Originally, this post was supposed to be about W3C’s widget specifications draft. “Good luck with that!”, I was about to say, appreciatively. But then I decided to scan the widget scene, perhaps learn a thing or two about each API before I take a stab at W3C’s work.
It didn’t turn out very well. These Ajax start pages made my eyes sore, and turned this post from an API overview to a rant.
Cautionary Note: The screenshots below are not for the meek of heart, GTD addicts, life hackers, or people suffering from excessive physical disorder disorder[sic].
Protopage
Protopage is what you end up with after trying to cause a seizure in every conceivable method, then fail. I have no idea how anyone, in a sane state, would use this.
The screenshot below is what happens when you click the gray, downward-facing double-arrow. I’ll leave what happens when you try to add widgets as a surprise.
Netvibes
What made me look at Netvibes in the first place was their UWA, the self-proclaimed “universal”, Widget API. Supposedly, you can develop a single widget that would work across Netvibes, iGoogle, Apple Dashboard and soon Opera. That’s all nice, and it should help W3C in their mission.
The start page of Netvibes is not as unforgivable as Protopage’s, just a little color-happy, especially with that 11×14 mini icon gallery.
Pageflakes
This is when things start to get better. Pageflakes is the only rich page that still looks good at 800×600. Others seem to deem this resolution as “soo last year”.
I was particularly impressed with how you add flakes. The gallery is clear, and more importantly, readable.
Windows Live
I was surprised too. At first glance, Live appears to be an abandoned project; except it’s obvious how Microsoft made an effort. Live looks minimal, and boasts a Finder-like panel to add “stuff”, which happens to be a good idea for 3-level, categorical browsing.
iGoogle
Compared to its competitors, iGoogle isn’t that special. Not until you take a deeper look at Google’s real work: Gadget API. Of all the APIs I scanned, Google’s seems to be cleanest, followed by Yahoo’s. But such comparison would be an article for another day.
iGoogle is almost mono-colored, with a slight hint of borders around gadgets. Makes it look all the less cluttered.
yourminis
I have to be honest. Everytime I see Flash, I mute my speakers and cover my eyes. Habits from the stone age, I know.
Not only refreshing, yourminis is also thoughtful. It’s clearly designed for at least 1024×768, but they still believe no one should be left out, especially not the poor 800×600 folks. yourminis hides the third column—the one with the default clock and calendar, which you won’t see in the screenshot below—and you’re left with a clean space displaying most important widgets.
Simple, yet effective.
Preemptive, Dismissive Conclusion
If the Web is going to be anything like the screens above, then I acknowledge it has earned its name.