Datasheet

Gadgets 9
Figure 1-5
Changing the opacity of a gadget
In addition to customizing what information appears in a gadget (as in the RSS
feed headlines shown in the Feed Headlines gadget), you can also customize the
overall opacity of a gadget. Any gadget you add to the Windows 7 desktop is
automatically displayed at 100-percent opacity (making it as opaque and non-
see-through as possible). You can, however, lighten up any of your gadgets —
making them more see-through — by changing the gadget’s opacity.
To modify the opacity of a gadget, right-click the gadget and then highlight the
Opacity item on its shortcut menu. Windows then displays a submenu where
you can click the new opacity percentage item you want to use (20%, 40%, 60%,
or 80%). The lower the percentage, the more transparent the gadget is.
Resizing gadgets and repositioning them on the desktop
Some gadgets have a Larger Size option that you can use to increase its display
size on the desktop. To use this option, position the mouse pointer somewhere
on the gadget and then click the Larger Size button (with an arrow pointing diag-
onally up to the right) that appears between the Close and Options buttons on
the right size of the gadget (when the gadget offers this resizing option).
Immediately after you increase the display size of a gadget, the Larger Size
button changes into a Smaller Size button that you can click whenever you want
to return the gadget to its original display size on the desktop.
Windows 7 also enables you to reposition any gadget on the desktop by moving
it out of its original position on the far right of the desktop. To relocate a gadget,
position the mouse pointer on its Drag Gadget button (the one whose icon
sports a grid of dots) that appears immediately beneath the Options button (the
one with the wrench icon) on the right side of the gadget. Then, drag and drop
the gadget in its new position on the Windows desktop just as you would any
other desktop icon or the title bar of any open window.
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