Bing

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

by AJR and AGC on Oct. 22, 2016 · permalink

I'm really bored with the Microsoft bashing that plagues every tech discussion. Typically, the negative input seem to have been written by angry teenagers, who expect anything they download to do whatever they want, right now, even if that isn't what the app is for. They have tantrums over any problem, don't want to read directions, don't look for solutions, and never check to see if they did something wrong themselves. Most tedious of all are the old-school MacNazis and fan-bores, who ritually hate anything Microsoft, regardless of quality, and who are all about image and fashion, not about getting their homework finished.

So please allow me to interrupt the babble-stream to say that this app has worked perfectly well for me for years, does exactly what it is advertised as doing, only has installation problems when it conflicts with updates or other apps, and suffers only from a need to be replaced soon with a more up-to-date version, which is unlikely, given the chorus of haters who automatically one-star anything MS does.

As for Bing itself, it is, overall, about as good as Google, but it works differently. Doing a single search and getting better results with Google is not a valid experiment, any more than a single Bing search proves anything. Any experienced app-user knows that you have to learn how to do things properly, and trying to Google-search on Bing won't work. It isn't a one-size-fits-all instant-gratification Apple app; it's an integrated facet of a comprehensive desktop/cloud suite, and I'm deeply sorry if it doesn't find the celebrity/porn/gaming/click-bait websites you care about.

Bing has its weaknesses and flaws, and is much younger than Google, which means that there is more fine-tuning required in the search algorithms. At the same time, it has a fresher, modernized, cloud-friendly design, and has an excellent and well-documented API.

I recommend this extension for Windows/*nix FF users who care more about doing useful work, than about what goes well with a latte. Ignore the haters.