Starting today every US resident who downloads Sun’s Java Runtime Environment with Internet Explorer will be offered MSN Toolbar. This Microsoft Silverlight powered toolbar delivers one click access to Live Search, news, entertainment, sports and more.
From the PressPass Announcement:
“This agreement with Sun Microsystems is another important milestone in our strategy to secure broad-scale distribution for our search offering, enabling millions more people to experience the benefits of Live Search,” said Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of the Online Audience Business at Microsoft. “With the vast array of Java software-based Web applications that are downloaded every month, this deal will expose Live Search to millions more Internet users and drive increased volume for our search advertisers.”
With more than 6.5 million Java software developers around the globe, Java is one of the most widely available and popular software platforms. It is already present on 91 percent of Internet-connected PCs worldwide. The Java Runtime Environment is one of the highest-volume consumer downloads on the Web, with tens of millions of downloads each month from http://java.com.
All this in an attempt to increase the online search share of Live Search. Well I’m sure this will help quite a bit, honestly who doesn’t have Java installed?
“With over 800 million Java desktop users around the world, our goal is to provide Java users with compelling and immersive business and consumer solutions powered by Java technology and value-added solutions from world-class software partners,” said Rich Green, executive vice president of Software at Sun Microsystems. “Our customers expect top-quality products when they choose to download technology from Sun, and we are confident that they will find great value in both Microsoft’s MSN toolbar and Live Search.”
If you are not in the US, or already installed the Java Runtime Environment, and you’d like to try out the MSN Toolbar: there’s always the possibility to download it directly at http://toolbar.msn.com
PressPass: Sun Microsystems to Distribute Microsoft Live Search-Powered Toolbar as Part of Java Runtime Environment: Search distribution deal expands reach of Microsoft Live Search via custom MSN Toolbar.
MSN Toolbar released – yes another toolbar. Is this one different?