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Hello Friends
I'm running Windows Xp as my operating system. I would like to know that whether it is possible to have a sidebar including all gadgets similar to Windows Vista sidebar have in it. Does any know that how can i do it in Windows Xp? Any kind of help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
MSTN has packaged all files and executables needed to install and run Windows Vista Sidebar in Windows XP properly into one setup file WindowsSidebarInstall.exe. Download and install WindowsSidebarInstall.exe. The installer will automatically create a sub folder Sidebar (can also be installed in “Windows Sidebar” folder) in the Program Files folder, and then copy all the necessary files, DLLs and executables (e.g. Sidebar.exe, xmlrw.dll and emu.dll) to the \Program Files\Sidebar (or \Program Files\Windows Sidebar folder if you choose so when prompted by setup) directory, with two more folder “Default Parts” and “en-US”. Beside, the setup will also create a folder named “Parts” in the currently logged on user home directory (assuming you logon as Administrator, the Parts folder will be located in C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\ directory or accessible via %userprofile%\Parts command), with all the default gadgets (parts). This is the folder where all gadgets should be installed.
After finished copying the files, installer will automatically execute Windows Vista Sidebar Compatibility Patch which will patch Sidebar.exe so that the executable which originated from Windows Vista can be ran in Windows XP. Click Start and then click on OK when prompted with message that process succeeded with file successfully patched. Installation of Windows XP Sidebar is done.
With Thoosje Vista Sidebar you can have a completely customizable gadgets sidebar on your desktop even if you have Windows XP. Simply run it and start adding any gadget you want by clicking on the little cross button on the top. The gadgets are quite varied and cover different needs: from the PC resources meter to the photo slideshow, from the RSS mini-reader to the weather gadget. Bear in mind that when you select gadgets for Thoosje Vista Sidebar they appear on your desktop – not on the sidebar itself – and you have to manually drag and drop them on Thoosje Vista Sidebar.
Once ready and customized with all your chosen gadgets, Thoosje Vista Sidebar looks really beautiful on your desktop. Plus, it includes some background skins to make it fit perfectly with the image you have as wallpaper. The downside to this graphical beauty is that it may slow down your system. Also, Thoosje Vista Sidebar seems to be a bit slow when opening menu windows. But the main drawback is undoubtedly the fact that you can't download new gadgets, you must stick to the ones that you got it with the program's configuration.
The Windows Sidebar and Gadgets feature introduced with Windows Vista is much like the widgets of Mac OS 10 or the desk bar included with Google Desktop Search or even Konfabulator which is part of Yahoo now. You can have gadgets for calendar, sticky notes, clock, weather, music player or a running slideshow of your favorite photos and lot more.Though the sleek Windows Vista Sidebar is an integrated feature of Vista and not available as a separate product, thoosje website has released a similar sidebar for Windows XP that looks and works just like the Vista Sidebar. And it's free of course.
Thoosje's Vista Sidebar is also part of the Vista Transformation Pack that is quite a popular package for making your XP machine look like Windows Vista.