Windows Desktop Gadgets
Windows Desktop Gadgets A component of Microsoft Windows |
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| Details | |
| Type | Desktop widget engine |
| Included with | Windows Vista, Windows 7 |
| Replaces | Active Desktop |
| Related components | |
| Microsoft Gadgets, Windows shell | |
The Windows Desktop Gadgets (called Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista) is a widget engine for Microsoft Gadgets, with program name sidebar.exe. It was introduced with Windows Vista, in which it features a sidebar anchored to the side of the desktop. Its widgets, called Gadgets, can perform various tasks, such as displaying the time and date and showing the CPU usage. Several gadgets ship with Windows, and anyone can develop more gadgets.
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[edit] Overview
Windows Desktop Gadgets contains mini-applications or Gadgets which are based on a combination of Script and HTML. They may be used to display information such as the system time and Internet-powered features such as RSS feeds, and to control external applications such as Windows Media Player. Gadgets can run "docked" in the sidebar or they can "float" anywhere on the desktop. It is also possible to run multiple instances of a gadget simultaneously.[1]
Windows Vista ships with eleven gadgets: Calendar, Clock, Contacts, CPU Meter, Currency Conversion, Feed Headlines, Notes, Picture Puzzle, Slide Show, Stocks, and Weather. Several other gadgets available during the Vista beta such as App Launcher, Feed Viewer, Number Puzzle, Recycle Bin and Egg Timer were removed. Windows 7 adds a Media Center gadget and removes the Contacts, Notes and Stocks gadgets. However Windows Sidebar is not available on the Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Server 2008 R2 operating systems.
Microsoft provides a link to a web site called Windows Live Gallery where additional Sidebar gadgets that have been created by third party clients could originally be downloaded. This is no longer the case.
[edit] History
Sidebar originated in a Microsoft Research project called Sideshow (not to be confused with Windows SideShow.) It was developed in the summer of 2000, and was used internally at Microsoft.[2] It had many similarities to current desktop gadget software, including a clock, traffic reports, and IM integration.
The Sidebar appeared in "Longhorn" (Windows Vista) builds as early as September 2002, and was originally intended to replace the notification area or Quick Launch toolbar in Windows, but these plans were scrapped after the Longhorn "reset" in mid-2004.[3]
The Windows Sidebar was rebuilt for and began to appear in Windows Vista builds in the second half of 2005. Some reviewers and Macintosh enthusiasts have pointed out the Sidebar's similarities in form and function to Konfabulator (now Yahoo! Widget Engine), which appeared several years previously, and the Dashboard widget engine first included with Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X v10.4, which had been released a few months earlier.
In Windows 7, Windows Sidebar was renamed Windows Desktop Gadgets, and the sidebar itself is not present.
As of Q4 of 2011, Microsoft retired the Windows Live Widget Gallery stating: "In order to focus support on the much richer set of opportunities available for the newest version of Windows, Microsoft is no longer supporting development or uploading of new Gadgets." [4]
[edit] See also
- Microsoft Gadgets
- Windows SideShow for Device Gadgets.
- Live.com for Web Gadgets
- Dock
[edit] References
- ^ "Windows Sidebar". Microsoft Corporation. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa965850(VS.85).aspx. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
- ^ "A Brief History of Windows Desktop Gadgets". Microsoft. September 15, 2005. Archived from the original on 2007-06-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20070621071923/http://microsoftgadgets.com/blogs/gadgetnews/archive/2005/09/15/181.aspx. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
- ^ Thurrott, Paul (2002-11-13). ""Longhorn" Alpha Preview". Windows SuperSite. http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/longhorn_alpha.asp. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ Looking for gadgets?
[edit] External links
- Microsoft Gadgets Gallery[dead link]
- Windows Sidebar Gadget Gallery, an inofficial successor of the Windows Live Gallery, providing all original Windows Desktop and Sideshow Gadgets, according to their own statements
- Microsoft's Windows Vista page about the Windows Sidebar
- Gadget Corner — official Windows Sidebar and Microsoft Gadgets team blog
- MSDN Windows Desktop Gadgets
- MSDN Windows Sidebar Reference
- Sideshow: Providing Peripheral Awareness of Important Information
- Creating a Sidebar Gadget for Windows Vista
