Thank you so much mike2874 and twerppoet for the further discussion. Twerppoet that sounds like the solution! -- I too had noticed this "very clean, mobile looking sort of layout" but didn't put it into words or realize the significance. Unfortunately in the meantime I tried to do the latest update on my ipad and ran into a wall with an error that got me locked out of my ipad -- am scheduled to talk to Apple support tomorrow. As soon as I have a chance, I will try out what you described about getting back the desktop version. I also in the meantime (before I lost access to my ipad) discovered that the ipad, under "Access" settings has some interesting zoom features that I didn't know about before. Something called "Zoom region" -- a "window" to provide magnification, which can be accessed and put away again by using a three-finger tap. One can easily adjust the degree of magnification and the size of window, and It works all across the iPad. I found it was possible to size the window just right, with just a little magnification, so that it could fit over the google results page and make it readable without being too clumsy. A good backup to have. Anyway, I appreciate your help -- thank you guys again!