The verdict
The four sites fall into two distinct pairs, with Netvibes and Pageflakes making up the funky, community-enhanced, highly customisable couple.
Their prettied-up tabs load dynamically, they offer the most tweaking options and they have huge libraries of widgets that can be added in one step. Their help files are comprehensive and the community aspect allows sharing at a variety of levels.
Live.com and iGoogle are the pared-back, less-flexible duo. They focus on offerings from within their own brand and offer fewer customisation options. Their help sections are sparse, and the community element is either difficult to navigate (Live.com) or non-existent (iGoogle).
Overall conclusion? For a start page with the most flexibility -- and the least need to navigate elsewhere -- go for Pageflakes or Netvibes. These sites allow you to view feed content in full without having to go to the original site. The only downside of this is that the content can sometimes get mangled on the way -- especially when it involves elements such as polls.
As for the winner of the Netvibes versus Pageflakes smackdown, it's an incredibly close contest. We'd be happy to use either on a daily basis, but Netvibes just edges out Pageflakes due to its podcast player, wealth of customisation options, and the sheer ease of adding content. That said, if your focus is on RSS feeds rather than widgets, you may prefer Pageflakes' reader option and elegant, image-enhanced handling of feed summaries.
#1 Netvibes
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Cons:
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| Good for: People with short attention spans who want everything on one page. Widget fiends. Those looking to consolidate all their Web 2.0 profiles (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr). Anyone wanting to maintain separate public and private pages. | |
#2 Pageflakes
Pros:
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Cons:
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| Good for: RSS addicts who like their feeds to look nicer than your average text-fest. Anyone looking to establish a group to share pages with. People who want the most widgets to choose from. | |
#3 iGoogle
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| Good for: Google disciples. Those not fussed by aesthetics. People who want to glance at the latest headlines and updates but not necessarily read the content behind them. | |
#4 Live.com
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| Good for: Windows Vista/MSN/Hotmail devotees. People who want simplicity. | |
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NetEx
04/03/2008 07:57 PM
Well done review. If you want more analysis on Netvibes and its competitors you can check this site: http://netviber.blogspot.com/
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Flakey
06/03/2008 08:25 AM
Agreed that iGoogle is pretty boring. I however, think users that "want to consolidate all their Web 2.0 profiles (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr)" or create public and private pages, Pageflakes is not only capable but equally comparable to Netvibes.
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vincent
08/03/2008 08:35 PM
I agree with the verdict, new version of Netvibes "Ginger" is the best start page ever... I love the universe feature too :)
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Fact checking anyone?
09/03/2008 03:26 AM
The article has several factual errors. It seems someone got lazy. I'll hit iGoogle only for brevity: iGoogle has over 40,000 gadgets (not including RSS feeds) http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open iGoogle has tab/page sharing (check the little down arrow next to your selected tab)
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Afkarweb
14/03/2008 05:52 AM
I use NetVibes and I'm very glad ! And now u can create "Universes" and share items with friends or ... customers
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Oo
15/03/2008 01:43 AM
Netvibes rules ;)
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Mike
20/03/2008 12:53 PM
Actually, I prefer Pageflakes. To each his/her own. But I'm sticking with Pageflakes. :)
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matt
22/03/2008 09:29 PM
Another start page to consider is Odysen at http://www.odysen.com. A couple of the key differences include 1) the ability to integrate as many news feeds as you want into one widget (saving space, being more efficient) and 2) free-formatting widgets, allowing you to change the size of the widget to whatever you feel is most appropriate to the content. There is also a blog available for feature updates and page examples at http://odysen.blogspot.com.
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Mnate
28/03/2008 09:45 PM
I started using Netvibes (Ginger) recently, and I'm absolutely blown away by it's content options, interactive design, and it's incredibly clean look. Personally, I don't think that iGoogle or Live.com come close to comparison.
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Pablothehat
15/04/2008 07:31 AM
I have been using Netvibes for a couple of years now and I am still finding new stuff...Fantastic!!!
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Justin Nango
16/04/2008 10:29 AM
Exhaustive analysis. Good work. Apparently the French scene is pretty active of start pages. A new start-up recently appeared on the radar: http://www.personall.fr/. They use this web 2.0 tool to build personalized intranets.
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DTRA
29/04/2008 11:25 AM
If you're in New Zealand, and you just want a boring old quick link start page, try http://www.kiwihomepage.co.nz/
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