Microsoft Killing Desktop Gadgets in Windows 8?
The company originally launched this feature with the release of Windows Vista, and, for a long time, the library Microsoft built over the years was huge thanks to internal developers and third parties. Now they're all mostly gone save for 29 of what the company seemingly considers "Greatest Hits." Even the Xbox Live Avatar widget is gone, replaced with the Avatar360 clock.
"Because we want to focus on the exciting possibilities of the newest version of Windows, Microsoft no longer supports uploading new gadgets. But that doesn't mean you can't still get gadgets. The most popular and highest-rated gadgets are still available on this page," the gadget page officially reads towards the bottom.
For gadget developers, Microsoft points out that they can now "use your HTML5 and CSS3 skills to build Metro-style apps for Windows 8 Release Preview. To get started developing Metro style apps, go to Windows Dev Center."
That leads us to the current report issued by Win8China. The site claims that it has obtained the latest internal build of Windows 8 -- 844x -- and that it contains no references to desktop gadgets in the control panel or desktop mode. Currently gadgets are supported in Windows 8 Consumer and Release Preview editions.
Desktop gadgets were originally required to be docked (or contained) within a special sidebar in Windows Vista. Visually this feature was removed in Windows 7, allowing gadgets to float on the desktop or be attached to the left or right side of the screen. However all gadgets are still owned by the sidebar.exe process, as seen in the Process tab of Windows Task Manager.
Typically the mini-apps are based on HTML and obtain information from web feeds. Based on Microsoft's information on the gadgets webpage, the company is merely moving up to HTML5 and CSS3, turning "gadgets" into "apps" with a Metro-based theme. Does this mean sidebar.exe is finally being phased out? Guess we'll find out this fall.
why would anyone want "metro"?
Lovely.
Then again Windows 8 is in itself a big gadget, which along the lack of the START button missing (this was not a gadget) although Microsoft might have think so, might be the stupid "reason" why it was removed.
Long live Windows 7!
why would anyone want "metro"?
Lovely.
All told Gadgets were a poor copy of Widgets, but they felt they needed to compete with apple even though hardly any apple users use widgets to begin with.
Windows 8 has a lot of good improvements, but if microsoft keep taking away essential features(image backup, aeroglass, gadgets, etc.) I'm definitely not going to consider it.
Release preview had all the goods, and now microsoft is taking it all away.
Yeah, they're doing everything they can to push users to Metro, where they decide which apps can be offered, where they get a 30% cut on all sales and revenue from ad-supported apps. All that is worth to them more than all the users who hate Metro. That's why they're forcing an inferior UI (for PCs) with inferior capabilities and inferior (or non-existent) software.
Windows 7 will be supported until 2020, and I'll probably be using it until then.
So, besides screwing over the poor Win8 suckers.... Microsoft is going to be active in screwing Windows7 users by removing the gadgets we are already using?! WTF!
PROOF that Microsoft has lost their Fracking minds! All the have to do is not have gadget support in Win8, then it won't have an effect on WIN7 users (The #2 MS OS).
So, to YOU WIN8 Lovers.... do you really THINK we can just STAY in desktop mode? So, if I want weather(which I have) system resource management (which I have) that I can see while Im working... I have to go to the shitty START SCREEN and scroll to see the damn weather or anything else?
LOL, proof again than Windows8 is doomed to be worse than vista.
They are purposely making Win8 desktop so damn ugly, that you don't even want to look at it.
As pissed as I am about Win8, its going to be amusing to watch MS shit all over themselves. What did they do, hire a bunch of people from Commodore and RIM?
I'll be OKAY as long as Win7 is available to buy... but these strong arm tactics by MS suggest that will not be the case. Meaning my ability to build new PCs for myself and my clients will be cut-off. I can't sell a POS win8 PC to anyone.