New Improved Desktop Gadget Designer

Posted by Andrew Scherkus, Software Engineering Intern

If you're starting to create desktop gadgets, be sure to try out the new and improved Google Desktop Gadget Designer, included with the latest Google Desktop SDK. It makes creating that great gadget idea of yours a breeze, with drag & drop elements, property editors, and built-in script editing. I spent my internship here working with the amazing people on the Desktop team and adding some of the most requested features to the designer.


Here are some of the new features and fixes in the latest version:

• Additions to the API, such as listbox and progressbar, are supported.


• The designer UI is more configurable, with variable-size panes and retained window position/size.


• You can find and replace text and go to a specific line.


• The properties list is sorted in alphabetical order.


• The designer tabs have tool tips and can be closed with a middle-click.


• You can choose whether to see a web page at startup; the new default home page lets you search Google Desktop documentation or all Google Desktop websites (including this blog).


• New project files are UTF-8 encoded.


• You can specify preferences, such as whether to load the most recent project at startup.

For your learning enjoyment, this version of the Google Desktop SDK also includes new samples demonstrating scrolling elements and the XML details view. And if you have requests for the designer or questions about desktop gadget development, check out the Google Desktop Developer Group and the Developer Knowledge Base -- and don't forget to read our online gadget documentation for tutorials, guidelines, and the API reference doc.

Isaac Newton: Ocean of Truth

I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

Isaac Newton, From Brewster, Memoirs of Newton (1855)
English mathematician & physicist (1642 - 1727)

I have always enjoyed spouting this quote to family and friends, but have been haunted by the exact meaning. Is Newton lamenting that his studies in astronomy, light and mathematics kept him from studying (fully) alchemy? Or, rather that he did not see his accomplishments in the same light as we?