Sidebars, Side by side. Not if Google can decide. Google's sidebar really want's to be the only sidebar used, so can we have the both? If you have Windows Vista's sidebar already running it'll be closed when Google Desktop sidebar starts up. Even if Vista's sidebar is using another position. However it's possible to both run Vista's sidebar and Google's. If Google's sidebar is started up first you can start up Vista's sidebar. A very good idea is to have them on their different side even if you don't have Google desktop sidebar in sidebar mode or have Vista's sidebar closed.
Sidebars, Side by side.Comparing them the sidebars, they are pretty much like to each other. They have the same opportunity to have add, remove, move, dock and un-dock. With Vista's sidebar you can page gadgets while you can't do that with Google's. The width is re-size able with Google's so that gives the developers making a gadget the opportunity to use more space considering the width of the sidebar. But at the same time it could be a big drawback, why? Because all users may not want a for example 300px width sidebar and the gadget that was more fit for 300px wide sidebar does not at all fill it's use in a 150px width sidebar. So in a developers perspective you need to remember that if the gadget is not used un-docked it must have a layout that is re-size able with the most common range of size.
Adding and finding new gadgets seems to be much more easier with Google desktop sidebar and delivers a bit more then Windows Vista's sidebar. As I did explained in the previous post adding a gadget to Google's sidebar, how to add. In Vista's sidebar when adding a gadget you'll have a few gadgets, the ones you have installed and some who you had installed and when you are going to get more gadgets you need to go to a linked resource website to find those.
You could also un-dock all gadgets both in the Vista sidebar and Google's sidebar and then hide them both. Google's sidebar have thou 3 more options how to display the sidebar as I've also covered in previous post.
Windows Vista's configurations are pretty simple and few but that's not the same case with Google's sidebar. There are pretty many configurations for Google's sidebar. Most of the global settings are made in the properties for the sidebar.
With some of the Google gadgets you can connect with your Google account. By doing this data can be saved and loaded from your account. For example you maybe want to save something important in the calendar for a special date and then be able to access that from other places. A Google account can be your solution for that. The Google calendar service is still in Beta when writing.
To save space on the desktop Google gadgets are probably the one that's most effective (collapsing) while Windows Vista gadgets can't be collapsed. Only the opacity can be changed which is also a good idea if you think the gadgets are a bit annoying seeing clearly all the time.
Gadget with 20% opacity (Left) Collapsed Gadget (Right)Comparing Design Google Sidebar and gadget vs Vista sidebar and gadget.
The difference between the visual Google's Desktop sidebar, in sidebar mode and Vista sidebar is not so big but you feel that it's strong associated with the Google brand. You'll clearly see the Google logo both at the top of the sidebar and at the bottom in the search field. In my opinion the Google logo at the top is not necessary as you find it in the search field. You get the feeling of a commercial product. Vista's sidebar is more neutral but it is not strange that Google is a bit aggressive neither bad to infiltrate Microsoft's operating systems with alternative chose. One thing as I have mentioned before is that Vista's sidebar seems to be missing an interface by finding other gadgets, you'll need to browse a web page. On the other hand you'll need to browse a web page to configure Google's sidebar. The style of the gadgets are nearly the same but much depends on how the developer has designed the gadget. Choosing a sidebar by design is not such a giving idea.
In the next post I'll look at the Desktop Gadget API.
1 comment:
It was very interesting for me to read this post. Thanx for it. I like such themes and everything connected to them. I would like to read a bit more soon.
Alex
Cell phone blocker
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