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saddino · May 3, 2005, 12:14 AM

Mesa Dynamics Announces Public Beta of Amnesty Widget Browser

Washington, DC -- May 3, 2005 -- Mesa Dynamics today announced the public beta release of Amnesty Widget Browser for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

Amnesty Widget Browser is a utility that allows Apple Dashboard widgets to live directly on the Desktop via an icon in the system menu bar.*Widgets loaded in Amnesty Widget Browser run completely independent of the Dashboard environment, maintain their own preferences and feature additional properties such as window depth and opacity.

Amnesty Widget Browser also functions as a rapid testing environment for widget developers or users who wish to try out third-party widgets without restarting Dashboard.

The public beta version of Amnesty Widget Browser is immediately available for download at http://www.mesadynamics.com and requires Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

CJM · May 3, 2005, 12:51 AM

this is great, nice work

RevEvs · May 3, 2005, 06:48 AM

not on my mac at the moment, does this allow you to change the level of the widgets? i.e not have them top-most?

saddino · May 3, 2005, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by RevEvs

not on my mac at the moment, does this allow you to change the level of the widgets? i.e not have them top-most?

Yes, embedded in the desktop, in the document (normal) level, or floating.

Big Mac · May 3, 2005, 11:42 AM

Will the widget still go back to the Expose layer if the user goes back to it (as I understand the current behavior to be)?

Turias · May 3, 2005, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Will the widget still go back to the Expose layer if the user goes back to it (as I understand the current behavior to be)?

It shouldn't. According to the site, the widgets will live in their own environment outside of Dashboard.

saddino · May 3, 2005, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Will the widget still go back to the Expose layer if the user goes back to it (as I understand the current behavior to be)?

Nope. Widgets in Amnesty Widget Browser run outside of Dashboard (there is no interaction between Dashboard and AWB at all). AWB is its own "desktop-centric" widget envrionment.

ManOfSteal · May 3, 2005, 11:47 AM

Sounds pretty awesome...any issues with anybody running it?

CJM · May 3, 2005, 11:48 AM

sometimes it seems to lose my widgets...and i can only get them back by trashing the prefs

Eriamjh · Jul 12, 2005, 07:50 AM

I just heard about this (and used the search function to find this POST so I wouldn't be timelined!).

Is anybody running it? It was just released.

saddino · Jul 12, 2005, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

I just heard about this (and used the search function to find this POST so I wouldn't be timelined!).

Is anybody running it? It was just released.

Well, since its fully functional for 30 days, it wouldn't hurt to try it yourself.

Basically, if you're a power widget user and you want widgets on or in the desktop, with opacity and other goodies, or if you need multiple dashboards or widgets that can be brought up with hot keys, then it may be for you. (And if you're a Panther user who doesn't have Konfabulator, it could fulfill a need.)

Otherwise, if you just want to keep one widget embedded in your desktop, you may not think its worth the price ($20). To each their own, as they say...