The Windows 7 Sidebar and Gadgets are broken.
Let me try to explain the situation and problem to you. I am waking up this blog and posting this mostly because the Microsoft forums don't really have a feedback feature, and many posters there don't understand English very well, so they don't fully grasp the issue. The "MVP" posters have the attitude of "you should just change your approach to working" or "forget maximize, we are all Mac people now, maximize is dead". I feel powerless, so this post will at least let me vent.
For background, I love Microsoft products, and I despise third party solutions. Third party solutions almost always add one more step to a task and rarely integrate with the operating system as well as the equivalent Microsoft solution. I also dislike manipulating windows, I'd rather have one task maximized so I can focus on that one task.
Problem:
The sidebar included in Windows 7 isn't a sidebar, they made the whole desktop a sidebar (more of a wholebar). In Vista, you could place the sidebar on the side of one of your screens and set it to always on top. If you maximized a window on that screen, it would fill all the space except the sidebar, so the gadgets would always be visible.
For instance, I have 2 monitors. My sidebar is on the left side of my second monitor and is set to always on top. I have widescreen monitors. I run World of Warcraft fullscreen on my first monitor and use my second monitor for internet browsing to look up information on the game, and to keep Ventrillo open for voice communication. My sidebar shows memory usage, processor usage, has links to Google Chrome and Ventrillo as well as World of Warcraft. I can quickly glance to see if a lag in game is due to my system or the network, because my sidebar is visible.
In Windows 7 there is no way to have my gadgets remain in a space on the side of my screen that is always visible, and keeps out maximized windows. They took out that functionality without adding any functionality.
Possible argument 1: "But it's better now, I can put my gadgets anywhere I want, they aren't stuck to some sidebar."
Answer 1: You are misinformed. In Vista you can do this also, just drag your gadget from the sidebar to where you want it. I realize this isn't obvious, so you probably just gave up and closed the sidebar. So you can see, no new functionality has been introduced.
Possible argument 2: "You can still do what you want in Windows 7, just line up the gadgets on the side you want, then set them to always on top."
Answer 2: While this will keep them always visible, it will result in my maximized applications being hidden by gadgets. Say I want to sign in to a website, login link is under my gadgets, oops, way to many steps introduced to do a simple click. Gadget opacity doesn't change this, I just lose the ability to quickly see my gadgets.
Possible argument 3: "Then just line them up on one side, set to always on top, and size your windows to keep them visible."
Answer 3: Good try. This will look the same and work nearly the same once set up, but I want to be able to use the maximize button for any new program I use. Say I'm navigating folders and doing lots of file transfers. I may want one folder on that right monitor. Your solution asks me to drag it over to the second monitor, and then resize it to fill the space. This is not a fast process. Even with windows snap functionality that is new in Windows 7, this process still takes more steps than dragging to second monitor and clicking maximize.
Possible argument 4: "Google Sidebar does this."
Answer 4: True, and this may be my solution. It saddens me to have to do this. Microsoft, you are trying really hard right now with Bing, and Desktop Search to catch up to Google. Your Sidebar was better (for me anyway). Seems silly for you to remove a feature and lose market share in one more segment when you don't need to.
Possible argument 5: "You can copy the Vista Sidebar to Windows 7 and it will work like before."
Answer 5: This will probably be my solution. Luckily I have Windows Home Server, and I can go back and grab files from my Vista installs. This won't be possible for some people, and involves registry editing, which isn't for everyone. Again, sad that I have to install an older version to keep functionality.
Go here for this solution.
If anyone has a better solution for me, please comment. I'm open to trying things and adjusting how I interact with windows if it will be more productive in the end. Solutions that solve the problem but require more mouse clicks or keyboard touches defeat the purpose.
I really hope this isn't the end of maximize as we know it. I have a mac for dev stuff, and the lack of a true maximize for windows there has kept me using a PC whenever I can. But that is for another rant some day.
