Comments on: Google Desktop Side Bar Replacement

Question: Google Desktop Side Bar Replacement

pyro979 — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:37:19 -0800

So Google Desktop has been discontinued for a while, and while I was able to rescue some gadgets after a reinstall I have a feeling that I need a replacement.

I saw this thread, but Konfabulator also seems to bed discontinued as well (plus I'm not sure it's exactly what I need).

The main thing I'm looking for is a sidebar that is always on screen, as opposed to on the desktop. Multi-monitor support/sending would be a plus, but by no means a requirement.

Widgets I need are:
gCal
Gmail
Some sort of notepad

Widgets I'd like are:
quick calc (the kind where you just type your calculations in)
volume
battery
cpu/ram
weather
launching arbitrary programs from icons (compact)

Features I don't need that GD had:
any sort of search or indexing
launching

Anyone have recommendations?

By: pyro979

pyro979 — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:47:35 -0800

Also, is there maybe a utility that limits where the maximized window stops? That way I can use desktop gadgets, and just arrange them on the side of the desktop.

By: Captain Chesapeake

Captain Chesapeake — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:02:24 -0800

Minibrowser ver. 0.7 is great for keeping snippits of webpages open using windows gadgets. I keep google to-do list and google calendar open on screen. Unfortunately it looks like www.minibrowser.info is down. Perhaps you can find it mirrored at a trustworthy site? Me-mail me if you need tips on tweaking it.

By: bardophile

bardophile — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:29:50 -0800

You could look into Rainmeter, which is a desktop customization tool. Lots of people have developed themes that should be able to do the things you're asking. Lifehacker has some good tutorials on how to use it, too. So, a little bit of setup would be involved, but you'd be able to have exactly the widgets you wanted, nothing more, nothing less.

By: xyzzy

xyzzy — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:46:49 -0800

Rainmeter is what you want. I don't know if there's something built into rainmeter to keep windows from covering the gadgets, but I've used a utility called sizer to keep my windows the size I want them for years.

By: bardophile

bardophile — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:29:33 -0800

Oh, I'm sorry. I missed that you needed a solution for keeping things always on top. You could use the free version of Fences and MaxMax in tandem with Rainmeter to keep the widgets where you want them.