By David Chartier
December 11, 2008 - 01:04PM CT

Microsoft is continuing its adventure into web apps with a new Live Labs experiment called Thumbtack. As a simple web-based filing cabinet for storing clipped information from around the web, Thumbtack is yet another entry into an already broad market, but it brings one particularly interesting trick to the table.

At face value, Thumbtack is a pretty simple tool that allows users to organize snippets of content they paste into notes, or easily clip text and images from other sites via bookmarklet. Compatible right now with IE7 and Firefox 3 (cross-platform), Thumbtack provides a familiar UI of a sidebar on the left that lists custom "collections" (like folders) and a content panel front and center where notes can be viewed as icons or in list view with more metadata.

Collections can be published with a clean URL for sending via e-mail and the like, or shared with other users for collaborative editing. Thumbtack's bookmarklet makes it much easier to snip stuff from around the web into a collection. Select some text and/or images on a page, click that bookmarklet in your browser's toolbar, and a javascript Thumbtack pop-up will allow you to pick a collection, add tags, and preview what you're actually adding.

These tools make Thumbtack handy for everything from planning a trip with another decision-maker in the family, publishing a wishlist, or quickly collecting bits of research while browsing. Users of any of the wide variety of competitors like Google Notebook or Evernote may be yawning, and so far, we don't blame them.