With Windows 8, Microsoft is moving away from desktop gadgets. Instead, they want developers to write Metro style apps that can also be docked to the right side of the display like a gadget. Of course, if you were happy with your gadgets in Windows 7, you can continue to use them in Windows 8 and it works well enough.
Note. Microsoft removed all gadgets from Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. If you want to get your gadgets back, you need to install them using a third-party tool. We recommend 8GadgetPack It is free of viruses, malware and spyware. Also a better option than gadgets is Rainmeter
Unfortunately, there is no official Microsoft Gadgets Gallery for Windows 8. By default, Windows 8 has 8 built-in gadgets:
These gadgets are Calendar, Clock, CPU Meter, Currency, Channel Titles, Picture Puzzle, Slideshow, and Weather. If you need more gadgets, you can find them online, download and install them, but they may contain malware or spyware, so be careful.
To install a desktop gadget in Windows 8, first open Control Panel and then click Desktop Gadgets.
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Then just right-click the desired gadget and select “Add”.
Now your gadget will appear on the right side of the screen, as it did in Windows 7:
For those of you who have been using Windows 8 for a while, you might be wondering what happens if you pin the Metro app to the right side of your screen and also install a desktop widget? This is how it would look:
Essentially, Windows 8 moves the widget to the left side of the linked Metro app. I thought it would mess up something and either the gadgets won’t display or do something else, but luckily they thought about it and you can see both at the same time. So, if you have a monitor that supports some ridiculous resolution and have some extra space, you can launch multiple gadgets and bind Metro apps to your desktop with no problem. Enjoy!
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