PDC 2005: Gadgets embraced by Microsoft
The widget/gadet wars heat up
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: PDC 2005
One of the things that has made Object Desktop so popular over the years is that users knew, with certainty that many of the concepts found in it would likely one day end up in the OS. That's why its tag-line is "It's like running the next version of Windows -- today." Whether that be ObjectZIP which preceded Microsoft's Compressed folders to the much better known example of WindowBlinds in which Windows XP came with a similar, though more basic, implementation.
Today at PDC, Microsoft announced "Microsoft Gadgets" on the same day Stardock opened DesktopGadgets.com for the public (the official announcement isn't until September 20th). People had asked us what was DesktopX's future with Yahoo buying Konfabulator. Now people have their answer. Like gadgets created by DesktopX Pro, Microsoft's gadgets can be put into a bar. DesktopX's gadgets can sit on the desktop or be placed into an ObjectBar bar. Microsoft's gadgets go into the Microsoft SideBar on Windows Vista. DesktopX gadgets will also be able to go into Microsoft's sidebar too in the final version.
From reading the flame war over on Microsoft's Gadget blog, Mac zealots claim that Microsoft stole the whole thing from Apple. They apparently forget that Apple was almost certainly "inspired" by Konfabulator. And DesktopX has had user-created mini apps on the desktop since late 1999. Of course, Mac zealots will point towards desktop accessories as some sort of "see, Apple did it first". But desktop accessories are so divorced from the modern widget/gadget concept as to be nonsensical. What makes widgets (and gadgets) interesting is that they can be created by end users who have little to know programming knowledge. My 8 year old son has a DesktopX widget he made on his home page. It's pretty unlikely that 8 year olds were cranking out desktop accessories.
Of course, the real question isn't whether Microsoft "stole" the idea from Apple or whether they were inspired by DesktopX (they certainly know about both). The question is what is Microsoft's plans with it and how will it affect Stardock's gadget strategy?
The short answer is - not much. Gadgets can't -by definition- compete against one another because they are stand-alone entities. They don't require the user to download some sort of run-time (ala Konfabulator, DesktopX standard, Kapsules, etc.). Dashboard widgets are still widgets in that the key code is not in the widget but resides as part of the OS (i.e. they bundled the run-time) but that's really just a semantically difference. The point being, few end users care whether their program was compiled with a Microsoft compiler or a Borland one. Similarly, they won't likely care whether their gadget was made with DesktopX Pro or Visual Studio 2005. When Windows Vista ships, there will simply be gadgets and DesktopX Pro will be, we plan, the best way to create them.
The real winner in the announcement will be DesktopGadgets.com since it can be expanded to support Microsoft gadgets as well. With Microsoft supporting the gadget concept, it really opens the door for more developers to get into gadget making. How Microsoft's embrace of gadgets will affect Yahoo who recently acquired Konfabulator remains unknown.
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Reply #21 Monday, September 19, 2005 12:44 AM
(Thought I'd edit this after thinking about it, it's supposed to be a positive comment, love psp design, love donuts