It's old news by now that ketchup has slipped as America's favorite condiment, making way for that upstart salsa. But ketchup still cuts the mustard as far as I'm concerned, so I'm desperate to find validation on the Web. In the past, such a search might have generated a Heinz 57 variety of sites, but with Internet Explorer 5 search features it's easy to find what I'm looking for.

Start from scratch with AutoSearch
With Internet Explorer 5's AutoSearch feature, I can simply type the word I'm looking for into the Address bar. Then by clicking either the new Go button or pressing the ENTER key, Internet Explorer returns a list of pages that match my search, recommending the one that most closely matches what I'm looking for. So the only question now is how to begin?

You say catsup, I say ketchup. Even the dictionaries don't agree
Nobody really knows how to spell it, and the Web is full of contradictory information about which variation means what. I try searching with three different spellings: "catsup," "ketchup," and an international variation, "ketjap."  One site Internet Explorer recommends is Planet Ketchup, which includes just about everything you'd want to know: that Baskin Robbins once made a ketchup-flavored ice cream, and that it was a flop; that ketchup can restore the glow to copper pots and pans; and that no, ketchup does not contain pig's blood, a vicious rumor someone has been circulating that doesn't help ketchup's case at all.

Using Search Assistant to get the nitty-gritty
With Internet Explorer 5's new Search Assistant feature, I can make the most of my search by telling Internet Explorer exactly what kind of information I'm searching for: Web pages, e-mail and home addresses, companies and organizations, maps, encyclopedia articles, and newsgroups. I can also choose which search engine I want to use, or let Internet Explorer 5 choose the best one for the type of information I want.

Where did ketchup come from?
As with the universe, love, and crop circles, the origins of ketchup are inconclusive. Typing in a combination of words, I use Search Assistant's Find in encyclopedia option to track down several purported histories to try to resolve this issue. Ketchup may have come from China or South America, or from New England in the late 1700s. I want something more concrete, so I use Search Assistant's Find a business option to find where my favorite ketchup comes from: H. J. Heinz in Pittsburgh, PA. I also find their street address, which then makes it easy to use Search Assistant's Find a map option to locate them, and to get a slew of Pittsburgh-related news, weather, and, among other things, driving directions. From Redmond, WA, I take a right, a left, and then keep going.

Use the Next button to make a new start -- without starting over
With Internet Explorer 5, I can run exactly the same search with a different search engine simply by clicking Search Assistant's Next button. I do this, and come across Snap's Ketchup Recipes: recipes with tomatoes, garlic and onion, a touch of vinegar and pickling spice. This is what I'm after, and I want more like it.

Turning to related links
By clicking Internet Explorer 5's Related Links feature, I can tell Internet Explorer to find sites that are similar to the one I'm looking at. One of the sites Related Links leads me to from Snap's Ketchup Recipes is the Recipes Archive, which contains pages of ketchup recipes from the glory days, complete with all the trappings.  And after perusing these pages, I think I've seen enough to make even an alarmist like me confident that ketchup will persevere.

Susan Hutton likes ketchup best on Coney Island hot dogs, with lots of onions and mustard.

Searching is a snap
With Internet Explorer 5's new AutoSearch feature, you can type a keyword into the Address bar, then click the new Go button or hit your ENTER key, and Internet Explorer returns a typical Web search, along with a specific suggestion for a matching site, if one exists.

Using the Search Assistant feature, you can tell Internet Explorer exactly what you're looking for, such as:

• Another Web page
• A person's e-mail or home address
• A business
• Your previous searches
• A map
• Encyclopedia entries
• Newsgroup articles

You can also:

• Perform the same search using a different search engine simply by clicking Next in the Search Assistant window.
• Choose which search engine you want to use to perform specific searches, or use the search engine Search Assistant suggests.