Below are the best free Windows 7 gadgets (they work in Windows Vista, too) that can be used to help keep track of system resources: If you like to keep track of how much memory and CPU is being used at any given time, give the CPU Meter gadget a try. This is pretty basic in that there are no fancy options, but it does what it does well. If you frequently check the free space available on your hard drives, this gadget will definitely save you some time. Configuration is simple, and it’s an especially attractive addition to your other Windows gadgets. Plus, you can customize the background and the icon theme set. The best thing about it is that it supports up to eight CPU cores, making it fully compatible with the latest multi-core CPUs. The interface is superb as well, which helps balance out the fact that there are absolutely no user options. It packs a lot of useful information into a single gadget, maybe too much. It seems a bit “heavy” with the radar display running all the time and the huge Xirrus logo. Still, it’s a powerful gadget, and you might find it really useful. A lot can be customized, but the great thing is that you don’t have to make those changes if you don’t want to. For example, while it’s useful to be able to change which wireless and wired interfaces are to display, and whether to use GHz or MHZ, you can also enable/disable the built-in clock and calendar. You can also mimic an antique meter, a Duracell® battery, and a sphere battery, among other cool things. If you’re on a laptop or other portable Windows 7 device, this gadget should definitely help you keep a closer eye on your available power. There are several useful configurations available with Network Meter including background color, bandwidth scaling, network interface card selection, and more. If you’re troubleshooting a local network issue or are always checking your external IP, this gadget could be very useful. There are only a few options, but background color is one of them. That might seem like a small advantage, but if you’re a regular user of gadgets, you know that making it fit with your desktop scheme is an important factor. We also like the quick one-second update time and well-designed graph in All CPU Meter. If your memory, CPU, or battery usage is something you need (or like) to watch, the Memeter gadget will really come in handy. The only thing you can customize is the theme color to make it yellow, purple, cyan, black, etc. Most NVIDIA and ATI desktop cards are supported by GPU Observer, plus some NVIDIA mobile cards. No Intel, S3, or Matrox GPUs are supported. Multiple cards are supported but not simultaneously. You’ll have to choose which video card you’d like stats displayed for in the GPU Observer options. If keeping tabs on your GPU is important, as it is to most serious gamers, then you’ll love this gadget. There’s nothing that special about it, though. It only tracks one CPU, and the meter display isn’t quite as polished as other similar gadgets. However, there is one redeeming feature: it’s responsive. Very responsive! It appears to be live and not a one or two-second update like other gadgets. This, we love. The other thing we like is how big the gadget is. Some CPU meter gadgets are so small it’s hard to see what’s going on. Definitely try it out. We think you’ll like it. There are a few optionst—you can choose the type of graph to display (polygon or lines) and also which of your hard drives to include in the display (you can choose more than one). Our biggest issue is the inability to change colors. Blue on black is unlikely to satisfy many users…it’s just hard to see. IBM’s Internet Security Systems group operates the AlertCon system. If you’d like a DEFCON-style representation of internet-wide issues right on your desktop, this gadget fits the bill. Just don’t expect it to swing up and down regularly—the internet as a whole isn’t typically under serious threats.
