So are widgets killing skinnable programs?
The fall of the mini-programs
Wednesday, December 22, 2004 by Frogboy | Discussion: Customization Software
Long before widgets, in the sense that we know them today, existed there was skinning. A skin is a collection of graphics designed to replace the user interface of a particular program. The first major skinnable program was Winamp. Skinnable programs became very popular for awhile.
During that time, we saw small, skinnable programs come out. These programs did one thing but they were skinnable. Programs like Colorpad, Beatnik, Boxnote, Coolplayer, eNotes, EZPop, SkinCalc, XXCalc, Kewlpad, and countless other programs all let users have skinnable programs that did a small but specific thing.
And then came the widgets. Programs like DesktopX and Konfabulator came along. They have the advantage of usually using
less overhead than a stand alone program does on a given widget as well being able to provide the functionality of all the skinnable stand-alone programs.
Widgets, currently, do have one downside - it is hard for end users to customize the way they look. Programs 
like XXCalc may be able to do only one thing but users could then apply dozens of skins for them. By contrast, today's widget programs are somewhat harder to make new skins for since each widget is its own thing.
Regardless of the respective merits, what we have seen is a decline in the # of new skinnable stand-alone programs. The widget enabling programs seem to have taken much of the momentum away from these programs. Programs like WindowBlinds, which can skin every standard GUI'd application on the computer, probably didn't help them either.
Which brings us to where we're at - widgets or custom mini-programs? Are we better off with widgets or skinnable mini-programs?
Here are some examples (some screenshots courtesy of Customize.org) -- you be the judge:
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Mini Program |
DesktopX equivalent |
Konfabulator |
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N/A |
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N/A |
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Don't judge any of the 3 by the screenshots since I mainly just went and found ones that I thought looked nice but your tastes may vary. The point is to show that for every popular stand-alone skinnable program there is usually some sort of widget equivalent to them. Now whether the widget equivalent is better is a matter of debate.
There very well could be other reasons why we have seen stand-alone skinnable programs become less popular. And there are notable exceptions - Rainlendar (a skinnable calendar) and SysMetrix (a skinnable system resource meter) are very popular.
Let us know what you think either way.
Reply #2 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 12:53 PM
Second, in my opinion, Widgetry is moving from a niche market, to a more mainstream aspect as people uncover more useful widgets/gadgets. Furthermore, stand alone gadgets that are really nice, are viewed more as actual appplications than widgets themselves. Much of this I feel, will be driven by commercial interests - but it will take time..
Further, Widgetry will replace tiny gadget-like skinnable applications without question. But they cannot replace more advanced and detailed skinnable apps. So I guess to answer your question, are Gadgets/Widgets replacing Skinnable apps? Yes and no, depending on the app.
Reply #3 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 1:40 PM
Reply #4 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 1:56 PM
| What if it were possible to make "skinnable" widgets? |
They aleady exist.
FTPDrop for DesktopX has skinning functionality built in.
AveDesk's iTunes controller and FTPDrop are two prime examples.
Kapsules Weather Bar and again iTunes controller.
In fact only Konfabulator doesn't usually support skinnable widgets. Some such as mini series of widgets by Arlo have some capability but its not the norm.
Andreas designs his desklets to be skinnable which is a design feature more than the few I've mentioned should adopt.
Reply #5 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 3:12 PM
Reply #6 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 3:12 PM
Reply #7 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 3:51 PM
The widget proggies are just reviving all the functions of the little proggies that died a while ago. I hope to continue to see inovation and simplification of the use of DX with widgets, I would not use Konfabulator because of the overhead but, some of the features are really nice. I do not want DX to get completly dumbed down though I import all my widgets into DX so I can use them as objects ( slightly less ram usage). And I can also save my theme that way..
Reply #8 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 4:13 PM
Reply #9 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 5:59 PM
With the introduction of Trillian, and desktopX.. combined with Windowblinds. users were pretty much able to have freeform skinning control over all the applications they used daily. eliminating the need for a skinnable clock, skinnable notepad. ect.
And the only way to stay ahead of the game was to expand on the features of the existing application, for example..Inedita ( a old 545 Studios product ) expanded above and beyond the functionality of notepad. But at the same time, parted it self of being considered a "mini-program" and made users ask them selfs if they really "needed" a skinnable bloated notepad replacement.... probably not.
I also think another reason for the decline was the introduction of Visual Styles and mainstreaming of "globalized skins" although WindowBlinds had been in place for quite some time, as well as other applications that allowed similar functionallity ( eFX ) Visual styles were made available to everyone running XP, and not just those who were aware of applications like WindowBlinds. Allowing you to skin notepad, calc.exe and every other windows "accessory" with a matching theme.
which brings me to another issue.. matching themes. With so many skinnable programs..it began to be a task to have a matching desktop, if you used a skin created by treetog for example..and you used tyme, but his theme only skinned beatnik. users seemed to be more interested in the theme that skinned they're application of choice. and with the number of skinnable applications growing..often providing the same functions; it pretty much became impossible to create a theme that covered all of alternative calcs, notepads, ect.
I believe matching themes is still an issue today..if you look at the DX object section for example, you will find many objects that have the exact same function..but are different simply because of its theme.
anyway..thats my take on it all.
Reply #12 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 6:30 PM
Ergo, no, I don't think widgets have anything to do with it.
Reply #13 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 9:27 PM
I think Jier/dmer is on to something there.
People want a consistent desktop and it got pretty hard to put together a consistent set of skins when there were so many different programs.
Reply #14 Thursday, December 23, 2004 1:36 AM
(this is a poster that i made on winmatrix)
Solo
Reply #15 Thursday, December 23, 2004 4:21 AM
but the fact is..in order for your program to match the theme of the users desktop, a additional skin would need to be created for your program..and then why not beaknik, and why not tyme, and why not all the others..
the amount of downloads your program will receive today..vs in 2001 is probably less than half. simply becase of the reasons mentioned in this post, and my post above.
Reply #16 Thursday, December 23, 2004 1:06 PM
Not to mention it is sooo much easier to create a skinned clock or whatever with a widget enabling program.
I can literally take one of the original images from the WindowBlinds skin or whatever and turn it into a DesktopX widget in less than 5 minutes and it would work with everyone who has DesktopX.
Reply #17 Sunday, December 26, 2004 12:37 PM
Reply #18 Monday, December 27, 2004 4:34 PM
Reply #19 Sunday, January 16, 2005 2:51 AM
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Reply #1 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 12:40 PM