Since we just demystified Internet Explorer 9 add-ons and what they do, it is only natural to show how to install such add-ons on your computer. This tutorial will cover everything you need to know on the subject. Read more to find out.

Standalone Add-ons - Not Distributed by Microsoft

First of all, I would like to highlight the fact that many add-ons for Internet Explorer 9 are not actually distributed by Microsoft. For example, you have plugins for browsing the Internet and playing different types of media, such as: Flash Player, Java, Silverlight, etc. All these 'add-ons' will be found on the website of their manufacturer.

Another common type of add-on are toolbars. Some of them are found on the Internet Explorer 9 gallery of add-ons while others are distributed together with other applications or as standalone setup packages.

There are also extensions (like the ones in Firefox or Chrome), which provided very useful functionality. Some of them might be distributed separately, by their provider, and cannot be found on the gallery maintained by Microsoft. A very famous example is LastPass. Their Internet Explorer 9 version of the extension, is included in the LastPass Universal Windows Installer, which needs to be downloaded and installed separately.

Add-ons Distributed by Microsoft

Let's see how you use the Official Gallery of Internet Explorer Add-ons:
First, navigate to it. On the home page, don't rush to click on things. Pay attention to the language shown in the top-right side of the page. Add-ons listed on the website are automatically filtered according to the language shown there. Therefore, if United States(English) is selected, you will get a different list then when Romania (Romanian) is selected, for example.
After you clarified this little detail, it is time to click on 'Get Add-ons'.

A list of add-ons is now shown. By default, you will see the newest add-ons added to the gallery. To filter things, you can either use the categories on the top or the drop-down box on the bottom-right (highlighted below), which filters add-ons by their add-on type, not their “content" type.

Browse through the gallery until you find something useful. When you click on an add-on, you are shown it's installation page. Here you can read details about it and install it by clicking on 'Click to install'.

Depending on the type of add-on you want to install, you will get a different confirmation screen. The screenshot below shows how an 'Add Search Provider' dialogue looks like.

If you clicked on Add, the search provider is then added to the list, near your existing providers.

If you want to install an accelerator, the 'Add Accelerator' dialogue, looks slightly different.

Clicking on Add makes it show up in the right click menu, under All Accelerators.

NOTE: One problem I noticed is the fact that there is no indication of progress when installing add-ons from the official gallery. You simply don't know if the procedure has finished or not. Also, some add-ons might not function until you restart the browser. If it seems that nothing happened, restart Internet Explorer 9 and check again - the new add-on might show up and be ready for use.

Add-ons Worth Installing?

Now that you know how to install add-ons for Internet Explorer 9, the next logical step is to find some add-ons worth installing. If you have any suggestions, don't hesitate to share them via the comments below.

Related articles:

Demystifying Internet Explorer 9 Add-ons
Top 9 Must Have Add-ons for Internet Explorer 9
Internet Explorer 9 - How to Remove or Disable Add-ons
Internet Explorer 9 - How to Improve the Load & Navigation Speed