A desktop without tools.
desktop image by Madera from Fotolia.com
With Windows Vista and Windows 7, there are numerous pre-installed desktop tools known as gadgets. These gadgets are non-resource-intensive tools that constantly run on your desktop, allowing you to easily access, observe and interact with them. In addition to the gadgets that are pre-installed with Windows, more can be downloaded from the Internet.
Clock
The clock is a simple gadget that tells you the time. Although you might already have a small digital clock in the lower-right-hand corner of the screen, the clock gadget has several additional features. The main advantage is that it's analog, which for some users is a preferable format. You can also set it to constantly be on top so that the clock gadget is visible even over full-screen programs that might obscure the digital clock.
Slide Show
The slide show gadget searches your computer for all its photos and displays them, one after another. You can also set the slide show to display specific pictures or pictures from a particular folder. As with the clock, you can configure the slide show gadget to always remain on top of other windows. You can also customize the size of the slide show, so that it takes up more or less of your screen space.
Feed Headlines
Many websites offer RSS feeds, which is a service that updates you every time the author posts a new article. The feed headlines gadget displays these article titles for you, and if you click on a title, it will take you directly to the website. As with other gadgets, you can configure feed headlines to always be on top.
References
Photo Credits
- desktop image by Madera from Fotolia.com
