Filed under: Windows, Microsoft, Op-Ed
Is this really all Microsoft is doing with the Windows 7 gadget gallery?
by Lee Mathews Aug 18th 2009 at 4:00PM
With the impending flood of Windows 7 into the retail channel, you'd think that all related initiatives from Microsoft would be gearing up. After all, this looks like it will be the biggest launch in Microsoft history.
Based on the number of Vista systems I see on my workbench that don't even have the sidebar enabled, gadgets are likely a low-priority item. For most users, personalization is more about changing color schemes and wallpaper and Microsoft has definitely provided plenty of theming options for Windows 7.
Still, if you're going to display gadgets as part of the personalization site shouldn't you provide some more compelling examples?
Date and time? Outlook Upcoming Appointments? Blogger Buddy? Come on, shouldn't that last one at least be preempted by a Live Spaces option?
And to list only six, well heck, there are four sideshow gadgets available. How many laptops have you seen in the wild that even have a sideshow compatible screen?
I'm not a big gadget user anyway, but maybe if someone (possibly the company who created the OS) put together a selection of really impressive ones I'd actually start utilizing them. Right now, gadgets kind of feel like Microsoft put them there as a "We can do that, too!" retort to OsX.
What's your take on Windows gadgets? Do you bother with them? Take the poll after the break, and chime in with your comments!
Based on the number of Vista systems I see on my workbench that don't even have the sidebar enabled, gadgets are likely a low-priority item. For most users, personalization is more about changing color schemes and wallpaper and Microsoft has definitely provided plenty of theming options for Windows 7.
Still, if you're going to display gadgets as part of the personalization site shouldn't you provide some more compelling examples?
Date and time? Outlook Upcoming Appointments? Blogger Buddy? Come on, shouldn't that last one at least be preempted by a Live Spaces option?
And to list only six, well heck, there are four sideshow gadgets available. How many laptops have you seen in the wild that even have a sideshow compatible screen?
I'm not a big gadget user anyway, but maybe if someone (possibly the company who created the OS) put together a selection of really impressive ones I'd actually start utilizing them. Right now, gadgets kind of feel like Microsoft put them there as a "We can do that, too!" retort to OsX.
What's your take on Windows gadgets? Do you bother with them? Take the poll after the break, and chime in with your comments!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
216 said 4:11PM on 8-18-2009
My standard gadets are
Digital clock, Weatherbug, Calendar, System Monitor
I've gone a day or so without gadgets on my desktop/without the Vista sidebar and my desktop just feels incomplete without them. If anything, I always set my gadgets to about 20% transparency, so they don't get in the way of the desktop.
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SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) said 12:43AM on 8-19-2009
i use Clock, Weather, System Monitor, Quick Launch, and Gmail Counter which are all used to save space in my RocketDock. except for Quick Launch, which i use to fix the shortcomings in a dual monitor set up (it's hard to launch Rocketdock after it crashes if my start menu is on the other screen and i'm using that monitor to watch TV or play games).
Kamal said 4:23PM on 8-18-2009
I wanna see more Sideshow Hardware that I can stick on my office window to give visitors and passer bys access to my calendar and the like.
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DeoWulf said 4:41PM on 8-18-2009
I've got a picture slideshow, but that's all. I'd really like some more interesting Win7 gadgets.
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Josh said 5:17PM on 8-18-2009
The Pandora sidebar gadget is by far my most used gadget. I also use the default weather gadget and a cpu/mem gadget.
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John said 5:21PM on 8-18-2009
I've got the All CPU Meter in the bottom left corner of my desktop, and the weather gadget in the bottom right. It's too bad there aren't any gadgets much more compelling than that.
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Steve G said 5:33PM on 8-18-2009
I know what the date is.
I don't need to 'monitor' the system.
I've spent decades remembering my tasks and appointments.
... and why this fixation with weather? Look out the window!
Doubtless others will disagree, but I have yet to see a 'gadget' that truly helps my productivity.
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Rocketboy said 6:06PM on 8-24-2009
The amount of times I actually need to know the date are far and few between, therefor, I may not always remember.
I don't 'monitor' my system normally, but some times, I need to see what's going on for testing.
Decades? Assuming that you didn't remember or have appointments for, oh, the first 15 years or so, and the implication is that there's more than two decades, were you trying to sound like an old fogey yelling at people on your lawn? And again, I have more important things to remember than what the 10 o'clock meeting is about this week.
I don't have a window near where I sit at work. And it's also nice to know what's going to happen in the future.
If you're expecting a gadget to increase productivity, you're using them for the wrong reason.
jxchamb said 8:19AM on 8-19-2009
I like to have a couple gadgets running on my second monitor.
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Ray said 5:50PM on 8-18-2009
I was as surprised as you when yesterday I was looking for a quick note gadget (just needed a text field to jot something down and keep it in sight, and Sticky Notes annoy me cause you can't remove the Taskbar button) and only found those 7 or so gadgets. But I came across a Windows Vista gadgets site and found what I needed, and what do you know... Windows Vista gadgets work on the Windows 7 sidebar. At least the ones I tried did! (some of them might not... no warranties there :p)
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iofthestorm said 6:20PM on 8-18-2009
Funny, I prefer the Sticky Notes program to the Vista gadget. The gadget was retarded and deleted notes without asking for confirmation, and all the notes were stuck together and fixed size. The Windows 7 Sticky Notes program is so much nicer, with the ability to change colors, use handwriting on tablet PCs, resize to your liking, etc.
Ray said 7:21PM on 8-18-2009
Yes, I'm not saying it is not nicer and more beautiful but it really anoys me that you can't minimize ut to the taskbar, near the clock, like any app that runs in the background. It just drives me crazy that it sits there and i need some notes for weeks, and I am usually multitasking and clicking it by mistake can be so annoying.
Yes, the sidebar gadget would be nice if it would be resizable. Maybe when i get some free time i'll write one of my own. Wrote 2 yahoo widgrets in the past, it shouldn't be all that different :p
Dale said 6:20PM on 8-18-2009
Never used them. Part of my install/account creation procedure is to turn that and UAC off completely in Vista.
It doesn't surprise me that they're not doing anything with it - they couldn't even be arsed with Vista Ultimate Extras, which people paid more for.
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sitruc said 7:34PM on 8-18-2009
I don't like gadgets taking priority over other applications on my screen. Therefore, they are normally on my "desktop."' I rarely see my desktop because there is rarely a need to see the desktop. Hence, gadgets aren't for me.
Is this post a complaint about not enough of something you don't use, but you might if there was something of interest although you'd prefer not to because of the space it would invade?
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mazzy12345 said 7:49PM on 8-18-2009
I've got an analog clock, weather, remember the milk, and google calendar gadgets. That's all I ever really need.
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Saint Seminole said 8:09PM on 8-18-2009
I'm currently using Rainmeter for the "gadgets" I need/want. It takes less than 10% of the resources needed for Vista's sidebar. Seriously, less than 10 percent.
On my older, XP machine, I used to use Yahoo! widgets, and I still like those MUCH better than Microsoft's offerings, but again, Rainmeter trumped those big time.
I know not everyone needs to "monitor their system," but I do. At least I like to. With all the apps that like to hog CPU and RAM, I like to know with a glance if something's running hot. And yes, I know what the weather is *now*, by looking outside, but the weather meter tells me what it's going to do tomorrow, or tonight, so I know if I need an umbrella, a coat, or a sunshade.
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b2tharizzo said 8:21PM on 8-18-2009
I don't use gadgets because they eat up memory, so this lack of Windows 7's attention to gadgets doesn't really bother me at all. I won't use them anyway.
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mike said 8:26PM on 8-18-2009
There are some seriously useful gadgets at http://blueonionsoftware.com/gadgets.aspx
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roger stafford said 9:40PM on 8-18-2009
I use the weather gadget, but I am not sure why.
It is never right about the forecast.
Most of the time it shows thunderstorms for all the days.
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blogward said 7:46AM on 8-19-2009
I use ObjectDock with a clock as one of the docks in the corner (no taskbar). Google Calendar covers everything else. Desktop data managers are too vulnerable to being hosed by WIndows snafus. No wonder they only show seven!
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