Windows 7 Desktop Gadgets have existed for almost 5 years now. In the era of shiny HTML5 API powered Windows 8 live tiles, some good & undiscovered gadgets can be really helpful in our everyday work without hampering our workflow. Here is a collection of my personal favorite gadgets,
1. Clipboard Manager
Dated looks, tinny layout wont fetch this gadget any brownie points, but boy up to 999 clipboard history with images, and hyperlink support, and custom favourite clipboard selections make this one almost a must have for any windows warrior.
Download: Clipboard Manager Gadget
2. Media Player 12
Window media player skins are great, but this one is pretty decent too. Provides instant access to your media library to quickly play that favourite song of yours. I recommend using it in expanded view though.
Download: Media Player 12 Gadget
Install it by copying the file to:
C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets
3. Tweetz
Twitter is best experienced not when you are not limited to the site but when you tweet your experiences from anywhere.
It is a handy gadget to tweet diretly, without opening a browser or any app, surf through your timeline, check direct messages, mentions and more just within your desktop.
To send a tweet, press ctrl+s within the gadget.
Download: Tweetz
4. G+7 – A Google+ Gadget
Google plus’s overnight success has inspired developers from almost all the platform.
This is imminently visible in this gadget. This gadget keeps you updated about all the latest g+ happenings. You can actually see each post in a expanded pane without opening the browser
Though, there’s no option to update your status
Download: G+ 7
5. Luna Calendar Gadget
For the perfectionist in you, who finds the default windows calendar gadget not matching the theme of Windows desktop (like me), here’s a very good looking windows 7 calendar gadget you which can try out.
Download: Luna Calendar
You can also try slightly more functional windows live calendar which syncs your live calendar events right your desktop from here
6. Horoscope
Know your stars right from your desktop! While some may scorn at the very idea of this gadget, this still is quite handy if you want to know how will your day might be. This gadget supports 12 zodiac signs.
Download: Horoscope Gadget
7. Translate
Sometimes, a gadget yet so small can be insanely awesome, saving a lot of mouse clicks and the resulting headaches. 
One killer gadget, lets you translate between languages on fly. This gadget uses Google translation services as backend, so that you don’t have to bother much about the accuracy.
Download: Translate Gadget
At the time of writing, Google had sent a mail to the developers of this gadget that they would be discontinuing free 3rd party translation services, nevertheless the gadget was still working well
8. FB Explorer
While not very exotic looking, this gadget keeps you updated of Facebook happenings quietly. A cool thing about this one is that you can like/comment within the gadget without going into the browser, and view the post’s summary at glance.
Download: FB Explorer Gadget
9.Network Manager
Warning: This is geeky. This one gives you the data transmitted, your IP address ,network speed and what not. Extremely handy if you want to monitor your net speed while at work.
Download: Network Manager Gadget
Although the newer versions have become available none of them worked for me, so i have provided the download link for 6.4 version instead
10. Battery Monitor
This is a gadget which every laptop user would want. It displays your battery discharge rate, total capacity, remaining battery life all at one place neatly.
Download: Battery Manager Gadget
Having gadgets is cool but too many Windows 7 Desktop Gadgets at once, especially on a laptop when on battery, is NOT recommended as the gadgets update regularly and they do consume a sizeable amount of battery. Nevertheless a couple of gadgets wont hurt much.
[Source: Microsoft’s live gallery, DeviantArt]
Feel free to let us know your favorite Windows 7 Desktop Gadgets.
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