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Microsoft’s Bing is about to get a major overhaul, with a new sidebar that shows information from Facebook and other social networks.

SAN FRANCISCO  - Microsoft’s Bing is about to get a major overhaul, with a new sidebar that shows information from Facebook and other social networks. The “new Bing,” as Microsoft calls it, consists of three columns on the search results page. The far left column is the widest of the three, and lists traditional search links. In the middle, a “Snapshot” pane shows relevant information directly on the search page, such as restaurant reviews, maps and hotel room rates. On the far right, a gray “Sidebar” shows social search results.

The Sidebar is the most interesting part of the makeover. Users can ask questions to their Facebook friends directly from the search page, and see a list of who might know about a given topic. From the Sidebar, users can add comments on Facebook and pin Bing searches to their posts.

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