookmark will appreciate the thinking behind Furl. This software is a revolutionary approach to finding (and finding again!) stuff on the Web. Furl transforms the Web into your personalized Web by storing a whopping 5GB of your surfed pages on servers that are accessible from any Internet-connected computer. You can make the pages public or keep them private, as well as annotate and search them—making it ideal for students and researchers. Install Furl as a toolbar or in your bookmarks.
Copernic Meta
www.copernic.com
This excellent search agent is a Web researcher’s dream. Quickly and easily metasearch the Web for images, audio, multimedia, news, auctions and more from the browser toolbar. Don’t have your browser open? No problem. Perform the same search from any application, anytime via the Copernic box in the Windows taskbar. Copernic features specialized categories such as Web, Shopping, Dictionary, and Thesaurus that query multiple search engines at once. You can easily add and manage custom search engines, assign keyboard shortcuts and find info by highlighted keywords in pages.
Blinkx
www.blinkx.com
Nobody wants strangers to read the contents of his PC, but what if that stranger were a computer? Would you call that stranger a friend? Well, you might if it were Blinkx. This amazing software uses advanced algorithms to assess the info you’re viewing and then retrieves additional relevant content from Web pages, news articles, video, and more, in addition to files and email already on your PC. You may never need a keyword or complicated search method again.
 Something For Everyone
With so many toolbars available, there’s sure to be one for just about everybody. In fact, you may have trouble deciding on just one. One thing’s for sure, though—there are plenty of terrific toolbars to help make you more productive. The benefits are numerous and diverse, including easy access to search engines, news, weather, stock tickers, blogs, video, and podcasts. Even novel ways of searching and organizing that information on your computer are now available. So what are you waiting for? Get downloading. 
by Kyle Bamford
Decisions, Decisions
Can’t decide which toolbar to download? Perhaps you want them all—or none! The ToolbarBrowser (www.toolbarbrowser.com) can solve either problem. If you are concerned about limited screen real estate, this free software uses tabbed controls, making it simple to manage multiple toolbars. As if that weren’t enough, this handy tool actually lets you build your own toolbar. Now you can take all of the best features of other toolbars and easily create your own custom program. Best of all, ToolbarBrowser’s Web site offers extensive help, including a tutorial, FAQ, and support forum. Although the software only works with Internet Explorer, you can write toolbars in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), XML (Extensible Markup Language), Java, or even Flash. Perhaps your toolbar will become the next big thing. |
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