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I am a web developer and have a Windows Sidebar Gadget written in HTML/Javascript. It's very popular (500 000+ downloads) and users are requesting solutions for Windows 8 since gadget support has been removed. Microsoft will also remove the sidebar functionality in Windows 7.

What platform/SDK options are there for substituting a sidebar gadget?

I get all kinds of results from Google but none seems like an obvious choice. Adobe Air seems like a whole new piece of technology that requires a lot of learning. Simplicity is key and it's the main reason why i am so attached to sidebar gadgets.

These are the requirements:

  • Runs on Windows
  • HTML, Javascript, AJAX based
  • Support for no window decoration (no titlebar, minimize- or close button)
  • Minimum platform/SDK wrappers
  • Ability to read/write xml data to disk

Bonus would be if:

  • It also runs on Linux and Mac
  • SDK/Platform dependencies could be included in the app package

Super-duper bonus would be if:

  • The SDK is supported on handheld devices such as iOS and Android.
Jonathan Leffler
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tim
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3 Answers3

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Take a look at XUL. Meet all you check list:

  • Runs on Windows
  • HTML, Javascript, AJAX based
  • Support for no window decoration (no titlebar, minimize- or close button)
  • Minimum platform/SDK wrappers
  • Ability to read/write xml data to disk
  • It also runs on Linux and Mac

Here you can find what is it. I hope it helps buddy.

Reza Owliaei
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  • Thank you for responding. At a first look this seems similar to the --app command line parameter for Google Chrome. I found a project that uses XUL Runner at http://pencil.evolus.vn. – tim Dec 27 '12 at 04:48
  • And that seems not bad. Are you looking for something else tim? – Reza Owliaei Dec 27 '12 at 08:49
  • Technology relying on the installed choice of browser could be a bit inconvenient. I looked a bit more at Adobe Air and it might not be that much foreign technology as I thought. The Hello World demo is actually quite similar to what a gadget is. The difference is when wrapping it up. – tim Dec 27 '12 at 18:11
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For those who stumbled upon this thread and looking for a way to create HTML/javascript desktop applications. I'm just gonna list AppJS as another potential SDK. The framework to embed with your scripts is 50 MB.

http://appjs.org/

tim
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TideSDK seems like another multiplatform option similar to AppJS.

http://www.tidesdk.org/

tim
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