Windows Sidebar
on 09.13.05, 06:03am in windows • digg this • comments (17)
Now that it’s been revealed in the PDC Keynote, I can finally start to talk about one of the projects that our team has been working on. Yes, it’s the infamous Windows Sidebar.
So, what exactly are Gadgets? Offically, "Gadgets are a new category of mini-application for the Windows Desktop and the Web. Windows Sidebar is the container for Gadgets on the Windows desktop in Windows Vista. Web Gadgets can also be built for rich, dynamic sites like Start.com."
Unoffically? Well, I’ll be posting a lot more on that in the coming weeks. 
It’s really a great feeling to finally see all of the blood, sweat and tears finally make the light of day. The team behind Windows Sidebar is really small, and I can easily say that it’s been pretty inspiring to worki with such a passionate group of people. Windows Sidebar will be available for developers ‘around Beta 2′, but in the mean time check out http://www.microsoftgadgets.com (it should be up today).
I’ve also set up a new "gadgets" category to talk about building Gadgets for the Windows Sidebar, so please feel free to send over any questions, thoughts, comments, etc and I’ll see what I can do to either answer them here, or get them into the FAQ.
Finally, did you notice at the beginning of the post, I mentioned that Windows Sidebar was only one of the projects we’re working on……. (more coming soon)….
Update: Shawn has posted on Windows Sidebar aswell..
Shawn's Thoughts (September 13, 2005 @ 9:32 am)
Tada! Please welcome the Windows Sidebar…
The folks on the team have been bouncing up and down, waiting for Bill to show off one of the projects our team has been working on yep, its the Windows Sidebar… Its baaaaack… Its been a really…
RandyRants.com (September 13, 2005 @ 9:33 am)
PDC Update
FurryGoat
Shawn's Thoughts (September 13, 2005 @ 9:33 am)
Tada! Please welcome the Windows Sidebar…
The folks on the team have been bouncing up and down, waiting for Bill to show off one of the projects our team has been working on yep, its the Windows Sidebar… Its baaaaack… Its been a really…
Jason (September 13, 2005 @ 12:28 pm)
Man, the desktop looks even more like a Mac. Macs are cool, but can’t MS come up with their own ideas?
And the sidebar looks like Yahoo’s Widget… is that a copy of that idea?
http://widgets.yahoo.com/
Yuck. And I am trying to love Microsoft!
***Dave Does the Blog (September 13, 2005 @ 12:40 pm)
Windows Sidebar
Um … yay? Windows Sidebar ssems to be a Windows Vista place for Windows Gadgets to reside, Windows Gadgets being little mini-applets. Which sounds a lot like the latest Apple…
Nat (September 13, 2005 @ 12:56 pm)
What I really enjoy about Dashboard and Konfabulator is the fact that it’s not in your way. It’s hidden by default and when you need it, you hit a key and it’s activated. Will the sidebar allow this kind of functionality ? I’m not too keen on having this on my screen all of the time…
Michael Brundage (September 13, 2005 @ 1:06 pm)
Everyone’s going to think this is copying Apple’s Widgets (why, oh why, did we have to call them “Gadgets”?!?), which itself was copying Konfabulator.
But actually this is an evolution of Microsoft’s Sideshow project from 5+ years ago, well before Apple’s Dashboard/Widgets. See http://research.microsoft.com/research/pubs/view.aspx?tr_id=488
Sideshow was pretty nifty. I particularly liked the local area traffic map.
The Skins Factory (September 13, 2005 @ 1:47 pm)
“Man, the desktop looks even more like a Mac. Macs are cool, but can’t MS come up with their own ideas?”
That was like saying ‚ÄúCars are cool, but can‚Äôt BMW‚Ñ¢ come up with their own mode of transportation instead of copy Henry Ford‚Äôs idea‚Äù? Apple didn‚Äôt invent the idea of widgets or gadgets. And at the end of the day, it’s not who started using them first, it‚Äôs who does them the best. I‚Äôll take a BMW‚Ñ¢ over a Mustang‚Ñ¢ any day of the week‚Ķ
Randy (September 13, 2005 @ 5:06 pm)
I agree. Besides, when did Apple or Yahoo! Widgets ever doc to a screen?
I’m already seeing a similar argument popping up all over with the new Office 12 UI that was previewed after the Sidebar preview… drives me nuts. Absolutely nuts.
To use the car analogy, when BMW puts a new stereo in their car, you don’t hear Ford going nuts over the fact that it uses a knob that is similar to their knob - why on earth should Apple or Apple fan’s? I mean, since when does Apple own the rights to *anything* digital?
It’s like if a ISV has anything remotely close to blue on a graphic UI and they’ll jump on ya, shouting an Aqua mantra… pisses me off.
Rebecca (September 13, 2005 @ 6:53 pm)
I’m very pleased MS is going to go with Gadgets, even if the name sucks and somewhat legitimizes the Widget comparisons. It’s going to be great; I just hope it doesn’t leave too many security holes.
I saw this tiny computer that a research group was working on a few months ago, perhaps with one of the Apple guys, that looked really cool and exactly what I’ve been looking for as a highly portable accessory to my current laptop. One of the best features they described was an external low-power (colorless?) screen that would display whatever data. It’d be awesome if somehow MS could encourage this (through support or integration with Office apps or whatever) for all laptops, and I can think, offhand, of three great uses. First, wireless network presence, strength, and encryption status. Second, a truncated email interface. Third, any number of RSS feeds, from weather to headlines. This would cut down on battery needs dramatically, an area that doesn’t seem to be improving a great deal.
I would take it one step further though, and see if you could make two separate entities that can access each other. What I mean is that the external screen could tap into components, such as the wireless card, RAM, or a small amount of internal flash memory, without having the entire computer on and the HD and other unneeded components sucking power. However, when the computer is on you can configure the screen through it or use it for tasks that depend on several components or broad use of the OS, but be able to do it with the lid closed.
I include this idea here because it seems like many Sidebar Gadgets would be applicable in such a format, and perhaps it could go so far as to be the foundation of the actual application used in such a venture.
PS: Beat to death the existence of Sideshow years ago. It’s not right Apple should get credit where it isn’t due, and that fans use it as another excuse to bash MS.
Jason (September 13, 2005 @ 8:29 pm)
Yeah, I take back what I said.
Read this:
http://jim.roepcke.com/index.bak
Sorry folks. Copying features is as old as software itself- as old any invention, I guess.
~Jason
Jason (September 13, 2005 @ 8:35 pm)
And I love Microsoft. I just hear complaints from Mac users everyday, and get tired of defending MS.
The car analogy is great.
~Jason
Brandon Gilchrist (September 13, 2005 @ 10:13 pm)
Active Desktop and Sidebar tiles.
How is this any different besides the obvious name change? Mac people are just complaining because they aren’t called “Active Desktop items” anymore.
Digital Thoughts (September 14, 2005 @ 1:51 am)
PDC ‘05
There’s a huge amount of new stuff coming out of PDC ‘05 at the moment. So much, in fact, that I feel…
Grover (September 14, 2005 @ 9:03 am)
Normally I’m inclined to agree that it’s the Mac bigots just hating on MS, but you guys are pointing out exactly why it is in fact shameless “me too”. All of these ideas have existed for quite some time. But their implementation sucked and languished. But then Apple finds a way to make it work well. So MS just “happenes” to come along a try it again after Apple makes them popular? Are you genuinely telling me that you don’t think if people weren’t oohing and ahhing over the these features in Apple’s OS, that they would look just this way anyway? And for heaven’s sake The Skins Factory, are you actually using the Sidebar to differentiate? The thing that looks EXACTLY LIKE THE MAC OS DOCK?
I’m not a MS hater, really. I use both Macs and PCs quite a bit at work and at home, using whichever system happens to meet the particular need. And Apple is absolutely guilty of the same crime against Konfabulator. But you guys are really self deluded to not see that time after time that whenever Apple produces some neat piece of eye candy, MS will have something amazingly similar in their next release. It’s like clockwork. Be honest with yourselves. There are lots of UI implementation ideas that exist right now that would not in fact give everyone Apple deja vu, but every new UI element I’ve seen so far instantly make me think “APPLE!” Coincidence? The developers of Linux environments don’t seem to be having this problem.
Oh and the automobile metaphor is actually quite apt, but not in the way your thinking. Go into an electronics store and look at the set of aftermarket stereos. Yes they all have knobs (actually no they don’t but we’ll ignore that for now), but if you look you’ll really see two groups of stereos…well made units that generally go out of their way to make their interface elements (knobs) look unique and elegant and knockoffs that generally try to copy the unique elements…and usually poorly. What category do you think MS is falling into with all of these Aqua-esque elements?
Korby Parnell's Gotdotnet Wunderkammer (September 14, 2005 @ 2:30 pm)
Gadgets in Windows Vista
My good friend Steve Makofsky (RSS) recently mentioned the announcement of the new Windows Vista Sidebar,…
surferosa (September 16, 2005 @ 1:41 am)
The fact is Apple continues to successfully integrate new and useful concepts into their UI while MS fumbles for years and years to try to emulate their success…only to look like clumsy imitators time after time. Widgets/Gadgets, The search/Spotlight tools, Vista look and feel…you can get all those features right now, implemented much better and in a completed and fully supported release right off the shelf. It’s called Mac OS X Tiger.
The analogies referred to here just don’t make sense, unless you mean that Windows is the Mustang and OS X is the BMW. It would be much more appropriate to compare a real Rolex to a cheap knock off. Yes, they are both watches, but, I know which one I would pick…and it has an Apple logo on it.
Oh, and both Yahoo AND Dashboard widgets have the ability to dock to the screen…look into it…and the Sideshow was a cheap knock off of Apple’s Dock, which, in turn evolved from Next. In fact, I haven’t seen Redmond innovate anything in years besides creative litigation and corporate posturing.
As if anyone needs a reason to “bash” MS. ha!
Try not outsourcing half your devs and most of you support out to India, China, and Israel. Try not taking away jobs from Americans and stop flexing your phony H-1 visas…Now, THAT would be innovative. Until then, MS will be mediocre, just like they have always been.