Windows7How

Internet Explorer 8 Accelerators

December 13, 2009

With the new Windows 7 operating system (OS) we get our hands on the new Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). It is likely, though, that you already have this browser version on your Windows Vista or even Windows XP PC as it is a free download – and a recommended one to boot – from Microsoft. No matter where you use IE8, you will soon learn of its superiority over its previous major version, Internet Explorer 7. In Windows 7, you will get more functionality from IE8 than you would from any other version of Microsoft OS. But, do not forget that you can install Windows 7 without installing any version of Internet Explorer, but it is highly recommend that you do so that you may take full advantage of the advanced features which IE8 offers. One of those important features which can be used to improve your Internet browsing process is IE8’s Accelerators. In Part I of this 2 part series, we will see how to use them, the default Accelerators and what they can do for you.

First of all, what are Accelerators? Well, they do what they seem to allude to in their name; they accelerate your work in IE8. They are there to assist you in using various Web-based search engines – quickly an easily with just a click of the mouse – but they are not limited entirely to just search.

A simple example is when you are looking for a car. We will say that you are looking around a classified website and find a sweet looking classic muscle car. You see the details of the auto and you want to know how close the seller is to your home. Well, simply select the text you are interested in – in this example, we would select the city – then notice the accelerator icon – a blue (default) square with a stylized arrow in the center of it – appear and click on it. A list of options will appear – all of these are Accelerators. In our example, you can use the “Map with Live Search” to open a browser tab with a local map of the location. If, instead of looking up the city, you want to research the car, just use one of the many Search options. Just about anything you want to know about anything selectable on a web page. That is flexibility at its best.

Now, to be clear here, there are ‘pre-configured’ Accelerators and there are many which you can add to the list. First, though, we should look at the pre-configured set so that you are familiar with what you have when Internet Explorer 8 is first installed. When you use it the first time, you will see the list of Accelerators appear once you have clicked on the Accelerator icon (as in the above example). This list consists of Blog with Windows Live, E-mail with Windows Live, Map with Live Search, Search with Live Search, Translate with Live Search, and an item called All Accelerators – which is just a list of all Accelerators installed in your IE8.

As you have seen in the example above, all you have to do is highlight the text, click the Accelerators icon, then choose which one you want or need to use. Once you have chosen the Accelerator, a new tab will open to display whichever Accelerator you chose – i.e. a map, or a search engine, etc. No more copying text, opening a new browser or new tab, typing in the web address, pasting your selected text, then hitting search or enter – it’s all in one simple process.

In part II, we will see how to add more Accelerators and how to configure them to make them more efficient for your purpose.

Filed under: Guides, software

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