Anyone else not like Dashboard?

2

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 43
    I'm actually warming up to Dashboard. It's been said a few times in this thread, but for me the nice thing is that you pick what you really want and get their with a tap on the ol' F12 key instead of visiting several Web sites and launching a couple of apps.



    I also rearranged the widgets so they're all nice and neat in the upper left corner of my screen when I need them instead of all over the place. FYI, I use weather, Wikipedia and the dictionary multiple times each day. Really quite useful.
  • Reply 22 of 43
    digitaldavedigitaldave Posts: 445member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rentedmule

    ...but for me the nice thing is that you pick what you really want and get their with a tap on the ol' F12 key instead of visiting several Web sites and launching a couple of apps.



    Interesting way of looking at it. I was only considering one widget at a time, but the multiple widget scenario makes sense if you frequently check several different things.
  • Reply 23 of 43
    danosaurdanosaur Posts: 258member
    How to fall in love with Dashboard:



    Download Jared

    Download HulaGirl

    Download Annoying Bass Groove



    Change Hula Girl to dancing Jesus.
  • Reply 24 of 43
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    My super-useful widget is coming soon. I use it daily and it saves me time. Perfect.



    Anyhow, watch this space if you live in the Bay Area!





    Update: My BART Widget was released June 24th.
  • Reply 25 of 43
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    On topic though, I love Dashboard.



    I use the weather to track home and work. The stock tracker lets me keep an eye on AAPL. My widget is super-useful too.



    I also have the Dictionary, Calculator, and Sticky note, but they're like second class citizens. The big-ass calendar is ok.



    I think I'm gonna kill the sticky widget. I like my old stickies more. Both of these need to integrate with .Mac sync.



    I don't use wikipedia enough to use the widget. SysStat is kinda cool, but I already have the Activity Monitor running in my Dock. I might add a PHP lookup widget.





    Dashboard can be dreadful though, just like a messy Desktop! I'm somewhat concerned about my girlfriend's Dad. He only has a 400 MHz G4 and I think he'll go crazy and install all sorts of ghastly widgets. I'll take it as a good sign though.
  • Reply 26 of 43
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BRussell

    I honestly thought I'd like it, but after using it for a while, I don't. I don't like the fact that these things are scattered all over the screen when you open it up. Why do I need to see the weather and everything else when I only want to look at a stickie? I don't like the fact that you can't interact with any other apps when you're using Dashboard. I don't understand why there's so much duplication between regular apps and widgets (calculator, iTunes, address book, dictionary etc.). What's wrong with using the regular apps?



    If it was a "don't like it? don't use it" situation, that would be one thing, but there's no simple way for a typical user to quit the thing. Apple has made this a core aspect of their OS.



    It sounded like a good idea, but it just doesn't work, IMO. Who's with me?




    the package tracker, weather, dopplar radar, phonebook, and calculator are the reasons i use dashboard. i only bring them up when i need them and i'd much rather have those items in a second screen rather than open up apps or go to websites every time i want to check something.
  • Reply 27 of 43
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    I wish they were proper Carbon/Cocoa applications, just bound to a single layer. it's the javascriptness that makes it feel so pokey and "not real".



    Nice that people can develop easily using JS but nothing beats a real app for speed.
  • Reply 28 of 43
    synosyno Posts: 33member
    i use the dashboard every day its usefull to have dictionary handy when doing a paper. or when you need too track a package. i also use the tivo widget to see what i have recored. dashboard has saved me time
  • Reply 29 of 43
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Just launched a beta of BARTWidget. It shows BART train schedules and is quite handy.



    Its still in beta and I expect some problems, but please download and give it a whirl and send some feedback! If you encounter a problem, just click the widget and hit Command-R to reload it.



    Cheers!
  • Reply 30 of 43
    Dashboard needs to be an optional installation.
  • Reply 31 of 43
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ThinkingDifferent

    Dashboard needs to be an optional installation.



    If you remove the Dashboard icon from the Dock and remove any key-combo to bring it up...it becomes 'optional'.
  • Reply 32 of 43
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    They need to activate contextual Copy and Paste, as there is no menu bar.



    Other than that, I like it now that I have set the right lower screen corner to be the trigger. The Google Maps widget is much faster than going to the website.



    You don't need the Dashboard for the dictionary - you can just hover the mouse over a word and press control-command-D.
  • Reply 33 of 43
    I disabled Dashboard completely using some Terminal command a little while ago and haven't missed it at all. If I need to track a package, I go to the website and track it...if I want to know the weather (I live in Phoenix, it's always 100 degrees or more) I look outside. The widgets really have no use for me.



    I can see them having use for other people, but not enough people that this is a major feature of the OS. I think Stevey just stumbled upon Konfabulator, said "OH MAN" and made the engineers put it in the OS. I'm sure there was a lot of arguing over this as well. An OS should be slim, and this just adds crap that's sort of useless.



    Re-work the dock before adding "features" like this.
  • Reply 34 of 43
    aquamacaquamac Posts: 585member
    Dashboard, hmmm …remember the old Desk Accessories from System 6?

    You've come a long way babe!
  • Reply 35 of 43
    dave marshdave marsh Posts: 349member
    Actually, I love the Dashboard concept and enjoy selecting the Widgets for my use. It's great to press F-12 and have a bunch of useful tools pop up, even if it does take ~10-15 seconds for them to become useful. I'd certainly spend a similar amount of time clicking around to startup an occasionally used application.



    I typically use widgets for weather, traffic reports, movie schedules, package tracking, and unit conversions. But the mix changes according to which Mac I'm using. At work, the airline schedule widget is a hit, since we have so many people traveling all the time. I also like their individuality, and concerning the neatness issue, arrange them as you like.



    For those who don't use them, fine. Remove it from the Dock, and disable the F-12 key. We have a lot of people at work who don't use Exposé either, but I also like the convenience of quickly switching among many windows and temporarily clearing my screen to get at something on the Desktop. To each his own...
  • Reply 36 of 43
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    I just wish there was a way of quitting and launching Dashboard, for when you want to play games or whatever and want to make sure you have no performance leeching from DB. Then you could just launch it again, the widgets would update themselves, and it would all be nice and functional until you wanted to shut it down again for whatever reason.
  • Reply 37 of 43
    g3prog3pro Posts: 669member
    Why I love dashboard:



    weather.com's radar animation

    cheap-gas finder

    google maps

    google images

    wikipedia

    address book

    itunes panel



    and many more...



    It's great to have all these things at the touch of a button.
  • Reply 38 of 43
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    I just wish there was a way of quitting and launching Dashboard, for when you want to play games or whatever and want to make sure you have no performance leeching from DB. Then you could just launch it again, the widgets would update themselves, and it would all be nice and functional until you wanted to shut it down again for whatever reason.



    I don't think Dashboard leeches anything but memory. When Dashboard isn't up on the screen, (most*) Dashboard widgets stop doing what they're doing. This explains why it takes a few seconds for them to gather up info from the internet to update themselves when a user bring Dashboard to the screen.



    *There might be a few rogue widgets out there that keep doing things in the background...this is rather bad.



    If you only keep the well-behaved widgets, they shouldn't take away from your gaming experience.
  • Reply 39 of 43
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Weeks later, I'm still diggin' Dashboard. I still primarily use my BART Widget and the Apple Weather widget (2 copies). While I have others floating around, I actually make frequent use of the Dictionary widget, saving me a trip to

    Merriam-Webster.



    I think the new Dashboard Manager in 10.4.2 is good for novice users. It looks a bit kludgy that its both in the Widget Dock and under a "Manage Widgets..." button. Why not a Preference Pane guys? Anyhow, since I haven't tested the latest install procedures or used the widget manager, I can't comment too much about it.
  • Reply 40 of 43
    Don't forget the Oxford American Dictionary/Thesaurus built-in to MacOS X and available in the Applications folder
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