The layout of Protopage is almost similar as My MSN, My Yahoo. This interface is user-friendly and easy to use; it is also very fast and orderly. It makes it easier for the user to keep up with the Tweets, news podcast, weather and other media. A user can make an easy and outstanding looking start page in a lesser time. The ‘widgets’ are adjustable; it means it can be enlarged or shortened. It provides extra ordinary features which includes widgets of which sizes could be adjusted, a cohesive audio/video podcast player, wizards through which news feeds could be added, cartoon and feeds related to photo thumbnail, a search box that has 750 preloaded search engines is also provided, sticky notes that could edit-in-place, and various color coded tabs for instant page sharing is available. The quick over-view of Protopage’s features is in the introduction. A customized search engine of user’s choice could also be added other the 750 pre-loaded search engines are there in the searching box. Backgrounds, themes, visuals, patterns and wall papers can be customized; user can upload their own images as backgrounds
Features:
Protopage entertains a user with more than one tabs for a better organization, ‘widgets’ can be customized according to user’s desires. Mail from popular sources like Gmail could be read; it offers a wide range of built-in RSS feeds, the and user can add any of his/her choices as well.
iGoogle was a personalized homepage which was started in May 2005, and it was being discontinued in November 2013. During these eight years, the company started the service available in 42 languages and around 70 countries domain names. It was a customizable Ajax-based page or web portal, which keeps almost everything that the user needs into one place or location so that an individual can get easy access to the things which a person wants. An individual than don’t have to move to another web browser. One can easily access it without having to leave or browse to another site. A lot of information is being placed on the page, Users of iGoogle also had the opportunity to design and modify the page according to their desires, the way they want to customize it. The themes can also be customized by the users themselves.
Features:
The side bar feature was then introduced by iGoogle to compress or minimize the gadget’s size, in which the users interested in and the user who were interested in chat gadgets other than sports, news, financial market or sports, etc.
Gadgets:
Another thing that iGoogle introduced were gadgets; users were interacted with these gadgets via using Google Gadget API. Some of the gadgets for Google Desktop were also be used within iGoogle. Google Gadgets API was public, and it permits everyone and anyone to improve a gadget for any desired need of the user.
Official Discontinuation:
On 3 July 2012, Google announced on its blog that several of its services, including iGoogle, would be discontinued due to “the unforeseen evolution of web and mobile apps and the erosion of the need for the site.” iGoogle was then stop working on November 1, 2013, and the mobile version was retired on 31 July 2012.
Netvibes give the permission to users to make their desktop according to their desired criteria on the browser. Netvibes is easy to use interface that permits the user to get easy access to it, and one can add or delete the ‘widgets’ or application easily. For example, the user can add Facebook, Yahoo, multiple news sites in the same area. It is fast and easy. An advantage of using Netvibes is that a user can make various “tabs” that enables a user to classify it into different surfaces. Therefore, it is outstanding to use. The themes and backgrounds, the color of the buttons and backgrounds give it a more user-friendly and extravagant look.
Features:
There are various features that make it stand out of the cue but few of them are, more than 200,000 applications are available that can be added to a dashboard, the user can make many dashboards. The facility of tagging is also available that helps the user to regain and find the content easily. iPhone and iPad users have the access to Netvibes. The user can create microsites and it can also be published, with just a few clicks. Netvibes is a friendly interface that enables and helps the user to search and get access to more than 200,000 websites which is a great feature.
igHome was developed by Mike Sutton. An upper black toolbar is provided for a quick and fast access to google mail, Images, YouTube, Bookmarks, and Calendar Drive etc. The user can change the search engines from default Google and the links that are in black bar links. The gadgets have the standard categories on the interface but with a twist. igHome also offers localized categories for different countries like Europe, Canada, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Oceania, Americas and some major US Cities. By clicking on any specific location, specific links, and menu which offers more choices regarding the area will be drop down. The content can be drag and drop by the user, and it’s easy and fast to use.
Features:
igHome offers free registration that saves the settings that have personalized. Mobile applications are also available on ‘http://www.ighome.com/mobile/ ‘. Social media integration is also available. It is fast and quick, and the users can change the default links to some other sites also. It is also taken care for the users by localizing it for various countries.
Incredible StartPage is a page where a user can gather all the information, bookmarks and beautiful frames. It does not have access to Flickr accounts. But suitable items can be searched and beautiful photos can also be used as wallpaper. The browser has some limitations due to which history cannot be restored from ‘other devices’. Feeds could be restored which the user has closed recently. The browsing history could be added or deleted and the customization of wall papers, backgrounds, themes and skins are available. The apps and backgrounds could be found or located quickly and easily with titles having a filter. Incredible StartPage has some disadvantages; a user cannot have access to the information in the same way as Netvibes. However, if a user only wants access to bookmarks and notes while browsing than it is the best application to be recommended.
Features:
Incredible StartPage has some brilliant features in which it has a flexible layout it means notepad could be reduced or enlarged. It also enables customize themes and backgrounds. App orders can be rearranged any time; the tabs that have closed recently could be recovered. Notepad could be synced to Google Cloud Drive. The background could be located quickly with filters on titles.
Ustart has many alike features like Protopage, with respect to email, news feed, weather broadcast, sports, customization, RSS feeds, podcast and so on and so forth. The feature that makes it stand out of others is that it can import content from other interfaces or applications such as Google, Google Bookmarks, and Netvibes. The interface is fast and clean and it is simple to use. Timings, day, and date are mentioned in the upper right corner neatly. Each widget can be customized, it can be added or deleted, it can also be configured or move around. Widgets come in the block form, which has two sizes large and regular window. The skin color and the backgrounds can also be customized; the skin color and themes have a good selection. It also offers weather forecast for two days, rather than for five days which is standard. Forecast for the large cities was found easily while for the smaller cities it is difficult to find he weather updates. It is easy to create an account; a user can create an account just by login with the facebook, or one can create an account, for this the user name, password and e-mail id is required. For changing some basic settings such as day, date and time, display format, font size etc., go to ‘Look to My Account’ area. A user can get search results in the same tab or can open a new tab.
Features:
It offers free registration to the users to save personal settings. It offers news feeds and gadgets; one can open more than one tab at a time; the ability to import features from other interfaces such as Google, Google Bookmarks, and Netvibes etc. the content can be directly added from the browser is also a feature that makes it great for the user. Mobile link for this interface is ‘http: //www.ustart.org/’.
My Yahoo is an old interface that has been serving users for more than a decade; it is very similar to Netvibes. The layout is very much similar to Netvibes. With the passage of time My Yahoo enhanced many of it features, it is user-friendly, easy to use and customizable. Content adding is not at all difficult. Adding content isn’t difficult; it is a big support to social media. The user can open multiple tabs at a time, tabs for cooking, games, sports; weather forecasts, podcasts etc are available. Themes and skins can be customized; wallpapers are very attractive. The material is less than Netvibe but it is easy to use and clutter free. There are also pre-loaded tabs, which have high-quality sites and information. It includes sports, cooking, gaming, fashion, travel, video, social and social media. The backgrounds, wall papers and themes can be customized accordingly. It does not import feeds from other interfaces such as Google, Google Bookmarks, and Netvibes etc.
Features:
The registration is free and simple to save settings that have been personalized. The import and export feeds are unknown; the content be added directly from the browser and the themes and backgrounds and wallpapers can be customized. The private pages have the ability to share the content with other users also. MyYahoo offers various and high-quality pre-loaded sites which can be helpful in the users life as the daily life matters, such as, cooking, sports, weather, traffic updates and stock etc. the imports are not allowed from other interfaces on MyYahoo.
Symbaloo is another interface that provides users with the maximum of options an interface can. When you look at it appears to be very simple, but it has a twist. This page is logo based which appears simple at an instant, but it can be customized to the degree that is surprisingly amazing. Symbaloo has multiple task bars, tabs; the side bars are also expandable. There is a search function which helps in searching tiles, from your browser, there are lots of options. If the user is visually oriented, he/she will definitely find Symbaloo easy and useful to use. The features like Help, tour, site introduction are not hard to search. Symbaloo is also the interface that imports bookmarks from other search engines such as Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Delicious, Safari and Diigo. It also has buttons for the toolbar, so the user can add things easily from the browser. It is a start page that is personable, and it has tools that let the individual add all their important links in and is easy to use. The web mix of the user appears as a glossy button which also has icons and logos. The items can be drop or drag as user requirement in order to organize them, the way which is appropriate and practical. The users can find the things that are most suitable for them. Users can browse or view their home web mix collections. The Registration of Symbaloo is free for the save settings that are personalized, social media integration is also available. The feeds are neither exported from other browser or interfaces nor can it be export to other interfaces. Symbaloo is user-friendly; it is easy to use and have many options. The contents can be added directly from the browser with the help of toolbar button such as Firefox, Safari, D iigo or Chrome. The address for mobile application is ‘http: //mobile.symbaloo.com/’.
All my Faves is the interface which has an enormous collection of websites that a user can access and bookmark it to one start page. All the sites in the interface are represented by logos or small icons. The service is easy to use and free of cost, All an individual have to do is to sign up, and make an account to use the services. Once a user is registered, he can have his/her own collection of sites, “Faves sites”. The Faves sites can be used by the users quickly, and the user can jump to their favorite pages easily. The user also has to select about seven topics of interest (technical, sports, health, etc.) that can be used to develop groups of sites user may like. Once the setup process is completed, the user will see a display with tabs of his/her most likely sites and the person than select topics of interest.
Features:
The registration is free; hence the user has to make an id or to sign up to get access to the services. The sites on the interface have small icons or logos.’Faves sites can be used by the user very easily. The user had to select seven topics of liking which will appear on the page as he most liked sites of the user.
Like All My Faves, this ‘myfav.es’ is a site or interface that provides a simple and easy service. It can help in saving time through personalization of homepage. The user can delete or add icons of the various popular websites, such as Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo and many other popular websites that are available or the internet applications that are available. The options of Customization also available, which helps the user to choose the design and the layout of the page. It has not many options but easy to use and user-friendly interface to be known.
All the interfaces are important in any way if a user wants a browsing or searching sessions easily. FreshStart is another application that let a user make it more comfortable and less time consuming. As it is very difficult to continue searching for longer hours in the daily routine FreshStart gives you a quick and easy way of what a user wants. It also enables a user to save multiple sessions on a single window. The sessions could be recovered, as FreshStart gives auto-save option. This option is provided for the purpose, that if a user lost all his sessions for whatever reason, it might be, the option is than being provided to make it recovered.
Features:
The registration is free for the save sessions that are personalized. Feeds can be import and export from other interfaces. Sessions are saved in the folder “FreshStart Session”, which enables a user to open it on other devices or computers. Browsed history could be saved, and it can also be saved to the new tab. There is another option in the interface which allows the user to merge the session on the new window, or it can be restored by clicking Ctrl-click (Windows, Linux) or clicking Cmd-click (Mac).
My Msn is a web portal that is easy to use; the user can search or browse with this interface easily, the content they want. Multiple tabs can be created and open at the same time, the user has a wide variety to choose from hundreds of sources for news, sports, conditions of traffic, games, cooking, weather forecast, stock, etc. to add content Use RSS feeds from almost every website. Content can be placed on the choice of a user, where an individual wants it to appear. Multiple tabs can be created to organize the content of the user, different layouts and themes can be chosen for each tab.
The user can change the theme of the layout and each tab in order to find the content easily. It is fast, easy is clutter-free. The options for customization are lesser than Netvibes, and the apps are fewer than Netvibes. Netvibes. The default groups on My MSN are MSN Tools, Business, Featured, News, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, Stock, Lifestyle, and Shopping. Feed from other sites can be added and the RSS index is always there in My MSN.
Spaaze is different from other services that have mentioned in the article. Spaaze is a cork board that is virtual and infinite. It is easy, user-friendly and has many widgets that can be drag and drop by the user. Hundreds of widgets are available as Spaaze. The cork board is the board that allows the individual to move or scroll in any directions it can be anytime. The “map” is also available which helps the users to move or jump quickly to any specific section; the user wants to move. It is the tool for the people who could get organized by using this tool. These items can be edited in place, moved via drag and drop and positioned freely on the board. Therefore, it’s possible to arrange a bunch of items any way you like, which makes it possible to use it for many different use cases.
It is impossible to ‘remember’ all the points so; Spazee makes it easy for the user to remember by adding hotspots which help in remembering certain points with the help of the bookmarks hat have been created around the items user wants to use repeatedly. The owners of the board can also offer others to join them; the board can also be edited.
Spaaze Feature
It is different from other interfaces; the user can create their own Spaaze board. Images, Videos, Notes and Links can be added anytime. The options of drag and drop are open, and the user can use them. Labels and bookmarks can be used for speedy access.