Master Pages in SharePoint 2010

The master pages available in SharePoint 2010 are described here.

Primary master page - v4.master

• Used for content and administration pages. Provides the interface and layout for SharePoint 2010.
• It generally used on Team Site home page, list and library pages, and site settings page.

Minimal master page - minimal.master

• Contains minimal SharePoint content, used for full-screen functionality or embedded applications.
• This master page used to create home and search results pages on a Search Center, pages that host Word or Excel web applications.

Publishing master page - nightandday.master

• Used for pages on a SharePoint Server publishing-enabled site.
• The home page, about us, or press release page on a publishing intranet, extranet, or Internet-facing site.

2007 default master page - default.master

• Used to support legacy SharePoint sites, which haven’t been visually upgraded to SharePoint 2010.
• Home page, site pages, and list pages on a SharePoint 2007 site before visual upgrade.        

There is one more master page, simplev4.master, which is used for SharePoint-specific screens, like Login.aspx, Error.aspx, and Confirmation.aspx. This master page, however, is located on the server and cannot be customized in SharePoint Designer 2010.

In addition to these master pages, you can download the Starter Master Page from MSDN. This master page contains the minimum required components, scripts, and placeholders to render a page in SharePoint. You might use this master page to create a whole new design from scratch. The page serves a similar purpose as the “minimal.master” page that was available in SharePoint 2007.