The latest operating system from Microsoft will feature Windows Sidebar and Gadgets technology, allowing the addition of various mini-applications like video and audio RSS feeds directly on the desktop.
The Gadgets technology enables quick access to these applications through available icons on the screen. All icons will be arranged on a scrollable Sidebar located on the right side of the desktop. With the Sidebar, users can view photo slideshows, RSS feeds (including video, audio, and text), along with other small applications (referred to as gadgets).
With the latest integration of the Gadgets and Sidebar features, users will no longer need to access the Internet and websites to activate commonly used applications. “Almost the most essential features of a website will be brought to the desktop thanks to Gadgets technology,” said Brian Teutsch, program director at Microsoft.
The Gadgets technology can be developed for features such as displaying traffic maps, weather forecasts, etc. Additionally, users can utilize tools like Visual Studio to build mini-applications based on HTML.
Analysts describe this Gadgets technology as a “breakthrough” application for businesses, as it eliminates the need to invest effort in developing large-scale web applications, allowing them to compress functionality into their employees’ desktops instead.
In fact, the idea of the Sidebar is similar to the Dashboard of the Mac OS X operating system or Yahoo’s Widget Engine. Google also has a similar concept, also named Sidebar, included in their Google Desktop download package.
Windows Vista is expected to be released by the end of this year.
Thien Y
