Sidebar and gadgets are the names given to a new Vista’s desktop feature that gives you instant access to volatile information such as the current time, weather, stock quotes, and the like. The Sidebar is the name of the pane — appearing either on the right or left side of your computer’s desktop — that contains the gadgets, the name given to the specialized mini applications that give you the up-to-date information.

Changing where and how the Sidebar appears

To display the Sidebar on the left side of your computer’s desktop or to make sure that it always appears on the top of other windows you have open on the desktop, you need to open the Windows Sidebar Properties dialog box. The easiest way to do this is by right-clicking somewhere in the Sidebar area on the right side of the screen (but outside any of the gadgets) and then clicking Properties on the Sidebar’s shortcut menu.

To have Vista display the Sidebar on the left side of the screen, click the Left option button — just keep in mind that opening of the Start menu may overlap some of the gadgets when the Sidebar is displayed on the left side of the screen. To have Vista display the Sidebar on top of all open windows on the desktop, click the Sidebar is Always on Top of Other Windows check box before clicking OK.

Note that when you do elect to have Vista display the Sidebar on the left side of the screen and display the Sidebar on top of all other windows, Vista makes sure that none of its gadgets obscure the Recycle Bin (and any other desktop icons you add) by automatically offsetting such desktop icons to the right, out of the way of the Sidebar. Vista also ensures that none of its gadgets obscure any items on the Start menu by always displaying the Start menu on top of the Sidebar when the Sidebar appears on the left side of the screen.

If you have more than one monitor connected to your computer, you can select the monitor on which the Sidebar is displayed as well. To switch the Sidebar to a new monitor, open the Windows Sidebar Properties dialog box and then select the number of the monitor in the Display Sidebar on Monitor drop-down list box.

If you don’t know the number of the monitor on which you want the Sidebar displayed, right-click the desktop. On the shortcut menu that appears, click Personalize, followed by the Display Settings link in the Personalization Control Panel window to open the Display Settings dialog box. Then click the Identify Monitors button to find out the number of each monitor connected to your computer.