Section 87. Widgets

87. Widgets

With OS X, Apple introduced Dashboard, a transparent full-screen window summoned by a hotkey, containing widgetssmall applications designed to retrieve and display information (weather forecasts, stock quotes, sports scores), control other apps (including iTunes and iCal), or perform simple tasks (such as screen captures and calculations).

Yahoo! and other companies made widgets available for the PC as wellbut on the Dashboard-free PC, widgets gobble up valuable desktop space.

Thousands of widgets are available from Apple's website. With the arrival of Mac OS X Leopard in early 2007, making custom widgets will be as simple as highlighting web info you want to monitor. When the page updates, your widget will, too.