Google Desktop Gadgets and Yahoo Widgets Google Desktop Gadgets

Download and install Google Gadgets

To install Google Gadgets you'll need to download and install Google Desktop (a 1.9MB download) from desktop.google.com/en/GB/ which will give you access to Google Desktop Search, Enhanced Search and Google Sidebar with Desktop Gadgets.

Once you've installed Google Desktop, when you click on a gadget download link it will open automatically with Google Desktop.

Google desktop gadgets runs on Microsoft Windows Vista/XP/2000 SP3+, Mac OS X v10.4+, or Linux (requires glibc 2.3.2+, gtk+ 2.2.0+).

If you already use Google products such as Gmail/Googlemail, Google Talk, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Picasa and YouTube then Google Desktop Gadgets gives you a simple way to keep track of them from your desktop. You can also add Google Gadgets to your customisable iGoogle homepage.

Finding gadgets

Finding new gadgets is easy – simply go to desktop.google.com/plugins/ search for the name of the website or type of gadget that you want to add. You can then sort your search results by popularity, the date they were added, or by name. Gadgets are downloaded individually and will have a .gg file extension.

Google splits Desktop Gadgets into the following categories:

• News – updates from sites such as the BBC, CNN, and Digg
• Tools – Wi-Fi networks, add a calculator or check your computer's performance
• Communication – Instant Messaging (IM) and social networking gadgets
• Finance – Currency converters, financial and stock market trackers
• Fun & Games – entertainment including Pacman, a virtual flowerpot and HotOrNot
• Google – gadgets developed by Google or which link to Google Apps
• Sports – news and scores
• Lifestyle – weather, eBay, Wikipedia
• Technology – a diverse collection of science and tech gadgets.

Default Google Gadgets

When installed, the Google Desktop Gadgets sidebar includes the following gadget panels by default:

• Email – to view Gmail messages.
• Scratch Pad – to write and save notes that are saved automatically – ideal for to-do lists
• Photos – displays a slideshow of photos from your chosen photo folders or websites
• News – shows personalised headlines from Google News
• Weather – shows a live weather summary for your location
• Web Clips–- shows recent posts from RSS news feeds.

Google Gadgets keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts will save you time when using Google Gadgets.

• press Ctrl twice to show the Quick Search box
• press shift twice to show/hide individual gadgets on your desktop

You can undock gadgets from the sidebar and place them anywhere on your desktop. You can also collapse any gadget so is reduced to a single line on your sidebar so there's more room to view other gadgets. The opposite, expand, returns the gadget to its original size. 

The whole Desktop sidebar can be set to Auto-Hide mode, and will re-appear when you more the cursor to the sidebar area of your desktop.

You can choose between display and docking options: Sidebar (in a column down the right hand side of the desktop by default), Deskbar (docked into the Windows taskbar at the bottom of the screen), or Floating Deskbar where the application floats above the desktop.

Google Quick Find

The Google Desktop sidebar also includes a 'Quick Find' gadget. The Desktop application can be set to index files on your PC or Mac in the background, and the Quick Find search box gives easy access to search for indexed files and applications. When you type your chosen search term, the Quick Find gadget will display matching search results from both your own computer and from the web.

Google Gadget alerts

For each gadget you can also set an alert, so that when an update arrives, for example a friend updates their status on Facebook, an alert is displayed in a pop-up window at the bottom right hand corner of the screen, above the system tray in Windows.