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DW Widget: The Latest News Straight to Your Desktop

Receive up-to-date news straight to your desktop with the help of the DW Widget -- even while you're working.

Widgets, sometimes also called gadgets, are small graphic elements that make information from the Internet appear your computer's desktop. These little icons can show up-to-the-minute news headlines, for example, the current weather or time, and much more.

DW-WORLD.DE has created a self-updating widget that brings you the latest news from German and Europe. With a click of your mouse, you can also use the widget to access Deutsche Welle's radio and TV streams.

Getting started

To add widgets to your computer, you first need a widget engine to administer and display them.

For Apple users: In the Mac OS X system, Version 10.4 and newer, a widget engine is automatically included ("dashboard").

For Microsoft users: In the new Vista operating system, the engine is located in the desktop sidebar where widgets are called "gadgets."

The DW Widgets are also available for the Opera browser and the Yahoo! Widget Engine. You'll need the Yahoo! Widget Engine if you are using Windows XP or Windows 2000.

Step 1: Set up your widget engine

If your operating system does not yet have a widget engine, you can easily download one from the Internet free of charge. One of the most common options is the Yahoo! Widget Engine (formerly called "Konfabulator"). It can be downloaded at widgets.yahoo.com.

Step 2: Download the widget and get started

Once the engine has been installed on your computer, the DW Widget can be downloaded. Please click on one of the links below to begin downloading the DW Widget.

After the DW Widget has been downloaded, save it in your widget folder. Then open the saved file by double clicking on it.

Note: If there is a firewall installed on your computer, it will ask you if the widget engine should be able to access the Internet. The DW Widget can only display and update current news if Internet access is permitted.

For Windows 2000 and XP (Yahoo!)

For Windows Vista

For Apple Mac OS X

For Opera

Step 3: Configure your DW Widget

When the installation is complete, you can configure the widget by clicking on "Settings." Here you can determine how frequently the news is updated, the number of articles displayed and the quality of the radio and TV streams.