It can be configured to run in a smaller or larger width and one of three heights, and you can specify how often you want updates (from every one to 60 minutes). So I tried Facebook Explorer, which worked nicely. It never picked up my info even though it said it was connected. A Facebook gadget seemed like almost a necessity, but the first one I tried (Facebook Sidebar 1.5) didn’t work. Much of the discourse that used to take place through email discussion lists now occurs via Facebook. One big change in my online life since 2008 is that I’ve become thoroughly immersed in social networking. Figure C This little gadget has a big fly-out that packs a lot of functionality into a small package. It even has a privacy mode, which prevents clips from being displayed on the main gadget so that passers-by who glance at your desktop can’t see what you’ve saved to the clipboard. And unlike the old Clipboard gadget, this one supports images as well as text. I also like the ability to mark clips with timestamps. The Favorites feature lets you create boilerplate text you use often. You can save up to 999 clips (that’s a lot of clips!) and you can delete any clip or send it to the Clipboard or to your Favorites list with a right click. You can customize the background to fit your desktop, and not just the color you can use a photo as the background if you prefer. Clipboard Manager ( Figure C) looks slick and is feature-rich. I liked being able to access previous Clipboard items - without opening an Office app - but the old one was a little cheesy looking and limited in its functionality. I’ve also replaced the Clipboard gadget I was using with Vista. Figure B After years with the electric blue clock gadget, I’ve replaced it with the Windows Orb. I love its clean look and the nice symmetry of having it just across from my Start Menu orb (since I have my Taskbar set to the vertical position. Of course, the same orb is also on the Windows 7 Start menu. But now I’ve switched to a much cooler model: the Vista Orb Clock ( Figure B). 2: Windows Orb Clockĭuring all the time I used Vista and the first year I used Windows 7, my analog clock gadget of choice was the electric blue version of the one that comes with the operating system. Figure A All CPU Meter really does monitor all of your CPU cores - up to eight of them. I also like that you can change the background color to match your preferences. It monitors your memory usage as well as CPUs, and it packs a lot of information into a small space. All CPU Meter isn’t as complex as some, but the simplicity works in its favor. It supports up to eight cores (so I have room to grow). The gadget I used to monitor my dual-core computer running Vista wasn’t available in a quad-core version, so I switched to All CPU Meter ( Figure A). Note: This article is also available as a photo gallery and as a PDF download. Now it’s 2010 and I’m running Windows 7, and although I still use most of the gadgets I was using back then, I’ve also discovered a few new ones that deserve mention. Way back in 2008, I wrote an article titled The top 10 Vista Sidebar Gadgets. Here are a few you may want to add to your desktop. Windows 7 gadgets offer added functionality and convenience in a variety of ways.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |