Widgets to Microsoft Gadgets
Well since Yahoo has Konfabulator, Google has its Sidebar and Apple has its Dashboard Widgets, Microsoft needed to come-up with something. A brand new category imaginatively called — drum roll please – Microsoft Gadgets. I like to call it, “A million new ways to get hacked.”
> Gadgets are a new category of mini-application designed to provide information, useful lookup, or enhance an application or service on your Windows PC or the Web.
And then you wonder why Steve is busting a cap, worried about people hightailing it to Mountain View/Sunnyvale. Or should I say, originality, thy name is not Microsoft. Or as Steve Jobs would like to say, “Redmond Start Your Photocopiers.” (PS, not that Steve hasn’t maxed out his Xerox machine either!)
i’m not claiming that they invented it… but “active desktop” has been available for at least since XP and I thought it was on 2000. I had programmed a few apps for it… Om- you’re the mac guy, did they have a dashboard esque app back then?
The Windows Vista Sidebar was announced years before Apple emulated Konfabulator’s approach to desktop widgets in Mac OS X Tiger. The original concept for the Sidebar platform is from over four years ago (MSR) and MSN 8/Premium has had a sidebar (called MSN Dashboard!) used by millions of people since 2002.
The Windows Vista Sidebar wasn’t a surprise to anyone except maybe people who haven’t been paying attention ;) It was even shown back at PDC 2003… and I believe it was in the tech preview builds handed out; SDK and everything.
You might want to read this MSR paper published in 2001 for more on sidebars (and a pretty familiar UI and feature set):
http://research.microsoft.com/research/pubs/view.aspx?msr_tr_id=MSR-TR-2001-83
Om, I think the original side bar concept dates back a couple of years to an MSR paper. See http://research.microsoft.com/research/pubs/view.aspx?msr_tr_id=MSR-TR-2001-83 for more information.
that link didn’t work so hot for me… you may need to try:
http://research.microsoft.com/research/pubs/view.aspx?msr_tr_id=MSR-TR-2001-83
Oh Geez… formatting is killing this one. im going to bed.
The concept of a sidebar dates by to 2001. Both MSN and Windows had the concept working on pre-alpha code. The concept of widgets/gadgets dates back to way before Konfabulator or Apple. What MS has done is very much like the Konfabulator approach which Apple also copied. The difference with MS’s approach is the ability to move those gadgets from a desktop to another Windows device to a webpage. It’s an interesting idea.
But to claim Windows is not innovative because of something Apple has is just reality distortion. You are ignoring everything else that was shown on just day 1 at PDC. Office has no more dropdown menus for crying out loud. You don’t think Apple will copy that?
“Om- you’re the mac guy, did they have a dashboard esque app back then?”
In System 6 to 9, they were called Desk Accessories. So to answer your question, yes.
Wasn’t the Dashboard/Widgets idea floated around by PARC or the original Mac OS. This concept has been along much longer than the beginning of the 21st century.
I mean you could probably make claims the the system tray icons also serve a similar function.
“In System 6 to 9, they were called Desk Accessories. So to answer your question, yes.”
Actually, just to be a nit, in System 1 through 6 they were called “Desk Accessories.” In System 7 through 9, they were “Apple Menu Items.”
For those of us on a technical bent, “Desk Accessories” were actually simple device drivers that didn’t control any device (which is why they were DRVR resources). To really date myself, I’ll also point out that SideKick for DOS worked similarly.
I wrote a Phone Book desk accessory back in 1986 or so.
When System 7 came out, desk accessories “went away” and became applications. Apple made a little app that, when you chose a DRVR desk accessory, it launched a little app that ran the DRVR code (for compatibility).
As for operating systems, desk accessories are the only the first half, the other would be Sherlock for the web based stuff (I don’t remember, did Sherlock come out in OS 8 or 9?). The concept itself, however, is as old as the hills and probably predates the founding of either Apple or M$.
Scott
What’s weird about this whole thing as well is that when Apple first announced Dashboard, they quite intentionally called the modules “Gadgets” instead of “Widgets”. “Widgets” was already being used by Konfabulator. Strangely, sometime between the initial unveiling and the actual release, Apple switched to the Widget terminology, and now we see Microsoft going with “Gadgets”.
Hummm…
Who cares who thought of it first? Who implemented it first? Who was able to put out a stable OS that ran these applications smoothly. Apple put out a beautiful OS that implemented almost everything Windows Vista is TRYING to do. The only application that Windows edges Mac on is Media Center and that might be changing soon.
You ass- Vista is doing a much better job that Apple.
[...] Oder wie es Om Malik in seinem Broadband Blog schreibt: …Microsoft Gadgets. I like to call it, “A million new ways to get hacked.â€? [...]
[...] We have been hot on the trail of widgets ever since we found Konfabulator back in Feb. Apple of course, released a competing platform called Dashboard, then Yahoo bought Konfabulator, and today we got newds that Microsoft was getting into the widget wars with an upcoming product called Microsoft Gadgets. Microsoft Gadgets come in three flavors: * Gadgets for Windows Sidebar will run on your desktop or dock into Windows Sidebar, an upcoming feature in Windows Vista alongside other applications. Desktop Gadgets can developed using Windows Presentation Foundation, DHTML/Atlas, and even ActiveX controls. The beauty of Desktop Gadgets is that they are visually and programmatically rich – scaling from vector-based graphics and managed code to standard techniques you’d use for the Web. You’ll be hearing more about Windows Sidebar over the coming months here as we approach release around Beta 2 of Windows Vista. * Gadgets for Start.com (a.k.a. Web or Server-based Gadgets) provide a fast, customizable homepage with a clean user interface – putting the user in control of more of their online experience. Currently in incubation/public preview, Start.com is a place where consumers can customize the web to their liking by adding their own sources of content including RSS web-feeds and web-based Gadgets that extend functionality of their site- anything from custom calendars to service integration. Start.com demonstrates the use of DHTML and ASP.Net Atlas, which separates the data from the UI resulting in significant performance improvements. In addition, Start.com Gadgets can easily support docking into the Windows Sidebar. * Gadgets for Windows SideShow(tm) (a.k.a. Auxilary Display Gadgets) allow users to view their information on devices. Users can view their data where they want it, whether it is for instant access on the lid of a laptop PC, for notifications on a keyboard display or for convenience on a detached device like a cell phone. Gadgets for Windows SideShow run on the PC and use COM interfaces to send data to devices. This Windows SideShow platform combined with the power of desktop applications allows for new scenarios and opportunities. Source: Microsoftgadgets.com via Om Malik’s Broadband Blog via Techdirt [...]
[...] Om Malik calls it correctly: “A million new ways to get hacked.� [...]
[...] has its Sidebar and Apple has its Dashboard Widgets, microsoft needed to come-up with something.http://gigaom.com/2005/09/13/widgets-to-microsoft-gadgets/ D6: Facebook&39s Zuckerberg, Sandberg Beacon Was "Big Mistake … – Washington PostValue of [...]