Windows Vista SideShow Gadgets: Little Apps, Big Impact

indows SideShow is a new feature in Windows Vista that supports secondary display(s) on your PC. While the "buzz" about this feature primarily discusses notebook computers, Vista supports SideShow secondary displays on desktop computers as well, and SideShow devices are beginning to appear in remote controls. Using Windows SideShow, you can view or control information (such as emails, media player, weather updates, etc) without having to power up your computer. Because SideShow requires hardware support, there aren't many SideShow devices on the market yet, but many device manufacturers have committed to building such devices. One such already-available product is the Asus W5Fe notebook (see Figure 1), which has a built-in SideShow device .

Figure 1. Asus W5Fe Notebook: The figure shows the Asus W5Fe notebook with the SideShow display visible on the cover.

This article provides a short tour of Windows SideShow and then discusses how to develop your own SideShow applications using the Windows Vista SDK and Visual Studio 2005.