Talk:Active Desktop

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If you're interested, I've included a formatted version on my user page. However I don't think that should be in the article. The unformatted version makes for a compact example. As an example the formatted version is too complex, so I'll just leave a note on this talk page. Shinobu 18:57, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

why are widgets so big right now and why didn't the chanels gain a comparable success?

Availability of useful ones. In the basics MacOS X widgets and Active Desktop items provide roughly the same functionality. The Mac does it a little better on the graphical side, but that's it. However, when AD was introduced it was not accompanied by a set of items that people actually wanted, or if there were, they were not advertised well. Whereas the Mac comes with widgets which the Mac users find useful. And that's why the Active Desktop is almost forgotten and widgets are in, I think. Shinobu 15:53, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Active Desktop Portal

I was working on this program last year, and I'm picking up on it. It's called Active Desktop Portal. It is a PHP/MySQL/Apache server that changes the wallpaper to a PHP script.

Advantages include: Using JPEG's for wallpaper (All versions of Windows convert JPEG images to BMP, even though you don't realise it) Dynamic Content (widgets) Snow, Rain, Flowers, etc. (animate your desktop) Compatibility (Works on 98/2000 and up - should work on Vista) http://adp.sourceforge.net/

Sounds interesting, although it should be noted that when the Active Desktop is turned on JPEGs can be used as a wallpaper directly. Of course, at some point a bitmap will have to be created for actual display, but that happens in memory. Shinobu 10:46, 4 August 2006 (UTC)