My no-nonsense Search Page is my browser's home default. It searches Google like their old home page but it loads faster.
Google's ECMAScript fade annoyed me and slowed me down but I tolerated it. Then on June 10, 2010 it seems I had no choice but to have some back ground image. That was the last straw. Google has the best web search. Most people love the simplicity of it: a box and a button. Now it seems they are trying to keep that simplicity but also make it slick. They don't need to. They are already in the lead. If they are trying to compete with Bing, then they are making a mistake by imitating an inferior competitor.
You can save the HTML from my Search Page to a local HTML file on your computer and set it as your default page too.