tI am disappointed that Microsoft Windows has dropped gadgets. For a while in some version of Windows Microsoft offered gadgets. Then they dropped them when Windows 8 came out. Then someone offered gadgets that would run on Windows 8. The 8gadgetpack was very nice; it looked good, worked well, and had the functions I was interested in. As new versions of Windows 10 came out, they often disabled the gadgets, saying they were a security threat. More recently there were reports that Russian hackers were targeting Microsoft Windows. So, I decided to remove the 8gadgetpack, but I looked for a replacement.
The main replacement I have found is rainmeter. There are many “skins” available for rainmeter that provide many of the same functions as the 8gadget pack. My question is, however, whether rainmeter opens the same security holes for hackers that the 8gadgetpack does? From discussions on the Internet, it looks like some server farms use rainmeter; so, maybe it does not have the same vulnerabilities.
While working with rainmeter, I discovered a related program, xwidgets, that appears to work with rainmeter, but offers more interesting graphics and functions. My favorite is “Old Time Widget,” which features a pocket watch much like my grandfather’s watch that I still have. It also provides the functions I like to see how my computer is doing. I hope it hasn’t opened a gigantic hole for hackers.
hat Microsoft Windows has dropped gadgets. For a while in some version o