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View Full Version : Who doesn't like the new Google homepage?



tom66
June 10th, 2010, 04:19 PM
I want my minimalist Google back - not an ugly Bing clone. That's one of them main reasons I use Google.

You can view a plain Google page at
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all

or Google SSL works too.

I'm hoping that this is a one-time thing. The backgrounds are pretty, but they are slow to load and you can't see the text easily while they're loading. Besides I'm only at the Google homepage for a couple seconds before I'm searching.

RiceMonster
June 10th, 2010, 04:21 PM
Pretty sure it's only there for a day.

BoneKracker
June 10th, 2010, 04:26 PM
You can view a plain Google page at
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all
That doesn't work. I get the same gay picture.


or Google SSL works too.
That works. Thanks.

tom66
June 10th, 2010, 04:30 PM
Strange why the ?hl=all trick works here but not with you.

Why is there no easy-to-find option to turn it off? There's a list of backgrounds to select, but there's no 'None' option! Ugggh!

Simian Man
June 10th, 2010, 04:30 PM
Pretty sure it's only there for a day.

Yeah. A couple days ago they added an option to choose a background image. I think this is their way of showing people what that would be like.


Why is there no easy-to-find option to turn it off? There's a list of backgrounds to select, but there's no 'None' option! Ugggh!
Add a pure white image as your background :).

whiskeylover
June 10th, 2010, 04:30 PM
Its been BINGed!

tom66
June 10th, 2010, 04:42 PM
You can set the image to white. But then you can't read the text. The next best thing is setting it to black I suppose.

kaldor
June 10th, 2010, 04:49 PM
It is JUST a background.. why do people hate change so much? First people complained about buttons moving to the left, but now people are saying how horrible Google is to have added a background to their webpage.. wow.

Has anyone even considered this might be because of ChromeOS? ChromeOS has no background. If it means so much to you, then just set your homepage to blank and use the omnibox/awesome bar/google search bar. Not the end of the world.

ve4cib
June 10th, 2010, 04:51 PM
I think it's only temporary to encourage people to get Google accounts and customize things.

If you really don't like it there's always Greasemonkey to "fix" the page.

chessnerd
June 10th, 2010, 04:52 PM
It's still the same under Opera :). I had to switch to Chrome to see it.

Honestly, I don't care for the idea much, but I don't hate it. It's just the front-end. At least the Google team isn't changing their algorithms to match Bing...

forrestcupp
June 10th, 2010, 04:58 PM
I don't really feel like signing out of my iGoogle page to see what you're talking about.

edit:

Nevermind. I see that you can click on Classic Home to see it without signing out. I kind of like it, but I also see the benefits of a minimalistic search page.

limestone
June 10th, 2010, 04:59 PM
I'm with you. And why do they have "mouse-delay" on the upper bar??? bad idea.

tom66
June 10th, 2010, 05:01 PM
I hate it because it takes away the minimalism Google used to stand for. The great thing about Google is that it loads fast. It's like they've had a whole change of thought over these last few years. While all the other engines like Yahoo, Ask and Bing had been spicing up their webpages, Google had kept it plain, and still had a huge market share. They didn't need to have fancy stuff on their page to get people to use Google - people used it because it worked.

ve4cib
June 10th, 2010, 05:06 PM
They didn't need to have fancy stuff on their page to get people to use Google - people used it because it worked.

...and guess what? It still works. So I don't see what the big deal is.

LowSky
June 10th, 2010, 05:06 PM
The page is still plain, it just has a background image. Its not cluttered like Yahoo or MSN, or iGoogle.

I will say it does seem very Bing-like.

I think it fine, it doesn't effect load time at all. So I really dont care one way or another

tom66
June 10th, 2010, 05:11 PM
My point is that Bing, Yahoo, etc. do this because they need to attract people to the homepage with pretty graphics when the overall functionality is not as good in my opinion. If Google are doing this, what does that say about them?

I'm glad it's only for one day. Perhaps I'll just use the Firefox search thing, I pretty much use that all the time but I prefer my homepage to be Google because I can just search for something quickly when I first open Firefox.

I don't have a superfast internet connection, only about 1 Mbps (we have a fast internet connection but the wifi in my room is crap, luckily we're getting a wifi booster soon) so page load time really matters to me.

sydbat
June 10th, 2010, 05:13 PM
I dunno...I like it. I guess that makes me a bad person in some people's eyes.

BoneKracker
June 10th, 2010, 05:16 PM
If you want minimalism, use 'surfraw' instead.

http://surfraw.alioth.debian.org/

philinux
June 10th, 2010, 05:35 PM
UK page changes constantly with the World cup round the corner.

Phrea
June 10th, 2010, 05:59 PM
I don't see it.

Dragonbite
June 10th, 2010, 06:30 PM
I want my minimalist Google back - not an ugly Bing clone. That's one of them main reasons I use Google.

You can view a plain Google page at
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all

or Google SSL works too.

I'm hoping that this is a one-time thing. The backgrounds are pretty, but they are slow to load and you can't see the text easily while they're loading. Besides I'm only at the Google homepage for a couple seconds before I'm searching.

Let me guess, you also don't like Ubuntu's buttons being on the left too?!

Simian Man
June 10th, 2010, 06:56 PM
It seems to be back to normal already here.

Ms_Angel_D
June 10th, 2010, 07:03 PM
I hate the new background too, I don't want fancy colors and all that jazz I just want a page with a search box, If I wanted a fancy page I would use igoogle.

seanelly
June 10th, 2010, 07:04 PM
Google.ca is still plain.

...because we're more reserved? lol

black gumby bear
June 10th, 2010, 07:07 PM
There's always blackle (http://www.blackle.com).

tom66
June 10th, 2010, 07:17 PM
Let me guess, you also don't like Ubuntu's buttons being on the left too?!

Quite right (no pun intended), I put them on the right. I deal with too many Windows systems to have Ubuntu on the left, I couldn't adapt. I uploaded a video to YouTube explaining to others how to reverse the buttons too.

Meh, maybe I just don't like change, but I think that's not unusual. Once you've got used to something when it changes it takes time to adapt and this is annoying.

handy
June 10th, 2010, 07:20 PM
Does anyone know how to select the country you are in prior to doing a search?

Before the recent change I could bring up the Google search page (usually use Scroogle but sometimes I need commercial input) & there was an option to choose Australia as the local country to base the searches on. This no longer exists.

I find I have to stick Australia on the end of my queries now. :(

This is quite a step backwards in my view.

RiceMonster
June 10th, 2010, 07:23 PM
Does anyone know how to select the country you are in prior to doing a search?

Before the recent change I could bring up the Google search page (usually use Scroogle but sometimes I need commercial input) & there was an option to choose Australia as the local country to base the searches on. This no longer exists.

I find I have to stick Australia on the end of my queries now. :(

This is quite a step backwards in my view.

Go to google. whatever the extension is for your country.

For example:
Canada - google.ca
Austrailia - google.com.au
Germany - google.de
Italy - google.it
UK - google.co.uk
Japan - google.co.jp

and so on and so fourth.

handy
June 10th, 2010, 07:33 PM
Go to google. whatever the extension is for your country.

For example:
Canada - google.ca
Austrailia - google.com.au
Germany - google.de
Italy - google.it
UK - google.co.uk
Japan - google.co.jp

and so on and so fourth.

Thanks RM. That works. It is still a step backwards though, as it was automatic before.

If anyone knows where I'm logged into the net from Google does.

New question: How do I get the Firefox search field to use the Google.com.au engine parameter?

tom66
June 10th, 2010, 07:34 PM
On the sidebar, there's an option to select 'Pages from the UK', or in your case, 'Pages from Australia'. See attached image made in 30 seconds in GIMP.

Though there's probably a search feature like only-from:UK; I haven't checked. I don't often use this feature though so it doesn't matter too much to me.

JDShu
June 10th, 2010, 07:40 PM
I'm confused. What are people annoyed about? My Google homepage is plain white. This thread made me realize I could choose a background if i wanted, but once chosen there was a big "remove background" link in the corner of the screen.

handy
June 10th, 2010, 07:41 PM
On the sidebar, there's an option to select 'Pages from the UK', or in your case, 'Pages from Australia'. See attached image made in 30 seconds in GIMP.

Though there's probably a search feature like only-from:UK; I haven't checked. I don't often use this feature though so it doesn't matter too much to me.

I don't get that page when I call Google from the Firefox search field or put the url in the address field.

I expect that they will sort this out as time goes by. They seem to be in the process of making quite a few changes.

blur xc
June 10th, 2010, 07:41 PM
I don't see any image- except there's a link at the bottom of the page to change background. I clicked it, applied an image, and went back to my igoogle page.

I agree with the idea of this having to do w/ google chrome os. For those comptuers coming out this fall (?) people are going to want to change their desktop (if you will) backgrounds.

not a big deal.

BM

Dragonbite
June 10th, 2010, 07:43 PM
At least there is still the search box in the corner of Firefox (and IE and others I think) which bypasses this page.

Merk42
June 10th, 2010, 07:44 PM
It is gone now, close the thread

Dragonbite
June 10th, 2010, 07:56 PM
Hey cool, I can add a picture from my own Picasa web album! Or select from a list of pre-defined pictures or nothing!

handy
June 10th, 2010, 08:00 PM
There's always blackle (http://www.blackle.com).

Thanks, I didn't know about Blackie. It is much easier on my eyes than the Google white screen, & there was a Firefox add-on for it. I'm also all for energy conservation.

I haven't looked into what I can do as far as country search location yet.

blur xc
June 10th, 2010, 08:03 PM
Thanks, I didn't know about Blackie. It is much easier on my eyes than the Google white screen, & there was a Firefox add-on for it. I'm also all for energy conservation.

I haven't looked into what I can do as far as country search location yet.

I read somewhere some time ago that blackle only conserves energy if you are using a crt- and may actually use more energy on an lcd. Has to do with a bunch of stuff I don't understand and have mostly forgotten. I'm sure you can do a search and find out the truth.

BM

handy
June 10th, 2010, 08:10 PM
I'm running LCD screens. They are black without power. I would have thought that black would use less energy on these things that any other colour.

I'll look into it later, not now, its 5am & I'm just sludging around at the mo'. lol

spoons
June 10th, 2010, 08:12 PM
I cannot see the background, and am disappoint.

MooPi
June 10th, 2010, 08:15 PM
lower left corner you can remove image :-)

CharlesA
June 10th, 2010, 08:17 PM
I am not really fond of the backgrounds but I cannot change them since I dislike iGoogle.

Oh well, at least it's be back to normal now. :)

kaldor
June 10th, 2010, 08:18 PM
If Google are doing this, what does that say about them?

It means they changed their wallpaper to make it pretty.

Arrrgh I wish people would just adapt to change instead of complaining about silly stuff. It is just a wallpaper and Google is not the only search engine. And to the OP, you easily could adjust to the buttons on the left and that goes to everyone. I used Windows from 3.1 onwards until XP and used right buttons until a few months back. I adjusted to my mac and Lucid instantly because it's just a button.

God forbid somebody were to change Ubuntu forums post counts from "beans" to "tea leaves"; that'd probably cause an uproar too.


;)

Edit: Reasons like this are why nobody wants to switch from Windows to Mac/Linux; people are frightened of change even if it is for the better.

tom66
June 10th, 2010, 08:30 PM
Anyway it's gone now... so problem solved.

My point on Ubuntu's left-sided window buttons: why change them? I use Windows nearly 20% of the time and Ubuntu 80% of the time. Not enough to justify me changing things. I already have trouble adapting between gschem's (circuit schematic editor) weird keys and Inkscape's normal keys, and trouble remembering which OS uses ifconfig (Linux) and which uses ipconfig (Windows).

Also, on a side note, my first 5 page thread... woo.

handy
June 10th, 2010, 08:30 PM
It means they changed their wallpaper to make it pretty.

Arrrgh I wish people would just adapt to change instead of complaining about silly stuff. It is just a wallpaper and Google is not the only search engine. And to the OP, you easily could adjust to the buttons on the left and that goes to everyone. I used Windows from 3.1 onwards until XP and used right buttons until a few months back. I adjusted to my mac and Lucid instantly because it's just a button.

God forbid somebody were to change Ubuntu forums post counts from "beans" to "tea leaves"; that'd probably cause an uproar too.


;)

Edit: Reasons like this are why nobody wants to switch from Windows to Mac/Linux; people are frightened of change even if it is for the better.

I have OS X, on my iMac (use Arch 99% of the time though) & bought a Powerbook in 2000. I have never liked the buttons on the left hand side. For some reason I find the right hand side to be more ergonomic (hopefully that's the right word).

I like change, as long as I think it is beneficial. Change for changes sake is just a waste of energy for the end user, that is a result of someone satisfying their creative urge.

BoneKracker
June 10th, 2010, 08:33 PM
It is gone now, close the thread

Dang. What are we supposed to whine about now!?

kaldor
June 10th, 2010, 08:34 PM
I am not really fond of the backgrounds but I cannot change them since I dislike iGoogle.

Oh well, at least it's be back to normal now. :)

Nice post count.

"1337"

BoneKracker
June 10th, 2010, 08:39 PM
Nice post count.

"1337"

Yeah, it's so cool no more noobs get any help from him, so he can keep it. :p

CharlesA
June 10th, 2010, 08:44 PM
Nice post count.

"1337"

Holy Hax Batman!

Jesus_Valdez
June 10th, 2010, 08:51 PM
My point is that Bing, Yahoo, etc. do this because they need to attract people to the homepage with pretty graphics when the overall functionality is not as good in my opinion. If Google are doing this, what does that say about them?

I'm glad it's only for one day. Perhaps I'll just use the Firefox search thing, I pretty much use that all the time but I prefer my homepage to be Google because I can just search for something quickly when I first open Firefox.

I don't have a superfast internet connection, only about 1 Mbps (we have a fast internet connection but the wifi in my room is crap, luckily we're getting a wifi booster soon) so page load time really matters to me.
Set homepage to blank, then search from the bar.


Problem solved.

Merk42
June 10th, 2010, 08:52 PM
Set homepage to blank, then search from the bar.


Problem solved.

People should be using http://start.ubuntu.com/10.04/Google/ anyway
Oh and I'll reiterate
IT IS GONE NOW

Daycare
June 10th, 2010, 09:03 PM
IT IS GONE NOW

Good.

Didn't like it, I like the simplicity of the plain white screen.

scouser73
June 10th, 2010, 09:18 PM
I actually like it.

Breambutt
June 10th, 2010, 09:18 PM
NoScript blocked it nicely, but then I had to activate the search field manually when opening new Google tabs.

98cwitr
June 10th, 2010, 09:36 PM
+1 on wanting the old one back

blur xc
June 10th, 2010, 10:59 PM
I'm running LCD screens. They are black without power. I would have thought that black would use less energy on these things that any other colour.

I'll look into it later, not now, its 5am & I'm just sludging around at the mo'. lol

It's black w/o power because the backlight is turned off. If you take an lcd out of a camera or something (which I have) and w/o power it looks like a slightly tinted piece of glass. It take power to turn the pixels opaque (black). If the LCD is on, even showing a black screen, the backlight is still on. Think of a black screen w/ white text being like a black sheet of paper w/ text holes cut in it and a light behind it. I googled it, and it seems that blackle uses an extra 1 w/hr over normal google.com.

BM

ubunterooster
June 10th, 2010, 11:07 PM
It changed?? I never noticed..Oh, maybe that's because I never use Google now...[checks]...still looks like google to me ;)

...WOAH!...It went colorful for a little...[checked others sites after duckduckgo-ing "Google changed homepage"]

speedwell68
June 10th, 2010, 11:49 PM
I missed all of this, not that I really care as I use iGoogle and Reg Mombassa is just too cool for school.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j185/Speedwell68/th_iGoogle_1276183456719.jpg (http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j185/Speedwell68/?action=view&current=iGoogle_1276183456719.jpg)

samjh
June 11th, 2010, 01:30 AM
Thanks RM. That works. It is still a step backwards though, as it was automatic before.

It's still automatic. When I type www.google.com it automatically redirects to www.google.com.au :)

BTW, we're back to the plain search page again.

handy
June 11th, 2010, 01:43 AM
It's black w/o power because the backlight is turned off. If you take an lcd out of a camera or something (which I have) and w/o power it looks like a slightly tinted piece of glass. It take power to turn the pixels opaque (black). If the LCD is on, even showing a black screen, the backlight is still on. Think of a black screen w/ white text being like a black sheet of paper w/ text holes cut in it and a light behind it. I googled it, and it seems that blackle uses an extra 1 w/hr over normal google.com.

BM

Thanks for that helpful info'.

handy
June 11th, 2010, 01:44 AM
It's still automatic. When I type www.google.com it automatically redirects to www.google.com.au :)


Mine doesn't?

khelben1979
June 24th, 2010, 07:01 PM
I hate it because it takes away the minimalism Google used to stand for.

I feel the same way.