Microsoft Plugs IE Add-Ons With New Site

Microsoft on Tuesday launched a site to promote Internet Explorer add-ons in an attempt to compete with Mozilla Corp.'s long-running site that specializes in extensions for the open-source Firefox browser.

The Add-Ons for Internet Explorer page hosts both free and for-a-fee add-ons to IE 6 and IE 7 Beta 2, and is organized in security, time saving, browsing, and entertainment categories. A search tool can be used to sift through the add-ons.

"We want to make it easier for users to find valuable add-ons, and to promote our partners who develop add-ons," said Tina Duff, an IE program managers, on the team's blog.

IE 7 Beta 2 users can access the site from the browser's Tools menu (Tools/Manage Add-Ons/Find More Add-ons).

Until Tuesday, IE add-ons, which include toolbars, download managers, pop-up blockers, and multimedia plug-ins, were spread throughout Microsoft's massive site, or if not there, on publishers' own Web sites.The move is an obvious counter to Mozilla's Firefox, which has an extensive list of extensions -- that browser's terminology for an add-on -- here. The Extensions site has been in operation since before the release of Firefox 1.0 in 2004.