10 Windows gadgets you can’t live without

jjones | Guides, Windows Vista | 07/09/2009 12:46pm
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Gadgets are the best way to bring your desktop to life, with handy tools that help you get more from your PC. Since the launch of Windows Vista, the number of Windows gadgets has exploded and there are now over 3,000 on the Windows Live Gallery website, all downloadable for free. To access this free library, right-click the Sidebar, choose Add Gadgets, and click Get more gadgets online.

In Windows Vista these gadgets live on the Windows Sidebar, and they’re automatically pinned to the right-hand side of the screen. It’s possible, however, to drag your gadgets on to the desktop and let them roam free, and this has set the tone for Windows 7. In the new operating system, Microsoft has kept the gadget library, but cut the need for the Sidebar, and you can place your gadgets wherever you want.

The success of the early gadgets that were bundled with Windows Vista, such as the weather gadget, notepad and slideshow, spurred many businesses to commission their own and come up with some fantastic ideas. National Rail was one of the first organisations to release a gadget, which you could set to your local station for live updates on train delays. The Met Of?ce soon followed suit, with an excellent weather gadget, and now there’s a gadget for pretty much anything you can think of.

STAY IN TOUCH WITH YOUR FRIENDS

Facebook Explorer enables you to get a real-time update of friends’ statuses and any requests, pokes or messages straight to your desktop. Hardened Facebook users will love the Facebook Photos gadget tool, which displays pictures from your account on your desktop and enables you to drag folders of snaps to the gadget and have them automatically uploaded to Facebook.

FIND CONTACTS FASTER

If you use Windows Live Messenger as your contacts book, the Messenger Gadget puts them on your desktop and makes it even easier to send messages, and see who’s online. It doesn’t allow groupings, which are in the full app, but it makes sending messages faster.

LOOK DEEP INSIDE YOUR SYSTEM

Keeping an eye on system resources gives a fantastic insight into the workings of your PC, and what types of tasks put strain on your system. The All CPU Meter is a geek’s paradise, and is one of the best resource monitors on the web.

STAY ON TOP OF YOUR EMAIL

The Unread Mail gadget shows you when you have new mail, and plugs in to most mail applications such as Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Hotmail automatically. If you use Microsoft Of?ce Outlook, try the Outlook Info gadget, so you can see your calendar, inbox and tasks in one place.

STAY SECURE

Using a ?le shredder is best practice when it comes to sensitive ?les, which can be restored even if cleared from the Recycle Bin. Putting the File Shredder Utility on your desktop makes perfect sense, so you can stay secure with the minimum effort.

DON’T GET RAINED ON

For weather watchers, this is the ultimate gadget. The Met Of?ce Gadget is only available from http://www.metof?ce.gov.uk and shows current weather conditions including rainfall, tides, off-shore conditions, cloud cover and much more.

STAY IN TOUCH

An essential gadget for Twitter users who want to stay connected with their contacts, but don’t want to use the web application or something as bulky as TweetDeck. Chirpr shows the last 10 tweets from your contacts and enables you to quickly send messages to the service, or reply to others.

NEVER MISS YOUR TRAIN AGAIN

One of the originals and still the best, the National Rail Gadget gives you up-to-the-minute updates on train times, arrivals and departures from any UK railway station, and also shows delays. The National RailGadget is a ?ne example of using your desktop effectively, and can save you wasted time on the platform.

SAVE MONEY BY GRABBING BARGAINS

If you’re a regular eBay user, there’s a host of gadgets to help you keep track of your items, but the Auction Sidebar gives a fantastic mix of functions for the general user. You can keep track of watched items, quick search for items for those impulse purchases, and even bid straight from the Sidebar to bag last-second bargains.

TAKE A BREAK

Sometimes you need to take a break from the stresses of daily life, be that work, booking a holiday or doing some course work. There are loads of Sidebar games available from the Windows Live Gadget Gallery, and these have moved from simple Tetris games, to cool Flash-based ?ying games such as Hostile Skies.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Guides, Windows Vista. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

Tags: gadgets, Windows 7, Windows Vista