[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Three Alternatives to Your iGoogle Home Page here

[srobertson398]

I, too, am a long time user of iGoogle and will miss it as my go to page.
Here is a fourth solution: do as they suggest and use the New Tab page personalized.
I did that and although it is not as ascetically pleasing, it will do just fine. I uploaded a theme of my choice and chose the apps I need from the web store. Try it.

[CarolGoodson]

I'd love to try what srobertson398 suggests, but don't understand how to personalize a New Tab page... would you mind explaining this a bit?

[jrbales]

It's a shame Google has made the decision to end iGoogle. I am a news junkie and use it multiple times per day to acess news sites I'm interested in. Unfortunately there are not as many alternatives as there once were. I have set up 'My Yahoo' which, while not offering as many choices of news sites, does work as long as they don't decide to follow Google's decision to do away with it.

[TimoSorren]

Google's rationale for this change as with the change in the Google toolbar doesn't make sense. What does make sense is that they appear to be using this as another means of gaining additional market share for Chrome. I can't use Chrome because most of what I have to access via browser for work is designed for I.E. and I don't have a choice. I use iGoogle for so much more than news and have many different gadgets from "Woot Watcher" to "Art of the Day" that provide a bit of mental break.

I'd be interested in knowing whether there is some otherway to customize a home page for IE that would provide this same type of functionality to blend mixed content and gadgets on a single screen.

P.S. I found this article using the PC World How-To's & Tips gadget on iGoogle. Guess I won't be doing that after November 2013.

This post has been edited by TimoSorren: 06 July 2012 - 06:16 AM

[TimoSorren]

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This post has been edited by TimoSorren: 06 July 2012 - 06:18 AM

[JamesCurtis]

I considered abandoning Google completely when they announced this, as Google Plus has been less than useful; youtube is only good for peripheral knowledge from training or scuba videos etc; and everything else google requires a separate click anyway. The two bright spots in an otherwise unconnected series of great google tools has been iGoogle, and Android apps.
I've since re-visited the idea of shunning google plus, etc., and have instead decided to use iGoogle to the bitter end then fall back on my customized and news centric Excite page, then MSN or Yahoo as a last resort.
Google is making a big error by turning away happy desktop and tablet users of a centralized iGoogle homepage and maybe they will wake up before the end.

[JamesCurtis]

I considered abandoning Google completely when they announced this, as Google Plus has been less than useful; youtube is only good for peripheral knowledge from training or scuba videos etc; and everything else google requires a separate click anyway. The two bright spots in an otherwise unconnected series of great google tools has been iGoogle, and Android apps.
I've since re-visited the idea of shunning google plus, etc., and have instead decided to use iGoogle to the bitter end then fall back on my customized and news centric Excite page, then MSN or Yahoo as a last resort.
Google is making a big error by turning away happy desktop and tablet users of a centralized iGoogle homepage and maybe they will wake up before the end.

[NickanFayyazi]

Another good option is to download Google Chrome, the fastest and best web browser, and just use their home page. It's similar to a smartphone home screen, as it shows your Chrome Web Apps (another advantage of Chrome). If you go to the left screen, you have your most visited pages, and on the right is more space for web apps. On the bottom is a bar where you can access the Chrome Web Store, reopen your recently closed tabs and windows, and even open pages that are on other devices running Chrome that are logged in to your account. For example, if you're logged in to Chrome on your desktop, laptop, and smartphone (Android or iOS), from one device you can see the tabs open on the other two. It's a nifty feature. No, I'm not an advertiser for Google; I just really like the New Tab page and Google Chrome itself. So this is definitely a plausible option.

[PaulHebble]

NickanFayyazi, on 06 July 2012 - 07:28 AM, said:

Another good option is to download Google Chrome ...

I don't understand this suggestion. I already use Chrome, and the new tab page does not display headlines from Google News, unread articles from Google Reader, friends online for chat, my calendar, or the current weather. But guess what it does display, at least for the next 16 months? A link to iGoogle, which contains all of those things. The new tab page is fine for what it does, but unfortunately that boils down merely to "store eight bookmarks".

[MattYoung1gsp]

Use netvibes. It's has more content choices, is customizable, and gives everything that iGoogle does and more.

[CarolGoodson]

I looked at NetVibes but it gathers TOO much information, and what I really want are my gadgets and links to sites I go to everyday. And I HATE Chrome, to the degree that I finally uninstalled it. One thing I did do is contact Google and urge them to reconsider. Perhaps if enough people protest, they will change their minds.

[JackGFuller]

CarolGoodson, on 06 July 2012 - 09:24 AM, said:

I looked at NetVibes but it gathers TOO much information, and what I really want are my gadgets and links to sites I go to everyday. And I HATE Chrome, to the degree that I finally uninstalled it. One thing I did do is contact Google and urge them to reconsider. Perhaps if enough people protest, they will change their minds.

Check out www.myway.com - I use it a lot - customizable; loads VERY quickly [which iGoogle does not do]; no ads.

[TimoSorren]

NickanFayyazi, on 06 July 2012 - 07:28 AM, said:

Another good option is to download Google Chrome, the fastest and best web browser, and just use their home page. It's similar to a smartphone home screen, as it shows your Chrome Web Apps (another advantage of Chrome). If you go to the left screen, you have your most visited pages, and on the right is more space for web apps. On the bottom is a bar where you can access the Chrome Web Store, reopen your recently closed tabs and windows, and even open pages that are on other devices running Chrome that are logged in to your account. For example, if you're logged in to Chrome on your desktop, laptop, and smartphone (Android or iOS), from one device you can see the tabs open on the other two. It's a nifty feature. No, I'm not an advertiser for Google; I just really like the New Tab page and Google Chrome itself. So this is definitely a plausible option.

[TimoSorren]

TimoSorren, on 06 July 2012 - 10:03 AM, said:

NickanFayyazi, on 06 July 2012 - 07:28 AM, said:

Another good option is to download Google Chrome, the fastest and best web browser, and just use their home page. It's similar to a smartphone home screen, as it shows your Chrome Web Apps (another advantage of Chrome). If you go to the left screen, you have your most visited pages, and on the right is more space for web apps. On the bottom is a bar where you can access the Chrome Web Store, reopen your recently closed tabs and windows, and even open pages that are on other devices running Chrome that are logged in to your account. For example, if you're logged in to Chrome on your desktop, laptop, and smartphone (Android or iOS), from one device you can see the tabs open on the other two. It's a nifty feature. No, I'm not an advertiser for Google; I just really like the New Tab page and Google Chrome itself. So this is definitely a plausible option.

Chrome is NOT a good option for everyone. I have apps for work that are designed to work only in IE so there is not a choice to use Chrome and corporate blocks distribution of Chrome.

[darspi]

I've tried netvibes and protopages and can't get my gmail feed to work. This sucks.

[labellaflora]

CarolGoodson, on 06 July 2012 - 09:24 AM, said:

I looked at NetVibes but it gathers TOO much information, and what I really want are my gadgets and links to sites I go to everyday. And I HATE Chrome, to the degree that I finally uninstalled it. One thing I did do is contact Google and urge them to reconsider. Perhaps if enough people protest, they will change their minds.

How did you contact Google? Via iGoogle page, contacts are restricted to topics they want to deal with.

[ccat11]

I use Gmail as my home page with the Integrated Gmail extension (in Firefox) - my email, calendar, Reader, and GoogleVoice all on the same page (all collapsible). I have Chrome installed but rarely use it. Firefox is the only browser that allows customization of menus and toolbar that I need.

[jeepmanjr]

For me, this is a blessing in disguise! I want to rid myself of everything Google...they're helping me. I use DuckDuckGo for my search engine and will take a look at some of the suggestions for a home page. Thank you Google for your inspiration!

[thomasvesely]

chrome tabs and bookmark bar seems to give me a similiar functionality.
tabs;
google search
google news
google reader
abc, with weather.
etc.
other news, less frequently accessed
lives under"news" on my bookmark bar.
the thing i love about this configuration is that i can log into any computer running chrome and get my
identical browser up.....awesome.
all synced.