Template:Infobox Windows component The Windows Desktop Gadgets (called Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista) is a widget engine for Microsoft Gadgets. It was introduced with Windows Vista, in which it features a sidebar anchored to the side of the desktop, but this was removed in Windows 7. 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.

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 7 includes ten desktop gadgets: Calendar, Clock, CPU Meter, Currency conversion, RSS Feed Headlines, Media Center, Picture Puzzle, Slide Show, Stocks, and Weather. Microsoft provides a link to a web site called Windows Live Gallery where additional Sidebar gadgets that have been created by third party clients can be downloaded.

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) and the Dashboard widget engine first included with Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X v10.4, which had been released a few months earlier. It should be noted that Windows Sidebar originally appeared in Longhorn long before Yahoo! Widgets and OS X Dashboard made their first debut.

In Windows 7, Windows Sidebar was renamed Windows Desktop Gadgets, and the sidebar itself is not present.