I’ve loved desktop widgets since Konfabulator was ported to Windows. But then Yahoo! bought Konfabulator, and Yahoo! Widgets have spiraled out of control with bloat and frequent updates. Windows Vista shipped with the Windows Sidebar, which allowed widgets to exist in a bar on the side of the screen. Windows 7 improved on that by allowing widgets to live anywhere on the desktop. But come on… the Microsoft widgets just suck.
Like a lot of folks, I really like the old-school clock widget on HTC devices. So imagine my joy when I found HTC Home, a free app which adds a similar looking widget to the Windows desktop:
It’s pretty, it’s easy to install and use, it’s well-behaved, and it even has nifty animations (lightning bolts and thunderclaps during storms, for example).
Don’t like the HTC look? That’s cool. The same folks also offer Metro Home, a similar widget based on Windows Phone 7’s interface. But I’ve been kickin’ HTC Home for some time now, and I really like it.
HTC Home (and Metro Home) are free and require Windows Vista or Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit). Microsoft.NET Framework 4 is also required.