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Yahoo's in the middle of revamping in hopes of catching up with Google (actually, I think everyone is), and just recently released a brand-spanking-new homepage for their users. Taking the cue from Google, the new homepage now lets its users customize it to their liking -- even letting them browse other websites like Facebook and Twitter on the homepage itself.

The new homepage doesn't have movable Apps like iGoogle, but it does have a sidebar of options that expand when you hover your pointer over them. There were buttons for cars, business, horoscopes, games, jobs, and Facebook, as well as Yahoo Messenger and Mail. You could also customize this part of the page by adding your own preferred homepages, as well.

I tried adding Engine Alpha to the sidebar, and it immediately showed on top of the list. When I hovered over it, though, there wasn't much to see in the expanded field -- just a link to the site, and no preview. Hopefully the preview options improve down the line.

But one thing I do like about the new homepage is the lack of ads. Yahoo scrubbed its "marketplace" section entirely, so the whole thing looks very clean and minimalistic. Not quite as flashy as Apple and not quite as functionalist as Google, but a comfy middle ground. (The ads were relegated to the sidebar, and only showed when a button expanded to the preview.)

Yahoo has been pretty aggressive with their revamping efforts lately -- they closed once-popular online applications like Yahoo 360 (their social media platform) and Yahoo Briefcase, and integrated everything into a new, singular interface that represents Facebook. Yahoo Mail users see this new interface the moment they log on, and some would swear it's looking more like Facebook and Twitter with every new update.

It's obviously a step in the right direction -- moving to what works always is -- but there's only one thing that worries me. Yahoo is trying to make their new homepage a sort of kick-off point for their users, with all their favorite pages a click away. But guess what? Browser bookmarks do the same thing, and you can browse to your favorite pages straight from a blank page.

Still, I'm sure there are a lot of people out there with faith in Yahoo -- a 20% market share isn't something to laugh at, and the merger talks with Microsoft are definitely something to keep an eye on. Yahoo plans to release their new homepage in a few days, and a mobile version of it over the weekend.