i've been using the sidebar ever since i upgraded to vista. works perfectly for me though does use up a lot of system resources. i have a 32inch lcdtv and i have my taskbar on the left side of the screen and the right side is the sidebar which is a setup i'm rather fond of. as for apps i'm running on the sidebar...

1) weather
2) msn messenger gadget
3) bbc streaming video news
4) dual-core multi-metre cpu & ram monitor
5) system control gadget
6) shutdown gadget
7) calculator gadget
8) geekzone gadget
9) tv1 streaming video news
10) hold'em poker app

obviously they're not all in my sidebar, some of them are set next to it on my desktop as some of the gadgets i prefer expanded as some do when you move them out of the sidebar. also have all my set to 60% opacity as i always have a nice wallpaper :)