Is It Time To Change Your Web Browser Home Page?

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Is It Time To Change Your Web Browser Home Page?

Structure Your Activities With Desktop Gadgets & A New Browser Homepage. by SoftwareGuru For a society that claims to never have enough spare time, we are spending more time online than ever before. The popularity of browser add-ons such as StumbleUpon illustrate the random nature of the web and how that appeals to many users. That can be fun for awhile but ultimately to get the most out of our online experiences we need structure. This is where the importance of our homepage, combined with the computer desktop, can make a difference. A cluttered desktop creates the feeling of noise before we even launch our internet browser. Windows Vista Sidebar introduced us to desktop apps such as eBay auction monitors and virtual post-it notes. Windows 7 expands further on these apps by making them even more flexible through the desktop. You can read more about Windows 7 Gadgets over at Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows.
	Get More From Your Homepage Every website wants more traffic. Therefore, most sites have a link that says "Make This Site Your Homepage". As creatures of habit, once we have selected a homepage, chances are we will be loath to change it. Why is that? In an uncertain world, familiarity breeds comfort. It's the same reason why some users insist on sticking with Word 2003 or Windows XP. However, this way of thinking goes against the natural evolution of the web. Change is not only a good thing, it is constant. Just as the world keeps spinning, technology keeps advancing. To have more time to do the things we want, it's important to set up the right homepage, one that can act effectively as the starting point for our daily online activities. The web 2.0 era brought with it many changes including social networking from the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and better quality online video from YouTube. As the noise online increases, people are demanding a cleaner, simple homepage. Web design has to evolve to meet this demand. This is quite a challenge for web designers: how to convey a website's brand image instantly to users in a clean and simple, yet friendly environment which has all of the services the user needs. How are existing brands such as Yahoo, MSN and Google going to compete in the next decade? The best web portals should work like a well-run airport: they can take you to all of your most popular destinations with the minimum of fuss. Portals exist to filter and provide relevant content. Whether it's the new homepages from Yahoo! or MSN, or more customised solutions from the likes of iGoogle or NetVibes, the battle for your daily starting point online has truly entered a new era.
New Challenges The popularity of email portals such as Outlook and Gmail, combined with search and news portals MSN or iGoogle becoming the homepage of choice for many users, has led critics to ask "what exactly is Yahoo! for?" In the aftermath of Yahoo! failing to agree a takeover price with Microsoft, it appears that the company decided to try and answer that question. This in turn could play a bigger role in what users want and expect from their own favourite homepage. Recently Yahoo! redesigned its homepage and set the bar high, featuring content from many other sites including BBC News, eBay, Facebook, Kelkoo, and many other sites. MSN.co.uk is also currently in the process of a new redesign. Furthermore, there's a lot to be said for not using a search engine as your homepage given that all browsers now have search bars integrated and the likes of Internet Explorer 8 can be customised to feature Bing, Google Wikipedia and more from its own search bar. As ever, it is up to us as computer and internet users to take a step back from our digital lives for a moment and consider more productive ideas and technologies. Unless we explore the alternatives on offer, how else can we create more time each day and spend it on the things that really matter?

Is It Time To Change Your Web Browser Home Page?

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