Windows 7: Up and Running

Desktop Gadgets

In Windows 7, Microsoft eliminated the Windows Sidebar, because feedback showed that docking gadgets to the side of the screen is very restrictive, especially for small-screen portable computer users.

What Is the Windows Sidebar?

Windows Vista included a feature called the Windows Sidebar. The Sidebar is a rectangular strip displayed on the side of your screen (hence the name “sidebar”) that hosts mini-applications known as gadgets. A Sidebar gadget is an easy-to-use mini-application that is designed to provide information at a glance. Sidebar gadgets afford an easy way to access information at your fingertips and can be easily created by developers familiar with HTML and scripting languages like JavaScript.

In Windows 7, you can now display the gadgets directly on the desktop rather than be constrained to the Sidebar.

Note

Windows 7 desktop gadgets are fully compatible with the Sidebar gadgets in Windows Vista.

To view the list of gadgets installed on your computer, right-click the desktop and select Gadgets. A list of gadgets will be shown (see Figure 2-18).

Figure 2-18. Displaying the list of available gadgets

As shown in Figure 2-18, Windows 7 includes 10 default gadgets. To add a gadget to your desktop, double-click the gadget. By default, the gadget will be docked to the right side of the screen. Figure 2-19 shows the Slide Show gadget. Unlike in Windows Vista, you can ...