Product Reviews

If you want to make the most of Vista's desktop Sidebar and gadgets, you'll need to go beyond those that come preinstalled with the OS. The Windows Live Gadget Gallery (http://gallery.live.com) is the place to go, with thousands of free downloads to wade through. This month, though, we've done the job for you.

App Launcher is as useful as it sounds, loading applications via a collection of icons in the Sidebar. If your Quick-Launch toolbar is anything like that of most people, the extra space is very welcome. Pop in a dozen of your most frequently used programs and they're just a click away. You can add command line arguments to the links, view folders in flyouts, and drag and drop documents on to an application icon to open them. You can even add your bookmarks folder and open websites directly. Pages stored in different bookmark folders will open in their respective default browsers, which is one nice touch among many, making App Launcher our Recommended download this month.