Live Search gains in simplicity over Google Search

The Live Search design team has been playing around with a new interface for both the main Live Search page and the Live Search results page, and I must say that they're not doing a bad job. While Google always primed over MSN (now Live) and Yahoo in terms of a simple interface, I must say that Live Search is better - at least from this point of view. See below a comparison between the main Google Search interface and the Live Search interface:

I told you, while the Live Search page shows you only the search box and a link here and there way at the top (or bottom) of the main page, Google Search shows way too many links closer to the search box giving you the impression of a crowded place. As for the search results page, Live Search wins again:
Live Search results page

Google Search results page

While the Live Search page is still undergoing design changes (sometimes you can see a Change setting checkbox) I must say that I like the direction they're going. Unlike Google that seems to want to make you use iGoogle more than the main search page, Live Search chooses simplicity.