Index: wp-includes/js/admin-bar.dev.js
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/js/admin-bar.dev.js	(revision 19252)
+++ wp-includes/js/admin-bar.dev.js	(working copy)
@@ -188,6 +188,25 @@
 				addEvent(aB, 'click', clickShortlink );
 			}
 
+                        if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("MSIE") >= 0) {
+                            if ('' === document.getElementById("adminbar-search").value) {
+                                document.getElementById("adminbar-search").value = document.getElementById("adminbar-search").getAttribute("placeholder");
+                                document.getElementById("adminbar-search").style.color = "#ddd";
+                            }
+                            document.getElementById("adminbar-search").onblur = function() {
+                                if ("" === this.value) {
+                                    this.value = this.getAttribute("placeholder");
+                                }
+                                this.style.color = "#ddd";
+                            };
+                            document.getElementById("adminbar-search").onfocus = function() {
+                                if (this.value === this.getAttribute("placeholder")) {
+                                    this.value = "";
+                                }
+                                this.style.color = "";
+                            };
+                        }
+
 			if ( w.location.hash )
 				w.scrollBy(0,-32);
 		});