Disliking evolution of Google Search particularly and Bing to a lesser extent, I am now using http://duckduckgo.com/ After install of DuckDuck, any other search can be removed from Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer, etc. For me, a noteable improvement occured with removal of Bing and Google searches & addition of DuckDuck in Windows 7 Pro 64 for Internet Explorer 9 (32 and 64bit) versions. In the past with Bing and Google searches installed, after closing I.E. it would more often than not still be active in Task Manager for at least 10 seconds. That no longer happens. This slow close only happens in Internet Explorer, not Chrome etc.

Delete all, namely the cached content in IE and play with add-ons, namely disable add-ons that are causing delay. For more troubleshooting look into Event logs and publish your findings here. Use Internet browser(s) according to your likes, as no one is forced to use any particular browser, unless you are working in strict corporate environment tha excludes its use explicitly. Regards Milos

Thanks for feedback. I have seen no logs entries related to timing of I.E. completion, and assume (now that it closes when I close it) search was what kept it active as seen in Task Manager. I prefer I.E. and Security Essentials and Media Player etc. over non Microsoft applications because they are better equipped to write software for their own Operating System than any one else.