Windows Desktop Gadgets (called Windows Sidebar in

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

) is a discontinued

widget engine A software widget is a relatively simple and easy-to-use software application or component made for one or more different software platforms. A desk accessory or applet is an example of a simple, stand-alone user interface, in contrast with a m ...

for

Microsoft Gadgets Microsoft Gadgets are lightweight single-purpose applications, or software widgets, that can sit on a Microsoft Windows user's computer desktop, or are hosted on a web page. According to Microsoft, it will be possible for the different types of g ...

. Desktop Gadgets have been replaced by Windows 10 Taskbar Widgets. It was introduced with Windows Vista, in which it features a sidebar anchored to the side of the

desktop A desktop traditionally refers to: * The surface of a desk (often to distinguish office appliances that fit on a desk, such as photocopiers and printers, from larger equipment covering its own area on the floor) Desktop may refer to various compu ...

. Its widgets can perform various tasks, such as displaying the time and date. In Windows Vista, the widgets are restricted to a sidebar but in Windows 7, they can be freely moved anywhere on the desktop. Windows Desktop Gadgets was discontinued in

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...

. The Windows 8 Live Tiles can perform a similar function, but they are only visible when the Start menu is visible. They run in a more restrictive environment, making them less risky, but also less useful for some purposes, like

system monitor A system monitor is a hardware or software component used to monitor system resources and performance in a computer system. Among the management issues regarding use of system monitoring tools are resource usage and privacy. Monitoring can tra ...

ing.

History

Windows Sidebar originated in a

Microsoft Research Microsoft Research (MSR) is the research subsidiary of Microsoft. It was created in 1991 by Richard Rashid, Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold with the intent to advance state-of-the-art computing and solve difficult world problems through technologi ...

project called ''Sideshow'' (not to be confused with

Windows SideShow Windows SideShow (codenamed Auxiliary Display) was a feature by Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista to supply information such as e-mail, instant messages, and RSS feeds from a personal computer to a local or remote peripheral device or display. ...

). It was developed in the summer of 2000, and was used internally at Microsoft. It included a clock, traffic reports, and IM integration. Windows Sidebar appeared in build 3683 of Windows Longhorn circa September 2002 and was originally intended to replace the

notification area The taskbar is a graphical user interface element that has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95, displaying and facilitating switching between running programs. The taskbar and the associated Start Menu were created and named in 1993 b ...

and Quick Launch toolbar in Windows, but these plans were scrapped after the development reset in mid-2004. Windows Sidebar was rebuilt and began to appear in Windows Vista builds in the second half of 2005. Some reviewers and

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

enthusiasts have pointed out the Sidebar's similarities in form and function to Konfabulator (later Yahoo! Widget Engine), which appeared several years previously, and the

Dashboard A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...

widget engine first included with

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

's Mac OS X v10.4, which had been released a few months earlier. In

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

, Windows Sidebar was renamed ''Windows Desktop Gadgets'', and the sidebar itself was not included in Windows 7. Windows Desktop Gadgets was included in all beta releases of

but did not make it to the final release. Instead, on 10 July 2012 (which is in the intervening time between the last beta of Windows 8 and its final release), Microsoft issued security advisory to disable Sidebar and Desktop Gadgets on Windows Vista and 7 because of a

security vulnerability Vulnerabilities are flaws or weaknesses in a system's design, implementation, or management that can be exploited by a malicious actor to compromise its security. Despite a system administrator's best efforts to achieve complete correctness, vir ...

that could allow

remote code execution In computer security, arbitrary code execution (ACE) is an attacker's ability to run any commands or code of the attacker's choice on a target machine or in a target process. An arbitrary code execution vulnerability is a security flaw in softwar ...

Overview

Windows Desktop Gadgets is a feature of Windows Vista and Windows 7 (excluding the

Windows Server Windows Server (formerly Windows NT Server) is a brand name for Server (computing), server-oriented releases of the Windows NT operating system (OS) that have been developed by Microsoft since 1993. The first release under this brand name i ...

family of the operating system). It hosts mini-applications or "gadgets" which are a combination of scripts and

HTML Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...

code. Their use cases include displaying

system time In computer science and computer programming, system time represents a computer system's notion of the passage of time. In this sense, ''time'' also includes the passing of calendar date, days on the calendar. System time is measured by a ''sys ...

, downloading and displaying

RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many ...

feeds, or controlling other software such as

Windows Media Player Windows Media Player (WMP, officially referred to as Windows Media Player Legacy to retronym, distinguish it from Windows Media Player (2022), the new Windows Media Player introduced with Windows 11) is the first media player (application soft ...

. In Windows Vista, gadgets can run "docked" in the sidebar. In Windows 7, they can "float" anywhere on the desktop. It is also possible to run multiple instances of a gadget simultaneously. Windows Sidebar also works on

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...

. 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 beta such as App Launcher, Feed Viewer, Number Puzzle, Recycle Bin and Egg Timer never made it to the final release. Windows 7 adds a Media Center gadget and removes the Contacts, Notes and Stocks gadgets. Originally, Microsoft provided a link to a web site called

Windows Live Gallery Windows Live Gallery (codenamed ''Customise'') was a part of Windows Live range of services. It was a center for gadgets, extensions and add-ons for Windows and Windows Live services. Windows Live Gallery was officially retired on October 1, 201 ...

where additional Sidebar gadgets that have been created by

third-party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a veh ...

developers could be downloaded. The site was officially retired on October 1, 2011.Looking for gadgets?
/ref>

References

External links

Gadget Corner
— official Windows Sidebar and Microsoft Gadgets team blog
Windows Sidebar Reference
on

MSDN Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) was the division of Microsoft responsible for managing the firm's relationship with developers and testers, such as hardware developers interested in the operating system (OS), and software developers developing ...

{{Windows Components Widget engines Sidebar Discontinued Windows components el:Windows Vista#Πλευρική εργαλειοθήκη

History

Overview

See also

References

Further reading

External links