User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1) Gecko/20061003 Firefox/2.0 Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1) Gecko/20061003 Firefox/2.0 My default search engine is google. Occasionally I consult a dictionary using the search bar. Of course, my next google search request goes to the dictionary ... There should be an option which decides if the search bar goes back to the default engine or keeps the last used engine. I'd choose the search bar to go to the default engine. Reproducible: Always

I just tried the SearchLoad Options extension, and it works fine: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3544/

At the Firefox summit last November several people came together to design a workable User Experience to address this problem. It'll be nothing like the SearchLoad Options addon, but that might work for you in the meantime.

Good suggestion. Wikipedia, imdb, Amazon engines make no sense, with the current UI. It could reset when I open a new tab or window. Then, I would still need an obovious UI to permanently change the engine. E.g. another radiobox in the dropdown.

We no longer have the concept of engine switching via the search bar.