I hope this is not a sign that google is going to try to make their lameass "personalized home" a default. For me at least, nothing changes unless I specifically select that option... but the way Google traditionally works they could easily roll out new "features" to different groups of people in batches.
For now I've just closed all the widgets out. I don't know why it didn't even bother to, you know, personalize the widgets based on the personal information it already has about me. And why the heck would someone want a map of their neighborhood when they first go to Google anyway?
I use Google because it's lean and mean and gives good search results and easy access to a bunch of useful tools which don't get in the way. Adding DHTML shit to the front page is bad, especially Google Maps which has a tendency to crash the Sidekick.
I've been using the Google portal as my homepage for awhile now, mostly just because it's handy to see my inbox, the weather, and the main RSS feeds I care about all there on one page right when I get online. I agree that it definitely shouldn't be the default, though. One of the things that made Google so popular was how elegantly simple it was compared to the other search engines at the time. All the services they've been rolling out are great, but I hope they don't gravitate away from that core simplicity.
Aaargh, it happened to me this morning too. Asked around the office and the theory is that they're randomly serving out the new homepage to people to test it out or something.
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Very worrying if that becomes the default.
I use Google because it's lean and mean and gives good search results and easy access to a bunch of useful tools which don't get in the way. Adding DHTML shit to the front page is bad, especially Google Maps which has a tendency to crash the Sidekick.