How to get a Vista style Sidebar in Windows XP
Posted on November 6, 2008 at 5:52 am
Earlier I wrote about how you can get the Vista Start Menu in Windows XP and also how to get Vista breadcrumbs navigation in Windows XP. I’ve even written about how to emulate the thumbnail previews in Windows XP that Windows Vista shows when you hover over a program in the taskbar.
If you’ve installed all of these on your Windows XP machine so that it behaves more like Vista, but keeps the stability of XP, then you may as well add another program to the list!
Vista Sidebar for Windows XP is a nifty freeware program that lets you add gadgets to a Vista-looking sidebar. Here’s an example of what it looks like on XP:
You can add all kinds of gadgets to the sidebar, like calendar, weather, media player, RSS feeds, picture rotator, clock, Google search, and lots more. It also has gadgets like system uptime too. the great thing about the XP sidebar is that it eats up 50% less RAM and is faster than the normal Windows Vista sidebar.
Vista Sidebar for XP is also part of the Vista Transformation Pack, which makes XP look like Vista. Here are some of the cool features of Vista Sidebar for XP:
- Sidebar works on any resolution and will not be distorted
- Context menu for configuring all gadgets
- Run Gadget – Type commands you would normally type by going to Start, Run
- Mail Gadget – Check email directly on the sidebar
- CPU and RAM reader gadget
So if you are still running Windows XP because you are waiting for Windows 7 rather than upgrading to Windows Vista, then you can at least jazz up the XP interface to look more like Vista, while at the same time not having to worry about the stability of the operating system. Enjoy!
» Filed Under Free Software Downloads
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- Windows Vista Sidebar Gadgets
Thank you
I wonder whether it works on my second monitor as well?!
I’ve tried software like this before but i was not able to place it on my second screen which was pretty annoying.
Well, i might try it and answer my question later on LOL
Cheers,
Largo
I use this tool-bar all the time now ….it’s really helpful and looks pretty cool too.
Well written article, by the way !