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Some of you who use Firefox (FF) might know about a Firefox plug-in called “IE Tab” which allows you to view a page/tab using the Internet Explorer (IE) rendering engine INSIDE Firefox (so, if some page displays better in IE, you don’t have to leave FF and go open an IE window).

Now, Google is doing something similar, but the other way around!

Google has recently released “Google Chrome Frame”, a plug-in for IE that allows you to view a page/tab using the Google Browser “Google Chrome” rendering engine INSIDE Internet Explorer.

This is interesting in two ways, first, it may decrease IE problems with crashes and such, and second, that Google maybe later will drop support for IE rendering engine in its products (like Google Mail, Reader, Video, Youtube, etc..), so that you have to use Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome (or Google chrome Frame) to use these applications.

Interesting enough, this is the case already with one of Google’s new products, called Google Wave!

They say the reason is supporting IE6!! They did much effort to get it to work with it but it didn’t. Of course the Chrome Frame plug-in is supported under IE 6, so, is supposedly solves their problem!

Simplified (Inaccurate) Background About OpenID

Some websites allow you instead of registering and logging-in (meaning re-entering the same information you entered before in so many other sites), to enter what is called Open ID URL, which is a URL given by a another website that you already logged in and has your information (called OpenID provider).

Once you enter the URL and continue, you get redirected to the OpenID provider confirmation page whether you want to be able to login to the new website using the same login,which gets redirected back to the new website but this time as logged in user.

If your OpenID provider is a popular provider, like Yahoo or Google or so, some websites will give you a shortcut to writing the URL at login by just selecting the provider from a predefined list of providers in the login page. If your provider is not in the list, or the website does not offer any shortcut list at all, you should be able to know your OpenID URL to enter same as you know your User ID or so.

1. Go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10434 ( Update: This is the only official provider made by Microsoft itself)
   This is the URL I originally posted (from which the below screenshots come): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12205 – Of course you are recommended to go to the official URL above.
   
2. Check “Let me install this experimental add-on” and click “Add to FireFox”
   
   Now the add-in is there.
3. In the search bar, click the little triangle at the left and choose Bing.
   
4. In your browser it may not the first item nor bold as in the pic here. Click “Manage Search Engines…”.
    
5. Click “Move Up” to have it the first item
   
6. If you have Google Toolbar, you need to check more settings:

1. Go to Google Settings. In the “Layout” tab, make sure to choose “Classic Toolbar Layout”. Save that.
   
2. In Firefox address bar, type:
   about:config
   without “http://” or anything, and click the button that appears then.
   
3. In the “Filter” field type: “browser.search.defaultenginename”
   
4. Double click the only result that will show, you get a message box where you should  enter text. Replace the existing text “Google” with “Bing” instead, and click OK.
   

If you are not on Twitter, let me spread this by @bing:

Ladies and Gentlemen, www.bing.com is live. :) (rollouts will continue however to partners and other mkts, more to come) ^betsy

Bing, if you don’t know, is Microsoft’s new search engine, also known as “Decision Engine” since it has features that help answer what you are wondering about rather than just display links.

For those wondering about Live Search. I think I read somewhere that both search engines will remain there for a while, then Live will be brought out to Bing. Nothing to confirm yet though. In Bing homepage you read “Live Search is Evolving. Welcome to Bing”.

For quick video of what Bing can give to you, check this.

For an official introduction about what Bing is, check this.