Windows Vista has a gadget sidebar on the desktop which Microsoft removed from Windows 7. The sidebar effectively organized the gadgets along the side of the Vista desktop, and you can also add it to Windows 7 as well. No third-party software is required, or anything else except a USB stick and a copy of Windows Vista.

In Vista you should open Windows Explorer, and navigate to C:\ Program Files where there is a Windows Sidebar folder. Insert a USB stick, and then drag the Windows Sidebar folder onto the stick’s drive to copy it. 

Once you have copied the folder to a USB Stick, open Windows 7 Explorer and go to the same Windows Sidebar folder on your Windows 7 machine. Right-click on the folder, and then rename it to Windows Sidebar_old.

Now insert the USB stick with the Windows Sidebar folder on it, and open Windows 7 Explorer. Drag the Windows Sidebar folder from the USB stick drive to C:\Program Files. Then you should find the new Windows Sidebar folder just above Windows Sidebar_old.

Close Windows 7 Explorer, and right-click on the desktop. Select Gadgets from the context menu to add the original Windows Vista sidebar to the Windows 7 desktop as in the shot below. It’s exactly the same as the Vista sidebar, and you can add gadgets to it by clicking the + option at the top of the sidebar.

So there you have it, the Vista sidebar is on Windows 7! Those with Windows XP can also add a gadget sidebar to the desktop with the Vista Sidebar XP software.