Facebook Plunges Again
Tumblr 101: Tips And Tricks To Get Started
Is this really all Microsoft is doing with the Windows 7 gadget gallery?
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!
Comments
25
Subscribe to commentsEroded FallacyAug 19th 2009 9:04AM
i use rain meter its better
idodialogAug 19th 2009 9:14AM
The idea that a program "eats up memory" seen so often and re-introduced by b2tharizzo makes me both laugh and get a bit irritated. Memory is there to be used, what are you saving it for? If you are using 100% or near it will affect things, below that - especially in Windows 7 (which manages memory peerlessly) everything will just be fine. Have fun, use your memory - that's what it's there for!
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/idodialog/widgetgadget.png[/IMG]
I use a couple of gadgets but really they are largely seriously crappy! Yahoo Widgets' on the other hand, look good and work very well most of the time
ChetAug 19th 2009 10:47AM
Back in the day, these were called Accessories.
Maybe there's so little action with Gadgets because people already have regular ol' Windows applications to do the stuff they need.
If you can't get the developers of already-compelling applications and services to buy into the idea of a Gadget, it's never going to be more than a flea market for the kind of quirky barely-working utilities that get about a dozen users each.
johnbondjoviAug 19th 2009 11:23AM
I have tried gadgets but they never stuck with me.
My ideal gadget would be very lightweight run in the background and only alert me of updates or changes via a popup from a very small area like the systray, I would call them Apps and they would.... oh wait..
zsycoAug 20th 2009 6:20AM
I use the Woot! gadget, Weather 2.0 (it's good for bikers who need to know if they're going to get wet), binary clock (just for the fun of it), All CPU Meter (because I DO want to monitor performance), Network Meter, and the Quicken Billminder.
Sure, I can live without them. I turned off the sidebar when I was running Vista because I wanted to have them wherever I wanted them on my 2nd monitor and they wouldn't stick after a reboot.
I'm running Windows 7 now and don't have problems with them moving except when I connect over RDC from a system that has a single monitor. I would definately like to see a better selection from Microsoft, but, they're doing a lot of good right now (Windows 7, Windows Mobile 6.5 and 7, Server 2008 R2, Office 2010, Exchange 2010, Visual Studio 2010, Zune HD, etc etc) so I won't complain.