What’s New In Screenlets?

When I first installed Screenlets half a year ago, I really didn’t like it. It took up a big chunk of memory and have only a limited quantity of widgets to choose from. In addition, the software looks rough and it didn’t look well on the desktop that I beautifully customized.

With the release of the new 0.1.2 version, I decided to give it another shot and see if there is any improvements over its previous version. After installing it in my Hardy, I can only say that I am more than impressed.

As compared to its old version, there are much more widgets (to be exact, 42 of them) that come installed with the core package. If that is not enough for you, there is also a page dedicated for third party developers, where you can find lots more widgets to download. Since version 0.1, Screenlets has make possible the integration of SuperKaramba theme, Google Gadgets, WidgetBox, SpringWidgets and others Web widgets. With hundreds (or even thousands) of widgets available at your disposal, I am really overwhelmed.

Other thing that has improved is the interface of the widgets. You can easily integrate with Compiz to create a Mac Dashboard effect, or display the widgets in a sidebar just like Windows sidebar. If you like your widgets to lay around the desktop, just like how Yahoo widgets work, you can simply drag the widget to the desired location, right-click and select “Lock Position“.

Installation of Screenlets

The latest version is not included into the Ubuntu repository (the version found in Synaptic Package Manager is 0.0.12). To install the 0.1.2, download the .deb file from getdeb and double click to install it.

Once installed, you can access Screenlets via Applications->Accessories->Screenlets.

Installation of Web Widgets

To install Google Gadgets or WidgetBox widget, select “Install” from the left pane of the Screenlets Manager. On the dropdown box, select “Convert Web widgets”

Select Google Gadgets and click “Go to web page”. Your browser will now load the Google gadget page.

Choose the gadget you want and grab the javascript code. Copy and paste the code into the “step 2” of the Screenlet installation window. Give your web widget a name and press OK.

Once you see the “Widget successfully converted” message, you have installed the widget and can launch it like any other widgets.