10 Things - Maximizing Sidebar Gadgets
Many PC OEMs ship Windows Vista computers with Windows Sidebar enabled, usually only displaying the simple clock, photos and RSS feed gadgets. You may’ve found that they install their own home-grown gadgets to show off additional features or apps installed on the PC, or as sales tools for other products. You may even have turned off the Sidebar because you already have a clock in the systray and you use other ways to check RSS feeds.
If so, you’re missing out, as there’s a Windows Sidebar gadget for almost anything you might want: PC utilities, music, messaging, traffic reporting, searching or just a quick game can be yours with a click of the mouse. If you haven’t taken the time to explore gadgets beyond those loaded by default, take a minute to right-click the Sidebar and select ‘Add Gadgets.’ From there, click ‘Get More Gadgets Online’ — you’ll find over 1000 different gadgets available for download.
There are still other ways to find gadgets: visit the Microsoft Gadgets Gallery, Windows Live Gallery and Code Project for hundreds more. In addition, you’ll find links to resources for developers and a way to submit your own gadgets for others to use.
This isn’t the first time we’ve mentioned Windows Sidebar and accompanying gadgets: MS held a contest challenging developers to create new gadgets to do any number of things. And in January during the consumer market launch of Windows Vista we kept readers updated as to our whereabouts as we toured the East coast of the US in a branded bus. Brandon even found a gadget that alerts users to changes in targeted airfares on Expedia’s site!
We have a gadget we use internally to train employees in fielding and responding to customer feedback; it’s called the “Dear Steve” gadget, and it displays anonymized contents of emails our customers have sent directly to Steve Ballmer with their personal product feedback. This is what it looks like on the Sidebar:
…and here it is maximized on the desktop:
Windows Sidebar is definitely worth another look.
Popularity: 1%
Written by Nick White. Read more great feeds at is source WEBSITE
no comments.
Read more articles on Gadgets and Sidebar Gadgets and Tips and Tricks and Featured News and Windows Vista.
Vista and Ideas
So let’s see what I have running in my household (which consists of me, myself and I):
- OpenSUSE 11 on the laptop
- Windows XP and 2000 on the Dell
- Windows NT 4 Server on the other Dell which is a glorified NAS (Network Attached Storage) box
- Mac OS X 10.4 on the eMac
- Mac OS 9.2 on the iMac
A balanced lot I think. The top two get the most use in general. The time has come however to take the jump and start plugging away with Windows Vista.
I have never bought a new computer in my life. Unless you count the Commodore 64 in 1990 which technically wasn’t bought by me but my parents. But it was new. Since then I have had a hotch potch of second hand stuff, not that this has bothered me. I have also built plenty of new PCs all faster than what I had at the time (Pentium IIs, then IIIs, then Athlon XPs, Pentium D’s etc.) but never a new computer for myself.
That has now changed as I have bought an Acer M1640 Core 2 Duo system that worked out somewhat cheaper than building it myself, brand new. I’m actually quite looking forward to it and the Dell will get retired and probably sold in the Friday Ad or eBay when I have got the new Acer up and running fully.
It comes with Vista.
Now, universally it has been in-vogue to bash Vista, particularly from people who haven’t used it. Some people have used it and got their fingers burnt but others have used it and liked it so much that their satisfaction as with anything in life wasn’t even mentioned. I personally have never had any issue with Vista, but then I don’t currently run it. This is partly deliberate because I did consider just buying Vista Home Premium for the Dell. It would have run fine-ish once the memory was upgraded but it would have been a bit sub-par so it wasn’t worth it. Potentially my laptop would work with it but again, why muck up something running fine with something that may well slow it down?
Why have I done this.
Not out of masochism that’s for sure. I’m a web developer but I do have roots in traditional desktop applications too and there are some things I want to blend together; mostly for work. I wrote a sidebar and gadgets system that emulates the functionality that Facebook first debuted with, followed by the BBC and London Borough of Redbridge. Now despite blowing my own trumpet, I’m reasonably proud of this as I know lots of people are finding it useful, but secondly because I programmed it all myself, it works well and it didn’t cost anything other than my basic wage to implement.
One of the features I want though and have done for a long time is to be able to ‘download’ these gadgets onto a Vista sidebar gadget or an OS X Dashboard Widget. I mean, it’d be cool seeing when your bins are collected after a bank holiday on your sidebar/dashboard without needing to go to the council website itself. One could argue: but that would negate people coming to the website! Well, maybe so, but if it makes things easier for people I’m all for that. (Despite possible suggestions on occasion, I don’t spend my day plotting how to make things a nightmare!)
However to do this I have an OS X box to start with, but just lack the Vista box. So primarily this is being used to develop sidebar gadgets. It’s an expensive proposition but it will also get some good use.
Otherwise, the box will spend a good deal of time putting it’s pair of 2.4GHz cores to use by running Notepad… It should at least be the last PC I need to buy for some years! I’ll be sure to let you know how it all goes.
Popularity: 1%
Written by lilserenity. Read more great feeds at is source WEBSITE
no comments.
Read more articles on Bins and Computing & Technology and Helpful and Useful and User Friendly and otherSoftware and Web Development and Windows and vista and Sidebar and web 2.0 and Gadgets.
