The Favorite Start Page is both a standalone app and a generated start.html that act as a sort of visual layout of all your Web browser's bookmarks, organized just as you have them in your browser. Sounds neat in theory, but The Favorite Start Page doesn't quite pull it off.
When you launch The Favorite Start Page, it can pull favorites and bookmarks from Internet Explorer only--it doesn't work with Mozilla FireFox or other browsers--but the generated start.html can be opened by any browser. An app like this should really be fully integrated with FireFox, considering Mozilla has 22% market share.
Both the Web version and the app version are kind of clunky and not at all well designed. Columns of bookmarks overlap each other when moused over, and bookmark text tends not to fit into its boxes.
The other alarming thing is that The Favorite Start Page integrates with Internet Explorer using its ActiveX controls--in other words, in such a way that some virus scanners will flip out every time you use it. Definitely scary for the non-computer savvy, who otherwise might get a lot of use out of a start page like this. Do you really want to tell your elderly relatives not to trust their anti-virus software?
The Favorite Start Page lacks support for many Web browsers, doesn't work well with virus scanners and has a general unprofessional look, so it's hard to see this as being very useful. For another method of organizing your bookmarks, try delicious.com--and you'll even be able to share your bookmarks with others.
--Steve Horton
Ad Choices