Not long has passed since Windows 10 launched, but if you're already tired of its interface and looking for a way to add value both in design and function, this article will be quite interesting. We'll add a sidebar to the desktop, where you can place personalized "Live" tiles. These tiles update automatically, giving you real-time weather information, the ability to launch the music player or see how much battery you have left.
Once you download the program from its official page, you'll notice that when you run it, the sidebar appears on the right side of the desktop. The first time you run the platform, it shows a small guide that helps you understand the basics.
What Can You Do with the Tiles?
You'll find tiles for weather, images, program launchers, Control Panel, My PC, Recycle Bin, Notepad, and more. However, you can only see five tiles at a time.
You can change the position of tiles (top and bottom) and configure them individually. For example, for the weather tile, you can add your city by clicking the Settings icon at the bottom.
Adding and Customizing Tiles
From the button with three horizontal dots at the bottom, you have five options. Using the "Add tiles" option, you can add preset tiles such as Bing Search, clock, battery, images, energy, weather, and more. The platform has its own store where you'll find various useful gadgets.
The gadgets have the option to change color, set opacity, change size, and adjust different parameters like location, especially for live gadgets.
At this point, we want to clarify that any changes you make to the tiles regarding opacity or color will also be applied to the sidebar.
From the "Settings" option, you can choose to have the bar start with Windows, always be visible (above programs and documents), hide the bar, show it on another monitor, and other options.
Although the gadget service already existed in previous versions of Windows, this environment offers a bar that you can customize to the fullest. The real-time information is very useful, as are the shortcuts to different programs or system services.
While working with the bar, we noticed that it's not annoying because its auto-hide feature works perfectly, which is good when you're editing video or browsing the internet. But if you want to activate it and don't feel like going into the settings, you can use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+M) or move the mouse to the top-right or bottom-right corner of the desktop.
MetroSidebar is a free program available for Windows operating systems.
