Majorgeeks Begins Deleting All Gadgets from Database
Posted by: Timothy Tibbetts on 08/28/2013 07:31 AM
[
Comments
]
As many geeks are aware, Microsoft has removed gadgets from Windows 7 and Vista, and they are not included in Windows 8. Luckily, we always hated gadgets because it seems like a waste of system resources to waste on every start-up. Majorgeeks has worked hard to build a reputation for listing only the best software, so it makes sense that, beginning today, we are removing all gadgets listings and files we have on Majorgeeks.
Microsoft says that “Gadgets are no longer available on our website because the Windows Sidebar platform in Windows 7 and Windows Vista has serious vulnerabilities. Microsoft has retired the feature in newer releases of Windows. Gadgets could be exploited to harm your computer, access your computer's files, show you objectionable content, or change their behavior at any time. An attacker could even use a gadget to take complete control of your PC.
You can find instructions on removing the Windows Sidebar and gadgets completely at Microsoft's page titled How to Protect Windows Vista and Windows 7 Systems from Windows Sidebar Gadgets Exploitation.
So, why is this news now? Because a simple search of some of the better-known gadgets still come up for download on many of the most well-known download sites with 4-star ratings in many cases. These websites tend to be quantity over quality, and they continue to put their readers, who for some reason trust them, at risk. I guess it’s those worthless “Certified” buttons that people fall for.
To make our point, the downloads we are removing totaled in the hundreds of thousands (they do go back to Vista and 7, so that’s years of downloads) meaning we will be losing hundreds of thousands of page views in the future, something many corporate websites can’t live without, especially in these tough times. Considering the aforementioned websites are much larger, keeping these gadgets could easily mean millions of extra page views, especially since there is now one less website listing them.
It’s not the first time we let our wallets take a hit, and it won’t be the last.
Thanks to Ted T for pointing out that we had a few of these still listed. If you see any gadgets listed here, please contact tim @ majorgeeks and I will remove them immediately.
If you are interested in something similar, Rainmeter has been around for years and works in a similar fashion.
Microsoft says that “Gadgets are no longer available on our website because the Windows Sidebar platform in Windows 7 and Windows Vista has serious vulnerabilities. Microsoft has retired the feature in newer releases of Windows. Gadgets could be exploited to harm your computer, access your computer's files, show you objectionable content, or change their behavior at any time. An attacker could even use a gadget to take complete control of your PC.You can find instructions on removing the Windows Sidebar and gadgets completely at Microsoft's page titled How to Protect Windows Vista and Windows 7 Systems from Windows Sidebar Gadgets Exploitation.
So, why is this news now? Because a simple search of some of the better-known gadgets still come up for download on many of the most well-known download sites with 4-star ratings in many cases. These websites tend to be quantity over quality, and they continue to put their readers, who for some reason trust them, at risk. I guess it’s those worthless “Certified” buttons that people fall for.
To make our point, the downloads we are removing totaled in the hundreds of thousands (they do go back to Vista and 7, so that’s years of downloads) meaning we will be losing hundreds of thousands of page views in the future, something many corporate websites can’t live without, especially in these tough times. Considering the aforementioned websites are much larger, keeping these gadgets could easily mean millions of extra page views, especially since there is now one less website listing them.
It’s not the first time we let our wallets take a hit, and it won’t be the last.
Thanks to Ted T for pointing out that we had a few of these still listed. If you see any gadgets listed here, please contact tim @ majorgeeks and I will remove them immediately.
If you are interested in something similar, Rainmeter has been around for years and works in a similar fashion.
Comments
