Windows 7 Sidebar

Most computer users know about Windows' gadgets, the small gizmos that use the sidebar to make various information or system functionality available with only one click. If you use them on a daily basis or in any case frequently enough and you have grown tired of the built-in sidebar, now there's an alternative application you can use for the same purposes.

Windows 7 Sidebar by Thoosje is the utility that aims to provide the same basic functionality as the default OS app, alongside some extras.

The great improvement that this software application brings is the reduced memory consumption. It manages to use only half of what the Microsoft Sidebar needed and still be faster.

The eye-candy transparent interface of Windows 7 Sidebar hosts a variety of gadgets including several system applications, online search engines and many more.

These mini apps will allow you to play your favorite media files, check out the weather conditions, monitor system usage and uptime, and perform searches on Yahoo!, Google, Amazon or Wikipedia to name just a few.

With Windows 7 Sidebar you can easily organize the gadgets and have them sorted so you will no longer need to open an Internet browser to get news and information.

The appearance of the mini applications can be customized by choosing one of the different skins. There is also a function that enables you to get more of those interface customization packs, but this feature depends exclusively on each of the gadgets because not all of them support downloading new skins.

All things considered, Windows 7 Sidebar seems to be one of the smartest choices you can make if you need such a utility. The ace up its sleeve is the reduced RAM consumption and the variety of gadgets it comes with by default is also a big plus.