Trillian Astra is going to be the next generation of desktop chat client that will drastically change the appearance and features that are included in the Trillian software package. From what we’ve seen so far, Trillian Astra’s interface looks pretty amazing and it is packed with so many features that it would take awhile if you tried to go through them all.
Unfortunately Trillian Astra is still in a private testing stage where you have to be invited to try out the software. About once a week they release a new test build for testers to try out, and the latest version includes a new widget manager.
I haven’t had a chance to play with the new widget system myself, but are there any real differences between widget systems? After all, widgets are already offered with the following operating systems and software:
- Windows Vista
- Mac OS X
- Opera Browser
- Firefox Browser (with extension)
- Google Desktop
- Yahoo! Widget Engine
- Klipfolio
- Kapsules
- SpringWidgets
- YourMinis
Now that isn’t an exclusive list of applications that provide widgets, but those were all the ones that popped into my mind. Is the software world ready for yet another way to use widgets on the PC? Personally, I think it is quite unnecessary unless there is some great widget that they make available that can’t be found anywhere else, but the chances of that happening probably aren’t that good.
So what do you think? Is this widget madness going too far?
Source: Webware
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Tags: Pre-Release, Software
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Hey Ryan
I’ve used Trillian for years, it’s a great IM client. I was bummed when I couldn’t run it on my vista machine, can’t wait to see Astra.
As for gadgets, I’ve installed and then promptly un-installed dozens of them. The only ones I find even remotely useful are the ones that monitor system/network/disc resources and the weather channel. Aside from that, they’re pretty much a waste of time. It’s a good concept, I keep hoping to find something useful, maybe someone here knows of one.
I’ve played with widgets, and played with and played with, but yea find em pretty much useless in the end too. Having a widget engine built into Astra just says to me that its going to be a very bloated app.
Widgets are fun but take up to much screen space and computer usage.
Yes, the widget madness has gone too far. I use a pretty weak system, so I can’t have anything else slowing it down. Also, Widgets seem to get in the way more than they help. What would I want widgets for? To have RSS, news, mail updates, weather, calendar… in one place? That’s what I have Yahoo! mail beta for
I think widgets are pretty good when placed on a website or MySpace page…It can add some character, depending on the widget.
But as far as widgets within the browser, I think they get in the way. I love the Opera browser…I just don’t understand the point of the widgets.
Widgets are a nice idea, but they need to be better managed. Aside from resource management and weather watching, widgets don’t serve a purpose. And there are standalone programs that can do that. I have forecast fox in FF and I’m sure there’s an app I can find for XP that monitors my resources.
Maybe in the future there will be port monitoring apps and more system based ones, but right now they’re just shiny things to fill your desktop. And people laugh at the other peopel who fill their desktop will icons and folder.
I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one thinking that the widget madness has gone too far. Personally I like websites that have widgets built-in, such as YourMini’s or Netvibes, because it gives a nice place to access your information without causing extra work for your PC. The only widgets I use in Vista are ones to monitor my dual-core processors/memory, the weather, and one for managing recording on Media Center.
How true. Especially with Google Gadgets and Trillian.
You also missed the GDesklets and SuperKaramba (based off of Karamba). All three are Linux widgets (the first for GTK , the second for KDE).
WIdgets seem to have become the must have gimmick, yet no one is really advancing them - despite Google Sidebar, Windows Sidebar and the like getting constantly refreshed, the principle remains the same as that of Konfabulator which bought widgets to the fore on Windows. For this reason the same problems exist - lack of omniprescence (because there’s usually stuff open and covering them), system resource use, difficult to find what one wants/customise. I think if every widget browser adopted a universal standard for code, preference storage and the like it would be more appealing to use them, because minor code knowledge could change a lot, but the other issues remain. At the end of the day most of the info provided by widgets isn’t needed most of the time - the only thing I’ve ever found realistically useful for widgets was a To Do list. But I replaced that - with a whiteboard and pen next to my desk. PCs can’t do everything.
I have been trying to think how the widgets and gadgets can advance to the next step, but can’t come up with much. I think Netvibes is taking a step in the right direction by offering their gadgets from the site on other platforms (including on your desktop). That way you can have your gadgets right there on your computer, or when you go somewhere else (like work) you can pull up your browser and have the same gadgets.