Gadgets perform automated tasks and display information; they live in the Windows Sidebar on the Desktop.

To open

Double-click the Windows Sidebar icon in the notification area.

Control Panel -> [Appearance and Personalization] -> Windows Sidebar Properties -> Start Sidebar when Windows starts

Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Windows Sidebar

Description

One of Windows Vista's most useful new features is the Windows Sidebar and the Gadgets that live there. Gadgets are mini-applications that automatically perform a variety of useful tasks or display helpful information; many of them are designed to connect to the Internet in order to grab information for you. For example, they can fetch and display current stock information, news, and traffic reports. They can also play live slideshows of pictures on your PC and display information about how your system is currently performing. And they can integrate with your applications to give you a quick way to interact with them, for example, by displaying Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds from Internet Explorer, or displaying recent emails.

Gadgets live in the Windows Sidebar on the right side of the screen, although you can move the Sidebar to the left. Make the Sidebar and Gadgets appear by double-clicking the Windows Sidebar icon in the notification area or by right-clicking the icon and choosing Bring Gadgets to Front. (Make them disappear by double-clicking the icon again.) Choose new Gadgets by clicking the + sign at the top of the Sidebar, and a gallery of available Gadgets appears. Drag a Gadget to the place on the Sidebar where you want it to appear.

Two types of Gadgets are available from Microsoft's web site, but only one of them is designed to work with Windows Vista and the Windows Sidebar. One type of Gadget lives on the Microsoft Windows Live site, and you can use this type only when visiting the site in your browser. You won't be able to put these Gadgets on the Windows Sidebar. The other type is designed to work on the Windows Sidebar.

To remove a Gadget from the sidebar, hover your mouse over it and click the X that appears just above it. To customize how the Gadget works, click the checkmark, and a dialog box appears. This box will vary from Gadget to Gadget, depending on each Gadget's function

Notes

• Although Gadgets are designed to live in the Sidebar, you can place them anywhere on the Desktop by dragging them from the Gallery.

• Microsoft is expected to extend the idea of Gadgets even further, beyond the PC. Other devices that use Windows may get Gadgets built into them as well, which could be shown in displays. A phone, for example, may have a variety of Gadgets, such as one showing the five most recent phone calls.

• Gadgets are an outgrowth of an ill-begotten idea Microsoft first tried in Windows 98. Windows 98 had a feature called the Active Desktop, which turned the Desktop into a live area on which information could be displayed from the Web, and mini-applications could live and display information. The Active Desktop was extremely confusing to use, was exceedingly slow, could crash PCs, and was not particularly well designed. It was rarely used, and Microsoft abandoned it in later versions of Windows.