Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger): Widgets (Erratum)

ID: 0508010.8044

In my July 5, 2005 blog, Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger): Widgets, I said "A disadvantage of Dashboard however, is that its widgets cannot have the focus at the same time as the Desktop or any open window. Users have to alternate between viewing Dashboard widgets, or working with the Desktop and open windows; not both at the same time."

This is not true!

You can simultaneously display both a functioning widget and the Desktop, permitting for example, keeping the dictionary widget open while writing in TextPad, Pages, or Word. As far as I can tell however, how to do this is not documented in Mac Help.

To display a widget in both Dashboard and on the Desktop, do the following:

1. Press F12 to display the Dashboard.
2. At the bottom left corner, click the Open button to display the widget bar.
3. Select a widget icon, and begin dragging it off the widget bar.
4. When the icon clears the bar, assuming its normal size, press F12.
5. Release the icon.

Dashboard vanishes, and the widget now displays on the Desktop. Pressing F12 to display Dashboard, also displays the widget at that screen position. To remove this widget from the Desktop, activate Dashboard, and remove the widget from Dashboard.

It's odd Apple didn't document this feature, since it expands the usefulness of widgets. I now see this feature as much more useful.

Email Comments