iGoogle vs Netvibes? What are these two? Which one is better? If any of these questions are in your head then this is the right article for you. If you have not already read the first part please go and read Head to Head: iGoogle vs Netvibes Part 1. Just to recap on what has been discussed:
iGoogle
- Heavy Functionality
- Light on Graphics and Style
- Most people already have a Gmail Account (which is used to login)
- Intergrate all current Google services automatically
- Already Mobile ready
- Themes change depending on time / season of your location
- Create Widgets with an “easy-to-use” interface
iGoogle vs Netvibes
Netvibes
With iGoogle having all those great features you would think there would not be anything left for Netvibes to provide you with … but this is not that case. Netvibes is Heavy in functionality and Heavy on Graphics in a good and lightweight manner. Netvibes has great functionality, fast customization and use while having great style and graphics. The default theme is very pleasing, but there is always room for improvement.
Clicking on the settings link pops up a settings panel, much like if you were using Lightbox, with the following settings; profile, general settings, local content, languages, themes, wallpapers and backup. The themes editor gives you the option to pick from a selection of good looking themes, or if your feeling a little adventurous you can “Create my own theme” which sadly needs some improvement. Currently you are only able to change the color of your theme with a small color swatch box or with a HEX #. Wallpapers settings lets you change the top wallpaper (top header image) and the bottom wallpaper (body background image). The wallpapers settings has a plethora of options to choose from with the ability to choose your wallpaper from Netvibes selection, link (your own image hosted somewhere), search Flickr, Myspace, and Twitter. Plain background color is also available with it being transparent of solid. Text color can be changed along with the height of the header and the wallpaper display mode of tile, center and alignment.
With the explosion of tab browsing thanks to Firefox, why not have tab browsing inside your workspace. Netvibes allows you to add multiple tabs (as many as your screen will allow) also know as workspace. The customization on these tabs are extremely versatile. First off you at a new tab and naming it, then you click on the arrow on the tab to bring a drop down menu with all of the options. The menu shows links (no need to reload the page) to delete tab, rename tab, change number of columns in tab, share this tab, publish this tab in the Netvibes directory, change tab icons (shows a list of about 150 different icons) as well as using an external icon.
Adding the famous widgets to any of your tabs is as easy as click on the widget. The browse content section gives you the option to add a huge select of widgets as well as go to a widget directory with even more widgets. There is a myriad of widgets to choose from like weather, to do list, calendar, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Web Search (includes Google, Yahoo, Ask and others) , Myspace, Facebook, Digg and many (and I mean many) others.
Now that you have read some information about the functionality, look, feel and features of the two big hitters of Ajax loaded home pages you need to try out each one for your self to find out what features and styles work best for your work flow and lifestyle.
