Do you find Vista gadgets to be useful or just a gimmick?

Windows Vista has received a very bad reputation, but a lot of the issues are not caused by Microsoft itself. With Vista being a different type of operating system rather than an upgrade, the hardware components require totally different drivers in order for them to work. Sadly, many of the hardware manufacturers have not bothered to produce drivers for parts a couple of years old and expect people to purchase new sound cards or printers etcetera. As long as you buy a new machine with Vista installed then you will have all the right components and these issues will not exist, except for such items as printers and scanners that are separate from the system.

I am quite surprised that you have not tried it yet. I can fully understand someone not wanting to use it, but I always check out every feature to assess the potential initially.

I have tried the CPU meter, but it did not really appeal to me. I suppose the benefit of gadgets is that there are so many that there is likely to be something of interest to all of us.

If using the sidebar affects the spped then you are using minimal resources and would have trouble with some programs with or without the sidebar active.