Restore last session. I don't even know what my homepage is.

whereisian

popurls.com should have been in the list. sad sad sad :(

freznel

+1 for about:blank

I've tried many different "Start pages", and even tried coding one of my own, but they always seem to just get me sidetracked from what I sat down to do.

The Amazing Ant

Ok i love the idea of a start page but have a slight question here. I have a family computer, its mine but its the family computer also. Now for most start pages (Google, Yahoo, ect.) you need to stay logged in for the browser to open up to that page. However staying logged into a user provides the next person to use the computer access to your account (including email and whatever else is attached). Also i have Firefox dump my logins upon closing to keep cookies clean. Basically how would you keep a good customized start page except not have to stay logged into a service?

Redneck R8C3 C8R DR1V3R

@richard:
I have actually tried Netvibes and did not like it simply because it took a long time to load for me. igoogle loads much faster for me.
If Netvibes loaded as quickly as igoogle does I would probably use it.

EracMan

Can't believe the dominance of iGoogle. Netvibes blows it out of the water in every respect. The only reason I can think of is that most haven't even tried Netvibes yet.

richard

Plain old Google homepage, without the 'i'.

acewave

I use about:blank because i hate when you open a new tab in firefox and it takes seconds to load, i just want to open a new blank tab...

CYG

+2 for about:blank

Because I tend to be distracted easily and often wander aimlessly. There's a pretty picture of some Jujubes. I wonder what they're made of. They're pretty. TI want some Jujubes.

cronick

about:blank is the best thing I ever did for myself. Back when I had 256mb of RAM, I needed all the help I could get to make things go faster. And I can easily get to whatever I want, so pressing a few buttons to get there isn't a big deal.

iGoogle would be great if I didn't have multiple gmail addresses.

waffles

The idea of a start page is only relevant if you need to go that page every single time you start your browser.

I've tried them all in years past, and I am convinced that about:blank is the way to go. Faster load times. Content providers want you to use their start pages because it gives them free, guaranteed hits. If you are on a work system where you need access to intranet content or something similar, great. Otherwise start pages are guaranteed to be a timewaster. It's a waste of bandwidth, as well.

jflaming

@Redneck R8C3 C8R DR1V3R: Use windows accounts as @cidus: suggested. Otherwise set-up different firefox profiles using these tips:
[lifehacker.com]

Or try the profile switcher Firefox extension.

Michael @ Paperweight Blog

Surprised not many people voted for Google (original).

I personally use about:blank. Why have a start page unless it's something that the user would use EVERY TIME (or at least >50% of the time). Surely, clicking the bookmark toolbar isn't that hard?! Just seems to waste time letting a page load if one is not going to use at least half the time.

ICEBreaker

@EracMan:

How much porn is loaded on your netvibes?

I've got seven feeds on my front page alone, and my asian scanlover pics load up just as fast as my economist feeds...

(Hey, a guy's gotta keep his priorities in order)

Parapraxis

@Redneck R8C3 C8R DR1V3R:
Windows has had multiple users account since Windows 98. Why don't you use that?
If you're worried about someone else accessing your account, just use a password.

cidus

PROTOPAGE

hookem

about:blank or about:mozilla followed by Netvibes.

xxdesmus

I used to roll my own static, local HTML file with links and things, but now I don't even bother. Now I just restore my previous session and carry on, like leoeris there.

Darcy

No start page. Not even about:blank. Hide the home button and open up whatever tabs I had open before.

leoeris

I really like the MiniBoxs concept ([www.miniboxs.com]). Yes, you can't change the feeds and content displayed, but it's ordered and managed in a really efficient way and that's actually one of the first websites I check every day.

digg this!

Gmail. But if it wasn't it would be about:blank.

OnwardChristianLaettner

any site i visit regular, pops up in my history as i type, anything else in bookmarked, and anything else out side of that, if you just type it into the browser it mostly find it eg typing "engadget" and hitting enter, will take me straight there, no fuss.

if you hadnt guessed about:blank for me also.

Jakus

About:Blank user here. Between keyword bookmarks and the bookmarks bar switching from site to site is a breeze, so I really don't save anytime by having it all in one place. A lot of stuff (ie...email) lose functionality when you put it on a start page so you end up going somewhere else anyway. Why not cut out the middle man?

oldredhat

I <3 Netvibes.

razordu30

about:blank FTW

invid

@Redneck R8C3 C8R DR1V3R:
From the iGoogle General Info:
'Yes, you can personalize your start page homepage without signing into your account. Add content and arrange the page the way you want, and those settings will be remembered on the computer where you made them. Please note that unless you sign in, your personalized start page will be available only on that one computer and any changes you make while signed in will not carry over to the signed-out version. Deleting your browser's cookies will also delete these settings. Certain sections, such as Calendar, Bookmarks, and Search History, are not available unless you're signed in to your account.'

So, it's possible to have a personalized start page without logging in, but considering the fact that you have Firefox erase your logins upon exiting, this may not work for you.

Alikia

drudge report

hiiamchris

actually, I use the "remember tabs from last session" on Firefox. but my start page is set to "about:mozilla", which is a fun take on "about:blank" and works just as well.

Solon

I used to be an avid iGoogle supporter, but then I got Google Apps for [my] Domain. It's a fantastic service, but there's one area in which they fail: They've replaced iGoogle with Personalized Start Page.

Functionally the two are the same, but some fundamental differences about it drove me to Netvibes. The advertise that you can customize the style, but you get such *little* control over the looks that you can only take it from Pretty Darn Ugly to Darn Ugly. You can't use any of the templates or themes, the header is bigger than iGoogle's so it doesn't use browser space as efficiently.. the list goes on. And my old iGoogle is unable to show E-mail from my Google Apps account.

Netvibes connects to that account just fine, though, and it's beautiful and very, very customizable to boot!

TomFrost

+1 for Other. My e-mail's web client is my home page. I log into it every time I start up my browser, and I check it often, so clicking the home button is great for me.

At work, it's my intranet page. All the internal crap I probably should know but never read. I would change it if it wasn't locked and/or reset every time I restarted.

silencedotcom

i hate yahoo's homepage but love me some myyahoo.

Khamel

I start my day with www.bigwhitebooties.com... am I the only one??

VakeroRokero

I'm using iGoogle but after looking at Netvibes, I"m willing to give it a try. How's the loading time?

IchabodMoira

Restore last session in FF. Speed dial in Opera. Voila.

gregbzh

igoogle with the "painted black" (google & gmail) style from stylish works well for me.

netvibes is cool. it looks nice, but it seems to not be as quick as what i'm using. either way my start page is a temporary 5 second stay at most

([i30.tinypic.com])

ultrasur1

@whereisian: QFT

DoubleFelix

Oh, and its taken me 4 times to get my vote to register. Is this another symptom of the comment lag/failure to post?

Lazarus

my.msn.com is my start page, but only because I use it as an active desktop, at work. Has all my rss feeds on it, weather, sports, etc etc. I use about:blank at home, cause I dont care for any of that information when my internets isn't on lockdown and can peruse freely.

Darascon

@kureshii: Thats pretty cool.

On a side note, I like my iGoogle simply because I have a lot of information there.

Oh and I have to agree with freznel, Popurls.com is awesome, even if it is just a whole bunch of RSS feeds to a single site.

Lazarus

No home button, restore last session - which is almost always google mail + reader.

wererogue

+1 for speed dial, but Fast Dial [addons.mozilla.org] is a better and quicker fit if you are worried about speed of page loading.

DarKobra

@kureshii: Sorry, bad link - photobucket doesn't like me today. Here's a working one: ([i40.photobucket.com])

kureshii

www.google.com/firefox

this on is fine with me esp. since firefox 3's smart bookmarks

That_Eagle_Scout!

I voted for Netvibes even though I'm technically an about:blank/tabs-from-last-session person, because Netvibes is where I usually go for my daily fix anyway ;)

kureshii

about:blank fans should take a look at Fast Dial extension for Firefox (don't know if it's FF3 compatible). Allows you to create customised link images for about:blank. I warn first; it may end up being more distracting than useful since it's a start page that can't be closed ;)

With a greasemonkey/Stylish script or two you can make a really fancy about:blank page. Here's a screenshot of mine ([i40.photobucket.com]).

kureshii

@VakeroRokero: That made me giggle. :o)

I voted netvibes, as previously stated, but bounce back and forth between about:blank and netvibes.

wickedcupofjoe

iGoogle, so I can check my email, my gReader feed, my gCal, weather etc before I go off and do other things. I tried Netvibes, Pageflakes etc, but as most of the services I use are Google ones then there isn't much need to bring some other service into the equation.

Don't like the iGoogle themes though, any idea how you make your own?

Al Iguana

iGoogle. Just because of the really bizarre way I use Google Reader and other RSS feeds together -- it only works (and looks good) on the iGoogle page.

Scoops

I'd love to be able to add some of Netvibe's features to a fast local homebrew page.

KillDeer

Netviber here.

How come I also get a 404 Error page after voting in a poll on Lifehacker? I use Firefox 2.newest.version. This is what the page says:

Not Found

The requested URL /&error=UG9sbCBJRCBub3Qgc2V0Lg== was not found on this server.
Apache/2.0.59 (Unix) PHP/5.2.5 mod_perl/2.0.3 Perl/v5.8.8 Server at polls.gawker.com Port 80

bdawg923

@whereisian: Agreed. If I've hit my start page, then something has gone wrong.

optimarcusprime

Where's Google and Google Reader?

WikzoDk

netvibes for the win: looks great, loads great, and a stellar RSS reader.

my.yahoo: decent, but too 'yahoo centric'... and i had to ditch my yahoo email from too much spam for gmail.

igoogle: ugly interface, clunky widgets, bad use of space.

about:blank: i'd only click through to netvibes anyway.

fuzzymuffins

I don't know what the point of listing your favorite start page on this comment thread is, because by the time you get here you've probably voted for your favorite start page 3 times. (Call for contenders, the official vote in this article, and then a third time in this thread to REALLY show off that you like iGoogle, or about:blank, or whatever)

That being said, I like iGoogle :-)

Dom

Technically, a blank page pops up whenever I fire up the ol' Firefox. However, I have netvibes set as my home page, so it's easy to get to.

imafungi1

ugh, Netvibes is losing! Why in these hive five is it that the best (well, in my opinion) always loses! At least usually.

+1 for netvibes

gcguster99t

I use one that isn't mentioned here: my.myway.com. It is almost completely graphic-free (the only image is the logo) and loads very quickly.

steveinillinois

iGoogle because

(1) I use so many danged Google services,

(2) It runs mostly better on an iPod Touch with the glaring exception of Page Creator (Netvibes has a hard time on page "reload"), and

(3) It loads faster than Netvibes,

However, I had a purdy hard time choosing, and I always keep an iGoogle tab and a Netvibes tab open on my laptop browser.

fjpoblam

Anyone familiar with newsmap?

[www.marumushi.com]

I've used each of these at some point in the past and it is this one I am at now.

TheZeitgeist

I tried Netvibes and it seemed to cluttered. The newer version is better but I still prefer the simplicity of iGoogle (even with the horrible names and the somewhat clunky interface.)

send9

The Perfect Default Browser Page because it has the stuff I need to check, want to check or might need to check. Did I mention I wrote it? Well, I did. Several times. Hi Mom!

bsts

iGoogle-- I have just a couple of links there. But, there are a few wish to stay in tune with.

TravelingMan

iGoogle for me.

mysticgeek.htg

I've tried using others, but in the end I always end up coming back to using my iGoogle. It's just perfect.

musicphreke

i use speed dial and i just opened a netvibes page. i need to find a way to change those sissy girly colors. i haven't looked everything over yet, but if i can't change the netvibes colors it's canceled. plus it looks to bland and outdated. i might open a blogger and add everything i use and make it total eye candy, just to piss off the anti eye candy gloom and doomers. and i might just add a picture of their mother as an avitar to show off my 4 gigs of ram.

rand0mCreep

I've been using about:blank since the day I figured out how to do it back when I was eleven or so. Eight years later, I've never looked back.

vollmus

about:mozilla FTW

wqwert

+1 about:blank FTW!

srtor

I've used about blank since I was 13 or so... almost 12 years ago.

In fact, the whole "use a blank page" option in firefox instead of typing out "about:blank" still gives me the willies. I may have even started using about blank in the netscape days.

nagumi

Amazing the number of people completely clueless about how these results were obtained. Almost as amazing as the people who insist on voting for their favourite in the comments on this article.

KillDeer

nope, netvibes skins and customizing didn't pass. KA-LICKK!

rand0mCreep

about:blank

Start pages are annoying and distract me from what I opened the browser to do.

ericshmerick

@vollmus: I was wondering the same thing, I just voted for it, and it shows 1 vote. I know I'm not the only one that prefers about:blank!

Cache22

I'm looking at the poll results and with over 4,000 votes, only *one* vote for "about:blank"?

Either the poll software is effed up, or there is something seriously wrong with Lifehacker's methodology in coming up with finalists for their Hive Five surveys.

Regardless, I'm not going to believe the final tally. And I happened to vote for iGoogle, so don't blame me for that sole "about:blank" vote.

Deprong Mori

Is it just me or does it look like all of a sudden about:blank's votes were wiped?

vollmus

It's hard to choose between Google (minus the "i") and Speed Dial. I vacillate from one to the other on a regular basis.

qquill

i think i will go for igoogle, i do not use though, but i like it more than the others ;)

ChambrasWeed

I've always rolled my own local page with a handful of frequently used links, most of which require a login of some sort or other. Nearly all of my browsing starts at one of these locations.

not2techy

SHENANIGANS!!!! This poll is broken!!!!

@The Amazing Ant: I just voted for about:blank as well and it still says 1 vote!!!!!!

I travel a lot and tend to hop from hot spot to hot spot and there is nothing I hate more then having to load my browser and wait minutes as it times out while trying to load due to connection issues.

I also often load local offline content. Why wait for the browser to connect, update the cache, then paint to the screen just to click away instantly. And now that every portal on earth (other than my beloved Google) embed flash ads on every stinking page. (yes I know and use the no-flash plug with firefox, and I have a hack for when I'm on IE)

Boter

+1 for Restore last session.

Chef

@acewave: Same with me. Plain google.com

pierre

oops...forgot to add...why just one home page when you're actually looking at 9 to kick things off...
Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Consumerist, ESPN, CNN, Google, Wincustomize, CNET, Firefox AddOn page...

amw1972

SPEED DIAL

amw1972

Google News for now. I've tried others, but they seem like to much clutter.

Bakari

Something doesn't seem right with the poll. From reading the comments, I can't be the only person to have voted for about:blank.

In actuality, I still use the default Google search page that's set from a fresh install of Firefox, but I would just as happily use about:blank, and I have in the past.

When I open my browser to go somewhere or look up some information, I will either: 1) select a bookmark, 2) use the search bar, or 3) type in an address. For me that is quick and direct, and I haven't found a need for anything more than that.

Monolith

I've been using iGoogle for a long time already. I've stuck to it and am an avid fan of it. It's versatile where I separate my apps with the Tabs to support specific needs. (I.e., I have a tab for Gmail/weather, tab for news/research/school, and a tab for other miscellaneous tools.)

chareverie

If you never liked the original Yahoo homepage then My Yahoo isn't for you, Should be THAN, not THEN, since this is a comparison, and not a progression.

nka

@Monolith: Same here! I voted for about:blank and it tells me I'm the only person who voted. Something is definitely screwy.

Quills

@Quills: Hmm, me too. There's a conspiracy afoot!

about:blank rules

I couldn't believe I'd be the only one voting for it.

Alex Leonard

Duuuude. I'm literally the only vote for about:blank.

... Wow. I'm minimalist.

Dakota Courtois

Wikipedia random article, on every new tab if you want:

[en.wikipedia.org]

bbrian1

I hate iGoogle, I am much more of a normal Google homepage person. iGoogle would be 10 million times better if only you could change the background color of the normal Google page. That's all I want, a black background with white text! That is all I want!

Dygear

iGoogle just owns it all!

georgexu316

@Dygear: You actually can. There are a lot of themes you can choose from, just choose the one with black background.

georgexu316

about blank for me. Opera's speed dial is also good because it's very lightweight.

Internet-TV

Netvibes rocks!

zia

NetVibes is better looking than iGoogle, but the ability to have all my Google Reader feeds aggregated into a reading list (Instead of lots and lots of boxes for different feeds, which doesn't scale well) is just too much of a killer feature.

BonSequitur

Seeing as how I only see one vote for it, I just wanted to state... that if I didn't use igoogle it would be about:blank.

Coreboy

HEY!!! What's happened to the VOTE?

Something's wrong here. Did it get reset? Why does about:blank only have one vote? When I voted yesterday, it was in second place!!

ICEBreaker

Adding up the votes and comparing it with the total votes, it appears that two thousand votes are missing! I'm expecting the Florida Secretary of State to step in and announce that the winner of this contest is YouPorn.com.

Deprong Mori

It makes a good start of the day to click on:
[www.thehungersite.com]

modesturgell

Sorry for second post...

Can't get rid of yahoo for some reason, yet I use iGoogle on my eee pc, and about:blank on my server. I really would love to create my own though, anybody know a good way to start going about that?

mm_dominik

Can't get rid of yahoo for some reason, yet I use iGoogle on my eee pc, and about:blank on my server. I really would lo

mm_dominik

i simply use the default firefox 2 startup page. its clean, sleek and simple =)

none of the file heavy startup pages like yahoo =(

about blank for IE. cos IE lags even on startup @_x

devilcatz

what about [www.only2clicks.com] ??

Bustercap

Guess I'd consider mine an other... I just have firefox open a tab for each of my regularly visited pages at startup. That way they're all there, already open. No need to go to a portal to open them.

gnoswal

By far MySurfPad.com is the best one - that should have been #3 or 4 on your list - [www.mysurfpad.com]

Walido

I start with the site for my local radio station 1010wins.com That way I get the weather, traffic and mass transit info plus a look at anything else that may have cropped up during the night. Then I head out to work.

ZakiaFlynn

Hey i m not able to understand actually this site is teaching to make the page intresting or just gives information.

gaurav_28

Been using Yahoo as my home page since 1995, and I ain't about to start changing it now.

JDAC

ok, i voted for about:black, and it seems at least a couple others did, so why is the vote count at 1 now, and 0.0%? just wondering

tjmage1

Speed dial on Opera does not provide live thumbnails. It uses static thumbnail images, hence it loads instantly. I use them in Opera and about:blank in Firefox (which i only use as a web development tool).

decays

Well, as of 10:43PM PDT Saturday, 31 May 2008, there is no poll. It's gone.

The disappearance of all votes for "about:blank" save one, makes this poll highly suspect anyhow.

Plus, this site's comment server has been non-functional for hours.

Deprong Mori

Try www.refdesk.com - It has the latest news plus every imaginable site there is for reference plus a "site of the day" - screw google and yahoo!

pumpelly

Not gonna lie... after all the fuss about about:blank I am really surprised to see only one vote for it as of now. I wonder if that's indicative of the voting habits of people who are in too much of a hurry to load a start page. Does voting take too much time/effort?

jeevzycreezy

Actually, I have 8 start pages (thank you Firefox) and the Speeddial plugin looks like a better option because the browser is painfully slow to load at startup.

Dan_Boyce

Hmmm. Something broken? I just voted "about:blank" and the results show 1 single vote, despite all these commenters explaining their choice for it.

I use about:blank as my start page. However, iGoogle is the page Firefox goes to if I click the "home" icon. That way, I get a nice no-distraction start to browsing, with the choice of getting distracted (or checking the weather) just one click away.

Posco Grubb

Ceoexpress.com and its cousins. Ceoexpress is subscription-based but highly customizable and a fairly robust business community.

MarianNightingale

Pageflakes, Pageflakes, Pageflakes! Unbelievable that it isn't in this list - wins almost every other poll and shootout.

ShirinTyphon

ok according to the poll, I'm the only one out of 15K votes to vote for about:blank yet reading the comments there's more - did I miss something?

dougaitken

native Google. It's fast, clean, and I can go anywhere from there with bookmarks. At work, it's the intranet page.

chasfishn13

The first thing I do is check gmail, so its front and center on my iGoogle. and with iGoogle I get to see some feeds while i'm at it.

all you about:blank fans need to vote, your getting your butts kicked.

kirksucks

@freznel: I have Popurls as my start up page. I use iGoogle as well but its not there when my brower starts... but i agree Popurls should be a start up page!

Justie