One of the first things you will notice about the Vista desktop is the new Windows Sidebar. Although it has appeared in a different form on older versions of Windows, the new Sidebar has an altogether new function. Previously used as a sort of toolbar that held shortcuts to various applications, it now serves as a container for "gadgets". Gadgets are small apps designed for a specific purpose and designed to run in the Sidebar.
Here is a screenshot of the Vista desktop with the wallpaper set to a white color to make the sidebar a bit more visible. With Aero running, the only time the inner edge is visible is when the mouse pointer is located/hovering in the Sidebar. The Sidebar control located at the top of the column is easy to miss even with the white background.
The Sidebar control becomes most discernable when the mouse pointer is hovering on it. Visibility is also enhanced by the appearance of the little "Gadget" label. Each "gadget" has its own control that exhibits these same properties. Some gadgets have additional controls. The "slideshow gadget", for instance, has a set of "VCR" controls. The two illustrations show these controls as they appear when the pointer is hovering on them. Also visible, is the inner edge of the Sidebar as mentioned previously.
When you click the white "+" on the Sidebar control the "Gadget Gallery" dialog shown here is launched. This panel shows available gadgets and is the area from which the user installs them to the Sidebar. All but one of the gadgets shown here are available from a fresh Vista install. The indicated link opens a web page on Microsoft's web site from which you can download other gadgets. There are a considerable number of gadgets already available. The button in the other bottom corner opens a "detail" section of the Gadget Gallery. This section provides version, brief description and author of selected gadgets.
To add a gadget to the Sidebar simply right click on the gadget of your choice in Gadget Gallery. On the resulting menu left click "Add". Be warned, the "Uninstall" item on this menu will remove the gadget from your computer. If you just want to remove a gadget from the Sidebar without deleting it then hold your mouse pointer on the Gadget in the Sidebar. The individual gadget control appears. Clicking the "X" on this control removes the gadget from the Sidebar without deleting it from the Gadget Gallery. The other symbol on the individual gadget control launches the options dialog for that particular gadget. Options vary from one gadget to the next as much as gadgets vary from each other.
Right clicking a gadget launches a menu that gives access to items common to every gadget. The "Add Gadget" item launches the Gadget Gallery. The "Detach from Sidebar" selection sends the gadget to the desktop. The "Move" selection allows the gadget to be placed on the desktop wherever users want it to be placed. These two items can also be duplicated via the click and drag technique. The "Close Gadget" item, of course, removes the gadget from the Sidebar.
Due to the sub-menu of the "Opacity" selection, it is being examined separately. As you can see, this selection provides you with 5 levels. These set the amount that the background shows through the gadget. The lower the number the more background you see. At the 20% level the gadget is almost invisible. Also, when the opacity level is set to less than 100% the gadget reacts to the mouse pointer in the same manner as the controls.
Right clicking on an empty area of the Sidebar will also launch a menu. "Bring Gadgets to Front" will make gadgets visible when covered by a window with properties set to "always on top". "Add Gadgets" launches the Gadget Gallery when clicked. The "Help" selection opens a "Frequently Asked Question" styled help window. Selecting "Close Sidebar" will promptly turn this feature off. Sidebar can be turned back on by clicking the "Start Button" then "All Programs" then "Accessories" and finally "Windows Sidebar". Choosing the Properties item on this menu opens the Properties dialog.
The Sidebar Properties dialog allows you to change the behavior of the Sidebar. Starting from the top, click the check box next to "Start Sidebar when Windows starts" to clear the check box. This box is checked by default. In the box labeled "Arrangement", the user can select whether the Sidebar is always on top of other windows, on which side of the screen it appears and for those with a dual monitor display on which monitor it is shown. In the box labeled "Maintenance", a button labeled "View list of running gadgets" launches a dialog that lists gadgets and an additional method for turning them off. The other button, "Restore gadgets installed with Windows" remains dimmed/ inactive until an original gadget is deleted. If this happens by accident this is where you come to restore the gadget.
One last thing to cover is the installation of gadgets downloaded from the web. The default location for downloaded files is the "Downloads" folder. Open this folder or whichever folder you specified and double click the file. This will install it to the Sidebar and the Gadget Galley at the same time. Don't forget to scan the file with your antivirus program first.
Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Windows, Windows XP and Windows Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other names have been included in the above text that are trademarks of the respective companies.
