The Google Page

[Coldicote]

When I open Google search page I see a black horizontal bar with various links on it. At the right hand end is a link to 'Sign in' which I presume is for Google email if I wish to use it. Next to it is a kind of star symbol indicating Search Settings, iGoogle, and Web History. What are these three options for and does anyone find them useful?

[fever28]

black bar is a relativly new addition to google and its mostly asthetic,
having an account with google , allows you to use a lot mor ethan just email from google, as you noticed you can edit the home page, and save it, so when you log on with your google account elseware you will ge the same page (filled with news relating to stuff you have chosen,
having a google sign in also gives you access to photos/ videos. I use web develeope rtools form google logs me in to that, I think its worth doing for teh sake of 5 mins creating an account. Igoogle is your bespoke home page, eg mine is google serach and thinsg lik etrain time tables, technology news, dilbert etc, search settings, you may wish to serach for items in French, choose level of filtering, if you see too much porn in results (or not enough)
web history, is basically they get data from what you search for and over time your seaches will get better, you may feel uncomfatable with them looksingat what you search for so here you can turn it off

[Coldicote]

Thanks a lot fever28. I guess I'm not alone in being hesitant about trying out things I don't understand. Your information is very helpful so I'll have to give it a try.