Gadgets are simple mini-applications that give users fast access to personally relevant information and simple tasks—without getting in the way. For example, the Weather Gadget provides real-time information that is available at a glance, and the CPU Meter Gadget provides system information that users are interested in monitoring. Gadgets are part of the desktop, like the Start button, taskbar, and notification area. Unlike normal windows, they aren't represented with a taskbar button. In Window

“Gadgets put information and fun—like news, pictures, games, and the phases of the moon—right on your desktop. In Windows Vista, gadgets were corralled in the Sidebar. Windows 7 sets them free on the screen, where you can move and resize them as you like. Open windows getting in the way of your gadgets? Use Peek to make them instantly reappear. You can customize desktop gadgets by changing their settings, resizing them, keeping them on top of other windows, moving them anywhere on the desktop, an”

Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, is a veteran software company, best known for its Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft More...