I am sure that many of you have reached for a butter knife to use for a task other than spreading butter, just because it was handy. That's the idea behind the new SideBar in Windows Vista. The SideBar can be filled with useful tools that Microsoft calls gadgets. The Sidebar can be set up to appear on your computer desktop every time you start your computer, so like the trusty butter knife, its tools are always right at your fingertips. You can fill the SideBar with whatever gadgets you find useful. You can choose a clock, a calendar, a stock ticker, a photo viewer, a weather reporter, and about a zillion other small desktop tools. These gadgets are constantly updated so you get the latest time, weather, or stock quotes.

Macintosh users have had this type of handy tool available for years. Apple includes the ability to display the same type of tools in the Dashboard of Mac OS X. Apple calls them widgets. In some ways the Mac widgets are even better than the Vista gadgets. They are more visually appealing and you can click on the Dashboard icon or F12 to make the widgets materialize. Then you click any unoccupied section of the desktop to make them disappear.

Once you start using these simple little display programs, you can get hooked quite quickly. Luckily, it's easy to get more gadgets or widgets. In Vista you simply click on the "+" on the top of the Sidebar. In the Mac you start the Dashboard and click on the plus sign in the lower left corner. Then click on the "More Widgets" button. There are hundreds of these mini programs available and all of them are free. If you have to pick a friend up at the airport you can use a widget that tracks their flight. If you are waiting for a package, you can see at a glance where that package is with a FedEx widget. If you need a little lightening up, use the Calvin & Hobbes widget.

Don't fret if you don't have a Mac or Microsoft Vista, you can also get widgets for Windows XP, as well. One of the best widget programs for XP is Yahoo! Widgets, which is available at http://widgets.yahoo.com . The widget program and all the widgets are free. They work with Windows XP and 2000. They also work with Vista and OS X. Yahoo! Widgets is an easy download that comes with several widgets including the usual clock, weather, stock ticker, and day planner. Be careful when you install it, you have to uncheck two boxes or Yahoo! will reset your homepage to yahoo.com and set the default search engine to Yahoo!.

Yahoo! Widgets is built on an old engine called Konfabulator that has been around for years, so there are a ton of great widgets available. As I write this there are 4,613 listed on the Yahoo! website.

Some are very convenient like the Zipper, that lets you drag files and/or folders onto the Widget to compress or decompress them. The Glow Ball has 8 glowing balls that change color based on free computer memory, wireless signal strength, battery capacity, and other computer functions.

If you are looking for something a bit more off-beat, try the Werewolf Monitor that shows you the current phase of the moon. Or get rid of some of your computer frustrations with Shootit which lets you select the ammo and shoot holes in your desktop. No matter what you want, there is probably a widget for you. There are 300 different clocks and more than 400 games to choose from. It's fun just to peruse the offerings, but it's more fun to try out some of the many unique widgets that are available. So whether you try the Vista gadgets, or the Mac or Yahoo! widgets, you are sure to find a little something to spice up your day!