If you like Windows 7 gadgets but you still use Windows XP, you might like the Windows 7 Sidebar for XP. It has some cool gadgets like sticky notes, weather, media player, calculator, RSS reader, and many more that you can run on your Windows XP computer.Download Windows 7 Sidebar for XP fromorTo install Windows 7 Sidebar for XP, double-click on the .exe file you downloaded.The Welcome screen of the installer displays. Click Next.Read through the License Agreement, select the YES – I Accept the terms of the License Agreement! radio button, and click Next.Select Default as the method for setup and click Next.On the next screen, you can choose to install the free Thoosje Toolbar. The option is selected by default. The toolbar provides you with a lot of extra free gadgets for many websites and communities. We tested it and found that it works in Internet Explorer, but not in the latest version of Firefox (3.6.10).We ultimately decided not to install it. It is handy for finding many more gadgets directly on the toolbar and online to add to the Windows 7 Sidebar for XP. Click Next to continue with the installation.The Confirm Setup Settings screen displays. Look over the settings you chose and click the Back button if you decide to change any. Click Next to start installing the software.Click Finish on the Setup Complete screen.The Windows 7 Sidebar displays in the upper, right corner of the Windows XP desktop with two default gadgets, a clock and a media player.The Thoosje Sevenbar icon is added to the system tray.Right-click on the system tray icon and select Preferences from the popup menu.The Preferences tab on the Properties dialog box displays. This tab allows you to specify email settings to be used for theMail gadget, choose with which day will be the Start of Week for the Calendar gadget, and the amount of seconds for theSlide Show Timer(s).The Appearance tab allows you to specify how the sidebar looks and feels and where the Thoosje Sevenbar icon resides, if at all. To have the Windows 7 Sidebar start whenever you start Windows XP, select the Run automatically when Windows start check box so there is a check mark in the box.Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.To access the gadgets that that are installed with the Windows 7 Sidebar, click the plus button in the upper, right corner of the sidebar.The Gadgets window displays. To activate a gadget, simply click on it in the window.The gadget displays on the desktop, but not necessarily in the sidebar. To add it to the sidebar, click and hold on the gadget and drag it to the sidebar.To hide a gadget you no longer want to view, right-click on the gadget and select Close from the popup menu.You can apply different skins to the clock. On the Gadgets window, click the Change clock gadget skin button (the second button from the left). To select a skin, click on it.Each gadget has different options available on its popup menu. For example, the Weather gadget has options for setting the weather location, changing the temperature between Fahrenheit and Celsius, and showing a weekly display of weather.Selecting Set Weater [Weather] location opens the Select location dialog box. Enter a zip code or a city name and state in the edit box and click OK.The location changes and the temperature is updated.To close the Gadgets window, click the X button in the upper, right corner of the window.To close the Windows 7 Sidebar, right-click on the Thoosje Sevenbar icon in the system tray and select Close from the popup menu.You can also close the Windows 7 Sidebar by clicking on the Help (?) button on the sidebar and selecting Close Sidebarfrom the popup menu.For an explanation of all the gadgets available in the initial installation of the Windows 7 Sidebar, seehttp://www.thoosje.com/vista-sidebar-gadgets.html. To have access to more gadgets for your sidebar, you may want to install the Thoosje Toolbar for Internet Explorer. If you didn’t the first time you installed the Windows 7 Sidebar, you can just install the software again and choose to install the toolbar.by Lori Kaufman
