With 16x9 displays becoming increasingly important, Microsoft's new Sidebar, scheduled for release in Windows Vista and also to be back ported to Windows XP may be the right program at the right time.

The sidebar is essentially a container for "gadgets".  Gadgets are similar to widgets except they don't require a special enabler in order to use.  Stardock plans to support Microsoft's Sidebar in a variety of ways depending on the final implementation.

Originally, Microsoft planned to have the Sidebar support gadgets made either via DHTML or as Windows Presentation Foundation (Avalon) gadgets.  However, the company seems to be focusing more on DHTML gadgets in order to allow those gadgets to be able to run on both the desktop and on web pages seamlessly (something Avalon gadgets would not be able to do since they would require the browser to support Avalon explicitly).

The question that remains to be answer is whether Microsoft's particular implementation of the Sidebar is compelling enough for users to adopt when Google and even Stardock have their own "bars" that can do much the same thing.

We think it'll boil down to two things:

1) The content of course.

and

2) Whether there is a compelling need to have a bar sticking around on the screen.

Taken together, Microsoft and others have to make the case that we need this.  Sure, an RSS feed might be nice. But what else? Weather? Do I need weather info taking up screen space 24/7? Or a big clock? Or MP3 controls?  This isn't a new issue. 

For all the hype widgets/gadgets have received over the past few years (and we've certainly been part of that) no one seems to have answer to that question: Why.  Can Microsoft come up with compelling content.  Look at Microsoft's own screenshot carefully.  It has a clock, an RSS feed, a picture, a couple of shortcuts, and an MP3 control. Is it worth 10% of your screen space for that?

We think that the Sidebar as a concept is good. The problem that remains to be solved is finding compelling content.  Clocks and RSS feeds ain't it.  Even with all the exposure Yahoo has given the Yahoo widget engine and all the press it's received, the typical widget for it gets less than 10,000 downloads (compare that to a "niche" thing like WindowBlinds or even a popular DesktopX theme or an icon package).  The story seems the same -- widgets and gadgets simply don't have enough meat right now to be compelling.  Someone needs to come up with content that goes beyond the mildly useful and into the realm of compelling.

What do you think?