The Shortcut - Microsoft Word

The Shortcut - Microsoft Word is a small-sized widget specially designed for Yahoo! Widget Engine, which facilitates quick access to the Microsoft Word copy installed on the computer.

Although the Yahoo! Widget Engine project has been discontinued and the widgets can no longer be downloaded from the developer's website, it's still possible to download the platform along with the widget from Softpedia.

The feather-light gadget gets seamlessly integrated with the software framework. It consists of a tiny window that shows the icon of Microsoft Word 2003, which immediately launches the text editor, provided that it's installed on the machine.

If Word is set in another location than the default directory, users can gain access to the configuration panel of The Shortcut - Microsoft Word and resort to the built-in file explorer to find and indicate Word's executable file.

An aspect worth noting is that the widget identifies the .exe file of any software program, whether it's installed or portable. This means that it's possible to configure it to launch any kind of tool besides Microsoft Word. It's not mandatory to have the word processor installed to get this gadget up and running. However, there is no option implemented for swapping the Word's icon for something else, so the customization features are limited.

Thanks to the built-in options of the Yahoo! framework, it's possible to make the window stay on top or below all other active panels, adjust the level of transparency by moving a slider, as well as instruct the tool to ignore all mouse events and prevent mouse dragging.