Resolved The Start Page

Without loading an Internet-based page your browser will open faster....

I don't have a blank page, but rather a local .html file which contains 90% of links I use on a regular basis, including search boxes.

 

Here's LOGICAL examples of why a blank home page may be used (besides the reasons given above):

Many business networks use Web applications, such as content mgmt systems, database applications, etc. These computers may or may not have Internet access, but the browser is used to access the local network Web applications. The Favorites Bar or Bookmarks Toolbar can have shortcuts to specific applications. The user can then decide which application to use, rather than load a certain application page every time.

Some networks don't have Internet access at all. But IE may be the default application for viewing certain file types, and one could open IE and not have to wait 8 seconds for the "page cannot be displayed" response. Prior to XP, IE was the default viewer for jpg images. There are still a good percentage of businesses running Windows 2000.

The browser is NOT just for Internet use. It can be used for a lot more, but most people don't realize that or don't use it for anything else but Internet. It can be used for e-books in HTML format, documentation in HTML format, help systems in HTML format, etc.

Also, one can load multiple instances of a browser (new windows, not tabs). One may wish to open a new window and paste a URL into the address bar, but some sites, especially database driven sites or sites with extensive javascripts, can make the browser unusable until the page loads fully. One must then wait a few seconds for the browser. You can witness this at many Microsoft Websites. The browser starts loading the page but nothing can be clicked on until the inefficient javascripts are fully loaded.

Couple all of this with newer Internet Security programs that use browser plugins or Safe Site monitoring and malicious script detection and the browser begins to run at Windows 98 speeds!

re Logic:

Now, besides all of what I wrote above, logic is not static. Logic is not axiomatic. Logic is a matter of viewpoint. What is logical to one person may appear illogical to another. This is because one arrives at logical decisions after having considered all relevant data pertinent to the problem. Thus, user preferences are always logical...to the user.

There are several types of logic. The old Socratic logic of yes-no, right-wrong, etc, is workable, but has little value as far as life goes. Multi-valued logic is senior to it: yes-no-maybe (computers use this). And senior to that is infinity-valued-logic: yes-no, right-wrong are expressed on a scale where a level is more (+) or less (-) right or wrong.

 

Please mark this thread as "resolved ".

 

More:

Not all sites load quickly, especially portals. Most larger portal sites, news sites, ISP portals, stream the content from many different Web servers, all consolidated in a single page. Sometimes, the portal server other content providers' servers experience slows or delays. One must wait until the page is populated completely before interacting with it.

If use a blank page, one can then visit such a site, & if it's running slow, one can navigate elsewhere via the bookmarks/favorites menu or menu bar.

Some use a blank page out of habit which was established in the days of dial up Internet.

Today, broadband is the norm, but many broadband connections are still pretty slow by comparison. For example, a standard DSL connection of 1.5-3 mb/s connection pails in comparison to a cable connection or fiber optic connection (15-20 mb/s). The slower broadband connections are slow to load heavy content sites.

Temporary Internet Files:

By default, browsers use their cache to load page content. So if the homepage content doesn't change frequently, most of what loads in the windows is loading from the cache, which makes it appear to load very quickly. But pages that have updating content, such as news headlines, don't load from the cache, they take longer to load.

Many people have the browser set to delete the cache upon browser close. Thus, next time the browser launches, the entire page content must be re-downloaded, if the homepage is not a blank page. Using a blank page allows the user to decide when he wants to view updated content. He has the option of deciding which site he wants to load first, maybe due to his own considerations re time.

 

Your question is also appreciated. After all, that's one of the reasons we are here... good discussions.