Windows Vista Sidebar Gadgets - Widget Summit

widgets Draggability Any unused region allows click+drag Settings dialogs Optional, provides common dialog look Region for items specific to gadget Flyouts Optional, allows more information be shown Controlled interaction for dismissing flyout Gadget configuration Position Drag up and down sidebar Drag off sidebar and around desktop Always on top Visualization Opacity with always on top option on desktop Sidebar page Drag from desktop to particular page No dragging between pages Gadgets included with Windows Policy configuration Admins can disable all user gadgets Block installation of user gadgets No allow or deny lists Signer information is not stored after extraction Gadgets can be rolled out as any other file Drop into Shared Gadgets directory Gadget Development HTML Basis .html loaded into MSHTML (COM hosting) Absolute minimum of changes necessary Setting body width (~130px, docked) Background PNG with transparency Settings dialog and store Sidebar gadgets and IE Rendering and scripting are the same Internet Options and security are separated Status bar, alerts are not present Gadget HTML visual pop Background layer with desktop blending Tags: <g:background> APIs: background.addText( cSome information d) Alpha channels via PNG Layer can have images, text, effects added HTML content Must be over fully opaque region Some effects available in HTML Also through tags: <g:image> Also APIs: rotation, glow, shadows Mature graphic library Graphics library only available in Gadgets Gadget platform security Gadgets are a similar model to applications Core security principal Gadget runtime model is application-like Current development model is web-like Gadgets are hosted in Local Machine Zone of MSHTML Gadgets run with same privileges as current user Sidebar will not elevate 3 no UAC prompts Prompts when downloading are similar to prompts for .exe downloads Securing your gadgets Never trust input, never Always validate and sanitize Prevent man in the middle attacks Review for common security bugs More information in an article by Michael Howard and David Ross: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ bb498012.aspx System APIs System object injected into HTML script Information about Gadget and Windows APIs only available inside Sidebar ActiveX for all other extensibility System. Types of gadgets Quick information E.g.<br><br> clocks, weather, stocks, etc. Tools Drag and drop targets E.g. FTP upload, shutdown, etc.<br><br> Timely Countdowns E.g. Halo 3 countdown, World Cup scores Personalization E.g. Slide show Sidebar best practices Security, security, security Have a good docked and undocked experience Allow footprint minimization Don 9t cycle a lot Looks good == feels good Sidebar questions?<br><br> What is Windows Live Gallery? One-stop-shop to personalize your Windows and Windows Live experiences Getting the right personalization content to the right user Publishing platform for great distribution Lastly, most visited gadget site on the internet today (Nielsen//NetRatings) Windows Live Gallery demo Sidebar gadget space today International: over half are outside of the English language Less about market specific, more about language specific Top content is focused on ctraditional d gadget models for at-a-glance information Lots of cend of the tail d content Download count distribution Download count distribution (Logarithmic) Top gadgets Submission best practices Have some friends try it out first& &especially internationally Thumbnails are important Load up your description with appropriate keywords Sign your gadgets Signed vs. unsigned Signed by a certificate that chains to a root authority Differentiated download warnings After its accepted Link to your download page on Windows Live Gallery Ex.: MSN Weather Promote!<br><br> Partner tier program Regular Any user that submits content Hosting and distribution Silver Community or ecosystem csuper stars d Visual marker and featured status possibilities Gold Contractual relationship with Microsoft Stay tuned! What 9s next for gadgets? Silverlight and other rich design and interaction possibilities More personal expression along the lines of communication and public profiles More monetization What 9s next for gadgets?<br><br> Recommendations are going to be a big deal to get content or& &is the user experience dependent on browse, friend recommendations, email sharing and other marketing methods? (like the internet) But wait there is more& Windows Live Gallery is not just Sidebar client gadgets Also, web gadgets for Live.com and Spaces or SideShow gadgets for devices Many other personalization options for Windows and Windows Live users: Windows Live Messenger Windows Live Toolbar Windows Live Writer And more& Check it out at http://gallery.live.com ! Additional resources Sidebar developer resources: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ aa965850.aspx MSDN article by Donavon of LiveGadgets.net on how to build a Sidebar gadget: http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/07/08/ SideBar/default.aspx Windows Live Gallery developer center: http://gallery.live.com/dev Additional resources (cont.) MSDN forums for gadget development http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ default.aspx?ForumGroupID=296&SiteID=1 Me chrisbu@microsoft.com Thank you!<br><br> Q&A

less