14 DAY TRIAL // Widgets have grown to be important enough in the past months. They are small applets designed to bring you the necessary information faster and easier. They sit on your desktop in a non-intrusive way waiting for your command. The functionality of these small applications ranges from a simply display of an analog clock to RSS reading from certain websites or reading the memory and CPU usage.
There is a myriad of things a widget can do for you. However, if you are in need for a RSS reader, memory and CPU usage information and a weather forecast for a region of the world, it is a bit uncomfortable to use widgets as they will intrude with the other operations you have with your desktop.
Serence Inc has foreseen the advantage of garnering a suite of such applications into a highly customizable dashboard. The result was KlipFolio. The version we are going to analyze is number 4 and it is actually due to be officially launched on February 20th. We managed to get our hand on a pre-release version and we would like to express our gratitude to the developer for providing such an opportunity.
KlipFolio uses services the developer calls klips. These are the little widgets that are integrated in the dashboard and provide you all the necessary information from the websites you want. KlipFolio comes loaded with a preset number of such klips so that you do not have to start from scratch. The klips can be customized and the user can delete them and add as many as s/he wants. Some of the basic klips my version included numbered Flickr explore, a weather cast, system monitoring tools for CPU and RAM, as well as Google search bar and RSS reader from Goolgle News.
All the klips can be moved around and resized very easily without intruding other windows in the dashboard. Resizing one of the klips will result in all the others to modify their position so that all the klips are visible. To modify the size of a window, all you have to do is drag it by the right bottom corner.
A truly useful feature is the expanding of the klip when hovering the mouse over it. This way, you will save lots of time and the effort will be minimum. KlipFolio can be used as a side bar and when in this mode there are no alterations of the features, it just simply stays on the side of the desktop you drag it to and preserve its functionality. When in side bar mode KlipFolio can be set to autohide. This way it will appear only when you desire and won't take an inch of your desktop.
Klips can be transformed in side bars too, by creating groups. Suffice to drag out of the application the klips you want to place into a group. Each klip is equipped with its own toolbar and can be set as a top/bottom or side bar according to the needs of the user. KlipFolio gives the users the possibility of creating multiple sidebars containing different groups of klips.
Serence Inc realizes that the number of klips provided in the downloaded version of the software may not cover the entire range of interest of the user. That is why on their site there is a myriad of klips belonging to different areas of interest (from system and email monitors, weather cast, news and software downloads to videos and webcams, gaming, web tools or music and e-bay). They can be downloaded for free and the rating system offered will give you a hint on the utility of the widget. More then that, any registered user can upload a personal klip. To give you an example, follow the link.
The Softpedia klip displays all the latest additions to the website, the newest softwares and drivers on the market for Windows, Linux and MAC operating systems. Installing this klip will provide all the information on the application, the license type, number of downloads, rating and a brief description of the application. clicking on the item will automatically open Softpedia to the page of the application and you can download it immediately.
I took a look at the categories and I guess the 4000+ klips available for use with KlipFolio will cover every imaginable interest. I even found a webcam streaming images from Broadway and similar klips can be found on the website with no trouble at all. Find what you need, click on the ?Add Klip? button in the right and the widget will be automatically loaded in KlipFolio.
Feed reading and alerting is beautifully supported by the application and you can even set the feed refresh interval (minimum is 5 minutes and maximum is 1 day). For customizing the entire application the options let you select which klips to be displayed, change the skin and adjust its hue as well as setting a transparency level. If you worry that higher transparency will result in difficulties regarding the reading of the information, then there is no concern as the automatic expanding of the window (at hovering the mouse over it) will allow perfect view of the information.
The Feed Viewer supports RSS, ATOM and OPML feeds to be added. Also, when adding a feed it is enough to copy the shortcut of the feed and it will be automatically loaded by KlipFolio, the only thing left to do is add it to your collection.
The list of features and improvements for version 4 of the application is quite large, but the one I liked the most in what concerns the visual functionality of the software is ?Liquid Klip? system which allows you to move the windows over any of the klips without covering them (those that were supposed to stay beneath will automatically move). This way, you move only one klip into the desired position and all the other will try to order themselves according to that.
The Good
Vista is now on the list of operating systems KlipFolio can run on. The amazing flexibility and high customization level as well as the thousands of klips you can incorporate in the basic version of KlipFolio speak for themselves.
The developer gave up styling each of the klips and concentrated on the functionality of the dashboard. Working with KlipFolio is really easy and comfortable.
The Bad
From all the klips I had before customization, the worst one was the memory monitoring tool. It kept displaying a constant memory usage of 93%-94% no matter what. Comparing the information with Task Manager resulted that the reading was totally erroneous as the latter indicated about 50% usage.
The Truth
Tests have been made, features have been added (lots of them), a few things have been modified and the result is an extraordinary dashboard utility for every user that wants to be up to date with the happenings in the world from any field of activity. First of all, the application is extremely light and easy to use. The flexibility and accuracy of the information retrieved depend entirely on the news sources you use.
To tell you the truth I was already familiar with the earlier versions of KlipFolio, and I was almost convinced of its functionality and flexibility. Version 4 of the application is the living proof that computer users can benefit from amazing pieces of applications for free.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
