Yahoo! is more than just a name; it has become a trusted brand among Internet users worldwide. When discussing the most popular webmail service today, Yahoo! Mail comes to mind.
When it comes to the most commonly used free messaging software, people think of Yahoo! Messenger. And from now on, many might remember Yahoo! Widget Engine (YWE) as a massive repository of free “toys” for the citizens of the Yahoo! realm.
The latest version, YWE 3.02, has a size of 10.7 MB and requires a system running Windows 2000 + SP3 or Windows XP + SP1 or higher. You can download the program for free at the following address: www.majorgeeks.com/Yahoo_Widget_Engine_formerly_Konfabulator_d4513.html
After completing the installation and launching the program for the first time, the YWE icon will appear on the system tray. At this point, six “toys” are already displayed on your desktop, including:
– Analog Clock: a clock designed on the Mac OS X interface.
– Day Planner: helps you plan your work or record events occurring throughout the day via one of three programs: Yahoo! Calendar, Outlook, or Sunbird.
– Picture Frame: a window that displays images directly from Yahoo! Photo, Flickr, or showcases images from a folder on your hard drive.
– Purple Box: allows you to log into your Yahoo! Mail account directly from this dialog without needing to access Yahoo!’s website.
– Yahoo! Weather: helps you view maps, images, and updates regarding weather conditions in various states of the USA and several cities worldwide, along with hot news from Yahoo!’s website.
– Yahoo! Search: a desktop search toolbar from Yahoo! that helps you quickly find information on the web across various specific topics such as news, images, videos, shopping information, etc.
Aside from the Analog Clock that runs “all the time,” you need to log into your Yahoo! Mail account (using the Purple Box) to utilize the features of the other toys. To customize the toys to your liking, right-click on them and select the Widget Preferences tab to set a few important parameters. Some other toys are stored in the folder C:Documents and SettingsUsernameMy DocumentsMy Widgets, notably:
– Cadenlar: a yearly calendar placed on the desktop.
– CPU Portal: shows the operational status of the CPU.
– iTunes Remote: a remote control for the iTunes multimedia player.
– Memory Gauge: indicates the percentage of free RAM memory.
– Yahoo! Notepad: allows you to create notes and reminders directly on the desktop.
To add new toys to YWE, right-click on the YWG icon in the system tray, then select the Open Widget tab, navigate to the My Widgets folder, and choose each file individually to import.
If you want even more toys, visit http://widgets.yahoo.com/gallery or right-click the YWG icon in the system tray, select the Get More Widgets tab to connect to the manufacturer’s website. Here, you can download thousands of new toys across various themes. However, be sure to log into your Yahoo! Mail account (by clicking the Sign In tab at the top of the webpage) before downloading to avoid any download limits imposed by the site.
Most of YWE’s toys are files with the .widget extension and are stored in compressed files. For easier management, it’s advisable to extract all files into a specific folder (such as the My Widgets folder) after downloading. The process for adding new toys to YWE is the same as described above.
Pham Hong Quan
