How many use Vista Sidebar?

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chakkaradeep

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#18991 31-Jan-2008 23:16

How many Vista users here use Vista Sidebar? If so, what Sidebars do you use?

Regards,
Chaks

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#107883 31-Jan-2008 23:27

I did use it initally but found it annoying so I turned it off.

I liked the speedometer of the CPU but did not like the two clocks.

My landlord (flatmate) just got a new laptop for his sons birthday and has been playing around with it and he loves it. (looks like he will be upgrading his laptop)

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bradstewart

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#107886 31-Jan-2008 23:51

I'm not a fulltime user, I used the original sidebar in Longhorn so the Vista one is a bit of a let down.

I'd be interested to know who uses what gadgets. What do you recommend?

I have the Geekzone one in a prominent place

chakkaradeep

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#107888 31-Jan-2008 23:58

I am also not a fulltime user, but I like it. I use it whenever I feel like, lol.

I use,

1) Weather Gadget
2) Photo Gadget
3) Notes Gadget (which I find it useful)
4) Geekzone Gadget (if am not beind my uni proxy)

I found this website which had some good gadgets, but still Vista lacks in Gadgets

freitasm

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#107897 1-Feb-2008 07:07

I use - the Geekzone Gadget, Twadget (Twitter), Multi Meter, Battery Status and the Clock.

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heavenlywild

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#107911 1-Feb-2008 09:01

I did use it but not anymore. I didn't find it that useful to be honest plus it slowed down the system.

The geekzone sidebar one day decided not to enable clicking - meaning I couldn't click on the discussion thread to take me to the appropriate page directly. Maybe this has been fixed?

ashtonaut

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#107915 1-Feb-2008 09:05

I use the clock, calendar, weather, Sushi's Driveinfo, and Vista Calculator. I agree that Vista lacks quality (non-buggy) gadgets - there are hundreds out there, but very few that are any good.

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BobW

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#107926 1-Feb-2008 09:31

On my Vista PC I use: clock, calendar, performance monitor, and local weather gadgets.

On my main PC, running XP, I use a similar program called "Desktop Sidebar" (see www.desktopsidebar.com). It doesn't look as good as the Vista version, but I use it all the time. It includes the Vista gadgets above, plus an RSS reader in which I've specified a dozen news and information feeds, including a selection of Geekzone forums. It also shows a slideshow of cartoon RSS feeds, including a daily Dilbert.

gehenna

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#107927 1-Feb-2008 09:34

I used it when I first started using Vista, but quickly lost interest in it. I like the idea, but, I'd prefer to see it implemented in such a way that it can auto-hide like the start menu. Meaning, it docks to the side of my screen, but appears when I mouse over to it, then disappears when I go back to my application windows. That would make it far more functional for me and I'm sure i would use it!

signz

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#107936 1-Feb-2008 10:28

I've got a 19" main monitor and 22" wide secondary off to my right. The Sidebar is on the very right or the right monitor so somewhere around my elbow ...

On the Sidebar is Outlook upcoming appointments, clock, calendar.

The Outlook appointments things I find useful.

However, I wouldn't bother with the Sidebar if I didn't have so much screen space available.

DS

BobW

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#107937 1-Feb-2008 10:33

Desktop Sidebar, mentioned above, has an autohide feature. It also runs on Vista, if you want to try an alternative to the built-in sidebar.

manhinli

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#107939 1-Feb-2008 10:41

Used it for the first week of my Vista system... got annoyed and disabled it.

I liked the CPU and photo slideshow gadgets, but other than that there wasn't much of a choice in gadgets included in Vista.

I actually wanted a more background approach to it, like Mac OS X and their Dashboard, instead of having something that actually takes up real estate on the desktop (which I frequently stuff with... stuff.)

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gehenna

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#107943 1-Feb-2008 11:01

BobW: Desktop Sidebar, mentioned above, has an autohide feature. It also runs on Vista, if you want to try an alternative to the built-in sidebar.

ah i see, does it run the same vista gadgets as the sidebar does?

BobW

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#107945 1-Feb-2008 11:24

gehenna:
BobW: Desktop Sidebar, mentioned above, has an autohide feature. It also runs on Vista, if you want to try an alternative to the built-in sidebar.

ah i see, does it run the same vista gadgets as the sidebar does?

I don't think so. But there are hundreds of gadgets available.

By the way, DesktopSidebar is freeware.

RedJungle

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#107962 1-Feb-2008 13:15

Tried to for a short while - but the gimmick wore off quickly. And besides, if I'm using my PC I always have applications open full-screen so I don't even see it.

corksta

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#107975 1-Feb-2008 13:47

When I first started using Vista turning it off was one of the first things I did. I then played around with it a while later, now I use:

1. Weather (detached to desktop)
2. Calendar
3. Currency Converter
4. CPU Meter
5. Puzzle
6. Notes
7. NZ Herald (detached to desktop)
8. TVNZ Headlines (detached to desktop)
9. Photos

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