Bing better deliver a bang for Microsoft.

Microsoft has picked Bing as the branding for its new search engine, putting to rest months of speculation of what the next iteration of Live Search would be called.

Microsoft's latest vehicle for achieving the elusive goal of Web dominance is Bing. Previously known as Kumo while in development, Bing replaces Microsoft's Live Search brand and carries forward the company's strategy for taking on Google and Yahoo. Besides introducing a new look to Microsoft's search interface, Bing adds a spruced-up navigation for search results, including a new left-hand navigation bar, a hover feature that lets users preview Web pages before visiting them, and a categorized search feature that groups search results by topic category.

The new search engine Microsoft is expected to launch this week boasts features to improve the relevance of search query results, partly by letting users set custom profile information the engine uses to tailor results, said sources familiar with the company's plans.

Microsoft has added a feature to Live Search designed to give users up-to-the-minute information linked to a particular search query to help make searches more interactive for users.

Microsoft Thursday unveiled a revamped Live Search API that developers can use to embed search on Web sites with more support for frequently used Web-development technologies and less restrictions on how third parties use the technology on their Web sites.

While the company only has a 10 percent share of the search market with its Live Search technology, Microsoft has big plans to enhance its platform regardless of what happens with its now-dormant proposal to buy Yahoo.

At last, Bing has arrived. I tested a preview release of Microsoft's new search/decision engine, previously called Kumo, to see how well it compares. Here's a breakdown of its new features and how well they perform.