Download and install new gadgets for the Sidebar in Windows Vista
This tutorial will show you how to install new Windows Vista Sidebar gadgets from Microsoft's Windows Marketplace, a download center for Windows-specific software.
Any gadget you install can be uninstalled at a later stage; not all gadgets have to be displayed on the Windows Sidebar. If you exceed the amount of visible gadgets, the Sidebar supports multiple "screens" of gadgets through which you can navigate with just a few clicks.
Downloading new Sidebar gadgets
Permanently removing gadgets is done through Windows Vista's Gadget Gallery application. To open the Gadget Gallery, click on the plus sign shown at the top of the Windows Sidebar.
The bottom right corner of Windows Vista's Gadget Gallery displays a "Get more gadgets online" link: it points to the portion of the Windows Marketplace dedicated to Sidebar gadgets: direct link.
Windows Vista gadgets do not have the same level of "permissions" as regular, full-fledged applications: nonetheless, you should always use your best judgment when downloading and installing new Vista gadgets (let alone new applications) onto your computer. Downloading new gadgets from a trusted source like the official gadget gallery (now including gadgets for both Windows Vista and Windows 7), is that malware and spyware are less likely to find their way in official gadget download sites than in other, unmonitored sites.
Installing new Sidebar gadgets in Windows Vista
We located a sample gadget we would like to download and install from the Windows Marketplace. This gadget happens to be free, as most of them, but some gadgets are distributed as "shareware" (not free software).
We click the "Download" button; you will need to confirm your understanding that unverified gadgets are uploaded and available from the Windows Marketplace; next, Windows Vista will want your confirmation that you did in fact initiated the gadget installation process.
A couple clicks later, Windows Vista has installed our new gadget, now visible at the top of the Sidebar. By default, newly installed gadgets are placed docked in the Sidebar, but you can always drag them anywhere else on the screen.
This is it, all Sidebar gadgets in Windows Vista install the same way!
Uninstalling new gadgets not needed!
Once you download and install a new gadget in Windows Vista, it is automatically added to the sidebar: should you decide that the gadget is no longer useful for the moment, you do not need to uninstall it! Just closing the gadget will temporarily remove it from the sidebar, without actually uninstalling it permanently from your computer. Two other Windows Vista tutorials will respectively show you: how to remove a gadget from the sidebar, and how to uninstall, or delete, a gadget from Windows Vista.
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