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Anybody miss the sidebar?

Anybody miss the sidebar?

Postby Grav!ty » Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:52 pm

I don't really. I was sure there was a way to enable it in Windows 7, but I don't see any executable for it or anywhere to enable it. That made we wonder whether anyone misses having it. I don't use any gadgets either, so how does it feel just having them float on the desktop?
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Re: Anybody miss the sidebar?

Postby JabbaPapa » Tue Aug 18, 2009 5:36 pm

Well given that there was a bug in the notification area of the old taskbar, so that active icons located there including the sidebar in Vista could steal focus from your active window(s) and slow your GUI down perhaps quite drastically, and potentially cause some other headaches -- no I don't miss it at all, and I am perfectly happy to keep my gadgets floating sidebar-like at the edge of my desktop :)
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Re: Anybody miss the sidebar?

Postby phileysmiley » Tue Aug 18, 2009 6:06 pm

Even after 5 years I still put this on all my 4 rigs and every Windows installation:

http://www.desktopsidebar.com/

Their lead developer was hired away by MS to develop the Vista sidebar and they've shut down their forums *sniff* but it's still far superior to anything else out there. I am using it on XP, XP 64, and Vista 64. There are just a few compatibility issues on Vista with some of the third party plug-ins.

Especially with the newer widescreen laptops you hardly notice it, and you can hide it anyway so it slides away if you want. I keep mine at less than 1" wide. It used to be a bit of a resource hog but, again, with the newer systems and their higher speeds and memory it really doesn't matter.

I haven't tried it on W7 yet, which I just installed last nite.
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Re: Anybody miss the sidebar?

Postby imnuts » Wed Aug 19, 2009 3:14 am

I never used the Vista sidebar because I didn't like it being on the side of the screen taking up space I could otherwise use, but I do use gadgets in Windows 7 and they are sitting on the desktop so that when windows are closed, I can see them, or I can just minimize things quick to see them.
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Re: Anybody miss the sidebar?

Postby shreader » Wed Aug 19, 2009 1:54 pm

I am a creature of habit, I have the clock, calendar, tachometer, weather (enlarged) & slideshow (enlarged) gadgets on the side where the Vista sidebar was.
The browser & documents window opens about 1.5 - 2" short of that side, I don't miss that amount of space they use. Having a large (22") widescreen monitor probably helps too.
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Re: Anybody miss the sidebar?

Postby Grav!ty » Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:46 pm

I wonder if copying and pasting the sidebar .exe file and the associated .dll files if any, from Vista will get it working in Windows 7?
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