Here is an interview with Marissa Mayer, Google product manager.
http://www.goodexperience.com/columns/02/1015google.html
One of the answers I really liked..
Q: What is Google's secret in maintaining such a simple and clear user experience, so consistently?
A: I think Google should be like a Swiss Army knife: clean, simple, the tool you want to take everywhere. When you need a certain tool, you can pull these lovely doodads out of it and get what you want. So on Google, rather than showing you upfront that we can do all these things, we give you tips to encourage you to do things these ways. We get you to put your query in the search field, rather than have all these links up front. That's worked well for us. Like when you see a knife with all 681 functions opened up, you're terrified. That's how other sites are - you're scared to use them.

Google has that same level of complexity, but we have a simple and functional interface on it, like the Swiss Army knife closed.

Don't forget to read the full story.

Registry Editor is an advanced tool that enables you to change settings in your system registry, which contains information about how your computer runs. Generally, it is best to use Windows controls to change your system settings. You should not edit your registry unless it is absolutely necessary. If there is an error in your registry, your computer may become nonfunctional. If this happens, you can restore the registry to its state when you last successfully started your computer.

(i) If your computer doesn't function properly, there is a chance that the Registry setting must have problems. To check settings, type "scanregw" (Without quote) in the Start - Run.. Dialog box.

(ii) Restore The Registry
Following this procedure will restore your registry to its state when you last successfully started your computer.
1. Click Start, and then click Shut Down.
2. Click Restart in MS-DOS mode, and then click Yes.
3. At the MS-DOS prompt, type
scanreg /restore
4. Restart your computer.

(iii) To export all or part of the registry to a text file
1. Type "regedit" (without quote) in the Start - Run.. Dialog box.
2. Click My Computer to export all of the registry, or click a folder to export only the contents of that folder.
3. On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File.
4. Browse to a location to store the exported file, and then type a name for the new file.
5. The .reg files created by exporting can be edited by any text editor.

(iv) To import all or part of the registry
1. Type "regedit" (without quote) in the Start - Run.. Dialog box.
2. On the Registry menu, click Import Registry File.
3. Browse to the file you want to import, and then click Open.

Touching F6 to highlight the Address Bar and typing two periods (..) will take you to your home page. Or still better use Alt+Home to go to your home page.
With Internet Explorer, you can take the long way to set up your home (start) page by clicking on Tools|Internet Options|General to Home page and clicking to use the current open site.
Or you can simply left click on the icon immediately to the left of the link in the address bar while the desired site is open, hold the mouse key down and drag to the icon that resembles a house. Let go, and you'll be asked to confirm that you want the site to be your home page.