What gadgets are you using in Vista?

[KeithTalent]

Just installed Vista 64 last weekend (loving it by the way, way less painful then when I installed XP for the first time) and am wondering what are some decent gadgets to use?

I have the basic clock and weather, but not sure what else to use.

Thanks in advance for the recommendations!

Cheers,
KT

 

[StopSign]

Weatherbug, countdown timer, CPU multimeter, hard drive meter, notes

 

[nerp]

I use the basic Microsoft made weather gadget, black glass CPU meter, game server monitor and the simple uptime gadget. Works for me. Most gadgets in the gallery seem pretty useless to me. Many seem to just create a new place to launch programs or shutdown the system or something, which, in my opinion, is creating a layer of duplicity. I'm not into gadgets that replicate easily accessible system functions.

The Magic Folder gadget looks interesting, but I don't really have too much of a need for it.

 

[KeithTalent]

Some of these sound interesting. Particularly the CPU meter and the Server Monitor!

Thanks!

KT

 

[lxskllr]

Now Playing

Kit-Cat Clock, use on desktop, too big for sidebar

Network Monitor

CPU Utilization

Moon Phase

Daily Dilbert :^)

Woot!

Application Launcher

Logo Clock

WeatherBug

Game Server Monitor

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

control-alt-delete (web comic, not three-finger salute) one was nice.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Now Playing

Kit-Cat Clock, use on desktop, too big for sidebar

Network Monitor

CPU Utilization

Moon Phase

Daily Dilbert :^)

Woot!

Application Launcher

Logo Clock

WeatherBug

Game Server Monitor

Nice, thanks! Grabbed a couple of those!

Cheers,
KT

 

[gizbug]

Weather Channels weather gadget. Always can trust on them.

 

[mgutz]

none. i find it to be a waste of space like OSX panels. if you want hardware monitoring, get Everest. everest can display info in the sidebar but the little icons in the taskbar so much cleaner.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: mgutz
none. i find it to be a waste of space like OSX panels. if you want hardware monitoring, get Everest. everest can display info in the sidebar but the little icons in the taskbar so much cleaner.

I have a ws monitor. That space would be wasted if I didn't have a sidebar. I like having useful information in the space that otherwise wouldn't be used.

 

[marpibeach]

I never quite understood the appeal of gadgets. For instance, I know what the weather is outside. Don't need to look at my computer for that. CPU temperature? How often does one look at that? HD space? I have a pretty good idea of what I have, and don't need a gadget to tell me. Clock? What's wrong with the clock on the lower left-hand corner?

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: marpibeach
I never quite understood the appeal of gadgets. For instance, I know what the weather is outside. Don't need to look at my computer for that. CPU temperature? How often does one look at that? HD space? I have a pretty good idea of what I have, and don't need a gadget to tell me. Clock? What's wrong with the clock on the lower left-hand corner?

Here's my Sidebar

From top to bottom:

Logo clock I like having an analog clock, especially one with a UT logo

Calendar I like seeing the date at a glance, I use it quite a bit

WeatherBug I know what the weather is, but I like seeing the wind speed, and I like knowing the exact temperature.

Now Playing- shows the album art for Foobar, and I can easily control the volume with this.

Server Monitor I can see how many people are playing on my UT2k4 clan server

Application launcher Keeps icon clutter off my desktop. I keep my most used apps in the sidebar, and I have my other ones grouped according to function on my desktop. This gives a much cleaner appearance.

Photo display, I like seeing my pictures on the desktop

Cpu and ram meter. It's useful seeing how much the cpu is being used, and to a lesser extent the ram. I can then compare that with the temps from speedfan and get an idea of how the temps go up and down with cpu load.

Network monitor This was my favorite thing from Zonealarm, but this is more useful. I can tell how much traffic is coming and going from my comp. and troubleshoot connection issues by having this displayed.

I have some other gadgets on my desktop and on a second page of the sidebar, but these I consider indispensable.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: marpibeach
I never quite understood the appeal of gadgets. For instance, I know what the weather is outside. Don't need to look at my computer for that. CPU temperature? How often does one look at that? HD space? I have a pretty good idea of what I have, and don't need a gadget to tell me. Clock? What's wrong with the clock on the lower left-hand corner?

I don't have Vista but I do use Yahoo Widgets and I couldn't possibly live without them now.

They all give me information that is important to me almost at all times:

-Weather (It's rainy season here in Mexico City and rains down here are no joke )

-CPU Usage (Again; I find it indispensable - I have to know how much my cores are being used at any given time).

-RAM Usage (Ditto)

-Network Monitor (How much I've downloaded / Uploaded; current upload / download rate...that's very important too and I like to be able to know by just glancing towards my second monitor)

-The time (Well, this one I could keep in the taskbar...but I have a nice, high-res clock which looks really purdy ).

I have 2 monitors, including a 22" WS. I have more than enough desktop real estate...and if I do need the space, the program will just run on top of the Widgets, so they never get in the way.

Like lxskllr said, the space would be wasted otherwise.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: marpibeach
I never quite understood the appeal of gadgets. For instance, I know what the weather is outside. Don't need to look at my computer for that. CPU temperature? How often does one look at that? HD space? I have a pretty good idea of what I have, and don't need a gadget to tell me. Clock? What's wrong with the clock on the lower left-hand corner?

haha this person has obviously never used or gotten used to a sidebar.
and no, you don't know the weather outside in the morning just by looking outside your window. the difference between 50 and 65 is quite noticable on a sunny day.

and real pc enthusiasts wouldn't mind constantly monitoring their CPU usage/temps and hdd usage/space.

the clocks in the sidebar range from plane jane clocks to analog clocks to multifunction clocks with stopwatches and alarms and seconds.

sidebar ftw

my sidebar currently consists of:
calender, scratchpad, accuweather, multimeter, ultimate explorer search tool, app launcher, lock/shutdowntool with clock, RSS reader, logitech webcam motion detector that turns on my webcam and starts recording when there's motion.

 

[RebateMonger]

Am I the only other person in the world who finds the sidebar/gadgets obnoxious? Why is it that every time an advancement is made in screen resolution, software makers try to fill the new screen space with stuff? Most of those gadgets are HUGE.

In 1987, at VGA (640x480) resolution, or you could only work with one spreadsheet/document at a time on the screen. In 2007, you can STILL really only work with one spreadsheet/document per screen, because of all the toolbars, menus, fancy fonts, etc.

 

[Rottie]

is that true if you use/have some gadgets they will slow down performance and some can eat up memory resources?

 

[nerp]

Rottie -- depends on the gadget. The ones I use use barely any. A poorly coded bloated gadget from a 3rd party might be a hog, but I'm not using any like that. A modern machine with enough memory should run with gadgets no problem. It takes a half second to shut down the sidebar before gaming or something, if you're so inclined.

 

[AlucardX]

people actually use the sidebar?

i forgot all about it honestly, was one of the first things i turned off on my install.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: AlucardX
people actually use the sidebar?

i forgot all about it honestly, was one of the first things i turned off on my install.

I use it all the time. If I'm feeling down I click my Calvin & Hobbes gadget for a quick laugh.

I also use it for the weather & calculator.

KT

 

[randym431]

I dont go overboard with gadgets, but find a few very useful. Weather, trash bin and crono clock (under timers). Notes can be useful if you need reminders.
Trash Bin is by far my most must have gadget. Then just remove the desktop trash bin in "display desktop icons" selections.

 

[Rottie]

Originally posted by: nerp
Rottie -- depends on the gadget. The ones I use use barely any. A poorly coded bloated gadget from a 3rd party might be a hog, but I'm not using any like that. A modern machine with enough memory should run with gadgets no problem. It takes a half second to shut down the sidebar before gaming or something, if you're so inclined.

Just want to be sure because my new notebook with only 2GB memory and shared with video I only have a clock and calender gadgets installed (I turned off taskbar clock).

 

[Parasitic]

The weather one, the clock one, the Outlook Calendar plug-in, and a stock ticker.