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How Important are Dashboard Widgets to You?

HappyDude20

HappyDude20

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
3,688
1,479
Los Angeles, Ca
I used to have a bunch of widgets on my dashboard until I needed the service they provided at all times from any computer so began implementing iGoogle plus also heard Dashboard Widgets were a huge memory hog on the Mac.

Do you use widgets? How important are they to you and how often do you use them?

I have only a few which I'm not sure how to feel about. I have weather, istat nano, dictionary, Blogger quick post and dictionary.

You?
 
The ability to web clip any part of a web page onto the dashboard is important to me; for example I have a website where I can check the live times of the next few buses from the bus stop right outside my house. Also, anything there isn't an RSS feed for but that I want to check daily can be added (i.e. my fantasy football league table).

I also have a really great simpler timer app (which I can't recall the name of) which I use all the time so that when I am cooking and go back to my computer, I don't forget when to check back on what I am cooking.

Found it: Its called "Minutes"

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/calculate_convert/minutes.html

Its worth downloading if you want a simple timer just for its charming default chimes =]
 
I don't use widgets very much at all... the only ones that ever get used are the flight lookup one, and the calculator.
 
I could quite easily live without it, but it is useful for a few things.

Every morning I wake up the Mac, open dashboard to see if the Tube is behaving itself, and what the weather is [supposedly] doing that day.

I also use iStat Pro to get a quick glance at how she is doing.
 
As long as you don't overdo them, the memory usage is minimal. I run:

iStat pro– gotta keep up on computer info
interfacelift– I obsessively change my backgrounds
hurricane watcher– hey, it's hurricane season and I'm in Florida
digg– easier than launching the site to see the front page
battery
weather
 
It must be because I am a brand new windows convert - but I never use mine. I do not like the fact that I have to activate them and they can not just be on the screen so that I can view them and use other apps. Vista, Yahoo and Google all provide nice side bars for the widgets that I like. But since moving to Mac only I never use it. I might be missing the boat and you are able to put them on the screen and use other apps and I just have not learned it yet as I have said being a new convert and new to the Mac world there is still a ton that I have to learn.
 
I use them a few times a day:
iStatPro
Calendar
Calculator
Unit Converter
Weather
Countdown
Battery
Clocks
Webclips
Dicitionary / Wikipedia / IMDB / LEO
 
i use them quite a bit.

Istat
a fan widget
weather
mayan calender (mostly for my interest in that culture, not so much that i know how to read it!)
calender
this day in apple history from applematters.com
i also sometimes use a countdown tracker, and i make live widgets if im keeping an eye on something from ebay or shipping on ups/fedex.

since i obsessibly see how much ram and such i am useing i probably cant go without it!
 
I never use dashboard ever. It just takes waaaaaay too long for the widgets to load up. In the time it takes to load I can do all of my laundry... Besides I have a iphone and even tho it prob takes the same amount of time, it just feels faster. Besides Im not doing video editing on my iphone so im sure thats the reason.

If I need to know the news, weather, movie times, etc I just use Yahoo home page + Safari much faster load up.
 
I like them. And on a 15" MBP it's good to keep them off screen until needed; a sidebar would too much space and be distracting.
I use:
* iStatPro and nano to monitor Time Machine hard drive space and network speed on occasion.
* weather radar widget to check for rain.
* stickies for some misc notes, like possible dog names for a future pet :)
* movie widget to check show times before going out.
* envelope address widget when I need to print addresses on envelopes.

and a few others to finding Album Art for iTunes, getting useful Mac Tips, and such.
 
I use the following all the time:

- Calculator
- Weather
- Dictionary
- Calendar
- I have a web clip of my Blockbuster movie queue so I can see the next 10 movies I will be receiving in the mail.
 
I use:

Calculator
Weather
Unit Converter
iStat Pro
Stocks
1337Pwn (allows you to keep track of friends on Xbox Live)

And I find them all to be pretty invaluable, really. I can see why Microsoft thought it was worth copying the idea for Vista's Sidebar.
 
Not very often. Maybe once a day at most. I often forget they're there and just look up whatever it is online (weather, definitions, etc.). But I REALLY like Unit conversions. Comes in handy at least once a week.
 
I use widgets quite a bit. I use the following widgets the most often:


Calculator - used several times a week
Dictionary - used several times a week
Weather - used daily
iStat Pro - used daily
EasyEnvelopes - used several times a week (one of my favorites)
AutoCrossword - used weekly
 
brvheart said:
It must be because I am a brand new windows convert - but I never use mine. I do not like the fact that I have to activate them and they can not just be on the screen so that I can view them and use other apps. Vista, Yahoo and Google all provide nice side bars for the widgets that I like. But since moving to Mac only I never use it. I might be missing the boat and you are able to put them on the screen and use other apps and I just have not learned it yet as I have said being a new convert and new to the Mac world there is still a ton that I have to learn.
Click to expand...

You can put Widgets on your Desktop....

You need to enable dev mode by opening a Terminal and typing:

defaults write com.apple.Dashboard devmode YES

then press Return, logout and log back in again. (you can also just open a terminal, and type "killall Dock" without the quotes.)

To get a widget off of the Dashboard and onto your desktop, just do the following:

- Activate Dashboard by pressing F4 (or whatever key you've assigned to Dashboard).
- Begin dragging the widget.
- Press F4 again, before letting go of the mouse button and drop the widget wherever you want.

To get it off of your desktop, just start dragging the widget, press F4, and drop it back in your dashboard.

You can repeat this for as many widgets as you like.



And to those of you worried about RAM, just download Stop Dashboard http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/19834

It's a widget that shuts down Dashboard when your done with it, without loosing your settings, or data in your Widgets. If RAM is more important then your Widgets loading fast, give it a try.
 
todd2000 said:
You can put Widgets on your Desktop....

You need to enable dev mode by opening a Terminal and typing:

defaults write com.apple.Dashboard devmode YES

then press Return, logout and log back in again. (you can also just open a terminal, and type "killall Dock" without the quotes.)

To get a widget off of the Dashboard and onto your desktop, just do the following:

- Activate Dashboard by pressing F4 (or whatever key you've assigned to Dashboard).
- Begin dragging the widget.
- Press F4 again, before letting go of the mouse button and drop the widget wherever you want.

To get it off of your desktop, just start dragging the widget, press F4, and drop it back in your dashboard.

You can repeat this for as many widgets as you like.



And to those of you worried about RAM, just download Stop Dashboard http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/19834

It's a widget that shuts down Dashboard when your done with it, without loosing your settings, or data in your Widgets. If RAM is more important then your Widgets loading fast, give it a try.
Click to expand...

thank you :)
 
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