Netvibes has been around since 2005. They pioneered the use of newsfeeds and in no time at all were offering web users a truly personalised dashboard. Their service is so good that, over the years, they have won several awards.
Until recently, the majority of their users have been businesses and agencies. However, when iGoogle closed their personalised desktop service in November millions of people were looking around for an iGoogle replacement and many came across Netvibe.
The interface is a bit different, but overall Netvibe is a very good alternative to iGoogle. Here is an overview of their service.
The Bad Points
Fortunately, with Netvibe there are very few bad points. The only real problem is that it takes time to get Netvibe looking right. The user interface is not as easy as on iGoogle, at least not until you get used to it. Making your own widgets is possible, but it is hard to get them to look right.
The Good Points
The fact that Netvibe have been in the business for so long is a big plus. It means that support is good, and their website is a mine of information.
There are some lovely themes available, and it is very easy to create your own. It is possible to have as many as four columns of widgets. The width of each individual widget can be altered, which makes it easy to fit everything in.
The fact that there is a built in RSS feeder makes it easy to add a huge array of feeds. If you miss the Google Reader, you will love Netvibe because you can switch to a view that is very much like the old G Reader.
If you have not tried Netvibe it is free, so you have nothing to lose by doing so. It will take a couple of hours to get used to, but we are confident that for most people, it will be time well spent.
