Widgets: From Dashboard to Desktop

Before Apple added the Dashboard to OS X, Mac users used Konfabulator (now Yahoo! Widgets). While Konfabulator put its widgets on the desktop, OS X puts its widgets on the Dashboard. Many people like this, but some prefer instant access to their widgets on the desktop. While the obvious solution would be to install Yahoo! Widgets, there is an alternative way to get your Dashboard widgets on the desktop.

The first step to doing this is activating Dashboard’s development mode. To do this, open Terminal and type defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES, hit return, and log out and back in. To move any widget from your Dashboard to your desktop, activate the Dashboard with your keyboard shortcut (default is F12), begin dragging the widget you want to move, press F12 again before letting go of the mouse button, and then drop the widget where you want it. To get a widget back to the Dashboard, do the same thing in reverse. The only disadvantage of doing this is that widgets float above all windows.