Windows Experience Blog : Windows Sidebar

Microsoft Live Labs Releases Color Picker Gadget

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:58:00 GMT

I caught this bit of news tonight from Redmond Pie’s awesome Web Slice for IE8 Beta 2 which shows their latest headlines: Microsoft Live Labs has released a really neat Color Picker Gadget for Windows Sidebar.

Download: Color Picker Gadget from Microsoft Live Labs

Essentially the Color Picker Gadget gives users quick access to RGB color hex codes. This could be extremely handy when working with several apps or doing website development and you’re needing to utilize a palette across the board. This Gadget allows you to create and save your own color palettes and search palettes from the website COLOURlovers. This was a side project of Live Labs Designer Jeff Weir. For more information, check out this post on the Microsoft Live Labs Blog.

Stay up to date with Olympic Medal wins with the Olympic Medal Count Gadget

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:47:00 GMT

Donavon West, Sidebar Gadget-maestro, is at it again! He just released a brand new Windows Sidebar gadget designed to let users keep track of Olympic Medal wins from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Download: 2008 Beijing Olympics Medal Count Gadget

This is a great gadget for people who aren't following the Olympics very closely but want to keep tabs on Olympic Medal wins. I'm not following the Olympics as closely as I'd like due to several things I'm working on so this Gadget is very helpful in at least keeping me "in the loop".

You can also watch encore videos of the Olympics at NBCOlympics.com thanks to a partnership with MSN Video and are presented in Silverlight. Also: don't forget you can also watch Olympic content directly within Windows Media Center on PCs running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate. I posted about NBC Olympics On The Go a few weeks ago here. I hear TVTonic has released a 64-bit version of NBC Olympics On The Go as well.

Track the Weather on Mars with the Phoenix Mars Weather Gadget

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:16:00 GMT

You can get the latest weather (Maximum and Minimum temperatures per Sol or Martian Solar Day) on Mars from the Phoenix Mars Lander delivered to your desktop from the Phoenix lander currently on Mars.

Download: Phoenix Mars Weather Gadget

The Phoenix Mars Lander is a Martian lander (not a rover like Mars Pathfinder) designed to look for evidence of water or ice under the surface of Mars. Instead of roaming around the surface of Mars looking for water evidence - the Phoenix lander will dig below the surface to look for water or ice. Matter a fact, today the Phoenix Mission Team announced they may have found ice - aka frozen water! That's awesome.

The Phoenix Mars Weather Gadget is updated regularly as soon as the weather data is downloaded* from the Phoenix Mars Lander.

*In some cases due to technical reasons, weather data may not be available on a daily basis. For example: I believe today is Sol 25 but the Phoenix Mars Weather Gadget is reporting weather data from Sol 22.

You can get the latest on the Phoenix Mars Mission from their website here or the NASA website here. You can follow them on Twitter as well.

Check out these new Sidebar Gadgets for Windows Vista

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:49:00 GMT

Today I've got some pretty neat new Sidebar Gadgets to tell you about for Windows Sidebar.

If you're into Baseball, you'll like this new Gadget. Fox Sports on MSN is offering a Fantasy Baseball Gadget brought to you by People-Ready Business from Microsoft.

With this Gadget, you can check up on Fantasy Baseball news, check player stats, and create your own roster. This Gadget requires Adobe Flash so if you're running Windows Vista x64 (like me), you'll need to run Windows Sidebar under 32-bit. To do that in Windows Vista x64 - just go to C:/Program Files (x86)/Windows Sidebar and execute sidebar.exe from there.

Download the People-Ready Fantasy Baseball Gadget here.

Another new Gadget to check out is the brand new MSN Video Gadget for Windows Sidebar. The MSN Video Team announced its availability today along with some highlights as to what you can do with the Gadget on their blog.

Download the MSN Video Gadget here.

Got a Sidebar Gadget recommendation? Would love to hear them!

The Live Search Maps Gadget is back!

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:06:00 GMT

Donavon West, whose company LiveGadgets.net was hired by Microsoft to develop the Live Search Maps Gadget originally, has announced via LiveSide that the Live Search Maps gadget is back and available for download! This awesome gadget lets you look at traffic in many different cities. I use this gadget all the time especially when traveling up to Seattle.

Donavon says work has been done "under-the-hood" so visually the gadget won't look much different than before. He also says new cities have been added: Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, San Antonio and Toronto. New cities will automatically show up in the Live Search Maps Gadget when they are added going forward.

This gadget is a must-have for folks who commute and do quite a bit of traveling.

Finding Certified for Windows Vista Devices

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:53:00 GMT

Ever in need to search for a Certified for Windows Vista device? I've got the site just for you. A few weeks ago I needed to find some Certified for Windows Vista devices in a specific category: printers. I was directed by a friend to the Windows Vista Hardware Compatibility site where they offer a searchable and categorized database for both Certified for Windows Vista devices and Works with Windows Vista devices. Check it out. I found exactly what I was looking for.

I also stumbled upon the "Look for the Logo" Gadget for Windows Sidebar which allows you to search for Certified for Windows Vista devices right from your desktop. Even better, the gadget was developed by gadget master Donavon West.

2 great resources for Certified for Windows Vista devices!

Get Tips and Tricks for Microsoft Office with New Sidebar Gadget

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:20:00 GMT

Nathan Weinberg over on InsideMicrosoft has spotted an interesting (and helpful) new Windows Sidebar Gadget on Windows Live Gallery: the Office Tips & Tricks Gadget.

The Office Tips & Tricks Gadget sits on your Sidebar or off on your desktop - displaying tips and tricks for Microsoft Office. This gadget is a great way for a user to learn new trips and tricks for Microsoft Office that makes their experience better. I learned how to delete a meeting in Outlook without notifying all the invitees just this evening thanks to the Gadget. Sweet.

Once a tip comes up on the Gadget, just click on it and the Gadget will expand out for you to read that tip or trick.

This Gadget was designed by Donavon West who was also responsible for creating our Windows Vista Countdown Gadget last November. He is also responsible for many other Gadgets which are on Windows Live Gallery. Donavon recently acquired the Windows Live Gallery plaque, is a Silver Partner on Windows Live Gallery, and is a 2008 Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (check out his profile). Congrats Donavon and awesome work!

Check out the Expedia Fare Alert Gadget for Windows Sidebar

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 06:20:00 GMT

Sarah Perez from Channel 10 has blogged about the new Expedia Fare Alert Gadget for Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista. Just like Josh from Windows Connected, I find this Gadget extremely useful for keeping track of destinations I regularly visit such as Seattle or Las Vegas.

The Expedia Fare Alert Gadget lets you create alerts for fares for specific destinations. You can create up to three alerts for different destinations. You can set the fare price you're looking for per destination and the Gadget will alert you if it finds fares that meet your price through Expedia.com.

Download the Gadget for Windows Sidebar.

Pretty useful Gadget to have running on your Sidebar if you travel quite a bit.

Running a dual-monitor setup with Windows Vista

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:52:00 GMT

Earlier this week I received my second Dell UltraSharp 2407FP 24-inch monitor to accompany my already in-use 2407FP monitor. I now have both 2407FP monitors connected to my ATI Radeon X1650 Pro via DVI. I have both monitors running at 1920x1200 screen resolution.

I created a video showing off running Windows Vista with multiple monitors and demonstrate Flip3D when two monitors are in use. I also talk about the ability to choose which monitor Windows Sidebar runs on.

Video: Flip3D with 2 Monitors in Windows Vista

Windows Vista's Display Settings allows you to control both your monitors. You can designate any one of the two monitors as your PC's Primary Display. Using the Identify Monitors button at the top of the Display Settings window you can identify which monitor is 1 and which is monitor 2. When I first connected my second monitor to my PC, it simply mirrored the screen from my first monitor. However, this was not the behavior I wanted. In Display Settings, I clicked on monitor 2 and checked "Extend the desktop to this monitor" to add the second monitor as usable desktop space. With this checked, I was then able to drag apps and use the second monitor's desktop as an extension of my desktop on my Primary Display.

Your PC will save the settings of the apps you drag to the second monitor. For example, I dragged Windows Live Mail over to my second monitor. When I exited Windows Live Mail and then opened it back up - it opened back up on my second monitor. Your PC will preserve - or "remember" - the settings of which monitor that app is opened up on even after rebooting.

So what do I use my second monitor for? I read a lot of RSS feeds and email throughout the day. While working on writing blog posts or editing video content, I keep Windows Live Mail opened up on the second monitor where I can watch and monitor new feeds (and email) as they arrive. I occasionally have Windows Media Center opened up and playing a recorded TV show on the second monitor while I work as well.

If you're running Windows Vista with two monitors, I'd love to hear how you're using both monitors!

You can also check out Nick's post from back in March on a PC running with 4 monitors.

The Dell UltraSharp 2407FP Monitors are Certified for Windows Vista.

WinHEC 2007: Day 2

Brandon LeBlanc — Sun, 20 May 2007 09:03:00 GMT

On my second day at WinHEC I really wanted to make it a point to stop by the Expo Hall and take a closer look at all the really cool hardware. So I spent about two hours walking around the Expo Hall and talking with folks until the Expo Hall closed. Microsoft's Pavilion had numerous kiosks set up with product experts at those kiosks to answer any questions.

At the Microsoft Pavilion, I caught up with one of Nick's colleagues Matt Krueger who was helping show off some Mobile PC's that take advantage of Windows Vista and it's technologies.

After talking with Matt, I spotted the HD Media Bridge kiosk and Network Attached Storage kiosk right next to it. I got a closer look at the D-Link Xtreme N Duo MediaBridge units. Right next to the Media Bridge units was the Maxtor (now under Seagate) network storage device that are use Windows Rally. You can check out Maxtor's selection of network storage devices here.

During the Windows Rally keynote demo by Program Managers Glenn Ward and Jim Barber, they showed off a Windows Sidebar Gadget that worked with the Maxtor network storage devices using Windows Rally technologies. I was able to take some shots of the Gadget running on one of the kiosk demo PC's. I would like to see more hardware devices come with Windows Sidebar Gadgets that work like this Gadget does with the Maxtor network device. To be able check the status of a networked storage device and see how much storage space I have through a Sidebar Gadget is simply amazing.

Next I stopped by to take a look at a couple of SideShow devices including a Ricavision SideShow-enabled Windows Media Center Remote. This is one real slick remote. I was also able to check out a Digital Picture Frame too.

The Windows Vista Logo program had a huge presence this year at WinHEC. They had a very nice Certified for Windows Vista device showcase of some of the neat new devices out in the marketplace today that are certified. Ironically, I was using my Nikon D40 to take these photos which is also a Certified for Windows Vista camera.

Ben Reed was there talking with folks about certified devices. Ben has been blogging Certified for Windows Vista here on the Windows Vista Team blog for a few months now and has been producing some really neat videos on certified devices.

I also stopped by and chatted with the folks from AMD, HP, Intel, and a few others before the Expo Hall had closed. I had a great experience!

WinHEC 2007 ended for me that evening on a high note when we all went to Universal Studios Hollywood (thanks to the Windows Server Team) to celebrate the coming of Windows Server 2008.

Click here to see my entire WinHEC 2007 Photo Gallery.