Windows Sidebar

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Revision as of 17:17, 29 January 2013 by Wheatley (talk | contribs) (→‎Sideshow)

Internet Explorer 4/Desktop Update

Windows 98

A sidebar-like object was included with Windows 98 (First Edition). It was HTML based and very different from the one later included with Windows NT 6.X.

This sidebar is not affiliated with any future programs such as the "Windows Sidebar" or "Sideshow" starting with Sideshow and beyond.

Evolution

Sideshow

Before Longhorn, during PDC 2001, Microsoft demonstrated Windows Sideshow, which was to be used alongside Windows 2000, ME, and XP. It was a sidebar where emails could be retreived, people can socialize, weather forecasts can be accessed, and so could traffic updates. One build of this program was released. It does work on Windows 95 and Windows 98 with a special fix, but it works on all operating systems up through Windows 8, but many of the tags don't work due to its old age. Some can be rejuvinated by reentering the code in the test apps located in the program's files.

This program has a bug by turning black when trying to change its appearence in operating systems newer than Windows XP.

This developing product was soon integrated with Longhorn. A video presentation of this program is available on YouTube.

Early Longhorn

The Windows Sidebar was being tested in very early Longhorn builds, even the earliest being 3683. The sidebar began as running side by side in explorer.exe. With an analog clock, and a picture preview pane, it was slightly bare but it's typical for it to be that way in early builds. In build 3706, the taskbar was merged in with the sidebar, but was proved to be unreliable and was removed and put back into its original state. From the 3xxx to the 403x builds, the sidebar appearence was the same as the Plex theme and was automatically transparent in earlier builds without having Desktop Composition Engine running.


Later Longhorn Builds

Microsoft later scrapped the Plex theme and started with a new Slate theme. The sidebar was now black and could be easily turned transparent in Longhorn build 4074 by enabling the MILDesktop registry key. The sidebar did not exist in 64-bit builds, such as:

  • Longhorn 4074 x64
  • Longhorn 4083 x64

The last Longhorn build to contain the sidebar was Longhorn 4093. It has a glossy touch up of Slate but was mostly broken due to the unstableness of the build.


Omega-13 Reset

The Windows Sidebar is not shown in early reset builds until 5219. Windows Vista build 5219 is the first build after the reset to recieve the sidebar (after it leaked seperatly from the build itself and had given users the ability to download it) after complaints from beta testers. Builds 5048 and 5112 (Pre Beta and Beta) did not recieve a sidebar because Microsoft planned on not implementing it, but after complaints, they decided to recompile it and make it stabler and run it as a seperate application called SIDEBAR.EXE instead of running it with EXPLORER.EXE because that was what was causing memory leaks.

Vista RTM

Windows Vista was released with the sidebar which contained 10 widgets.


During Windows 7 Development

During the develoopment of Windows 7, Microsoft took a different approach. They removed the bar, and let the gadgets on the side now roam "freely" across the desktop without having to be on the actual sidebar. In early builds you could not align them perfectly side by side.


Windows 7 and onward

The black sidebar in Vista has since been removed, but still uses the program name SIDEBAR.EXE. It is now referred to as just "gadgets" because they are free to roam anywhere on the desktop. Windows 8 has the same program yet the Media Player/Center app was removed ever since Microsoft has removed Windows Media Center from its operating system. Since then, the Sidebar has not changed and Microsoft is most likely hindering its further development.

Removal of the Sidebar

The Sidebar was removed completely in Windows 8 after its released. Microsoft released a patch (Fix-It) to remove the sidebar in Windows 7 and Windows Vista as well because of security holes not worth fixing. The sidebar, however, can be installed on Windows 8 via third party installers.

Windows Gadgets no longer avaliable

The development of Windows 8 and the small usage of the sidebar has caused Microsoft to shut down the Windows Desktop Gadget Gallery. You can no longer download or upload gadgets, though it is possible to find gadgets on third party websites.