daringfireball.net — A very clear and precise (albeit long and not entirely impartial) comparison between Konfabulator and the Apple MacOSX Dashboard. Summary: both widgets are are just HTML+CSS+Javascript but Konfabulator uses its own Javascript engine (and in fact works on both Windows and Mac) while Dashboard uses the MacOSX engine.
Jul 25, 2005 View in Crawl 4
beeblebroxJul 26, 2005
He has two main points to bolster his argument. First, that Dashboard is different "under the hood" and therefore not a rip-off. But that argument, which is already absurd, is rendered completely baseless by Apple's own lawsuit against Microsoft over Windows infringement on the Mac OS. Apple sued over "LOOK and FEEL," not the underlying technology, which is inarguably different. Just take a look at Konfabulator and Dashboard. The widgets are virtually identical. And Konfabulator came first.The other argument, that the Mac had desktop accessories twenty years ago and the idea therefore precedes Konfab, calls on us to believe that Apple went back 15 years to some long-forgotten feature and decided to update it all on its own and that it's just a COINCIDENCE that this happened just a year after the success of Konfabulator and that both developers just HAPPENED to call them "WIDGETS." It's really the name "widgets" that belies the ridiculousness of that claim. Had they been based on Desktop Accessories, Apple could have named them anything they wanted.What is wrong with just admitting that, yes, Apple sometimes borrow, copies, and steals? All companies do this. Microsoft does it as a matter of policy. Why the utterly specious spin defending Apple? They are trying to improve OS X. They see something everyone enjoys but don't like the way it's implemented. They rip of the look and feel and change the underlying technology to make it more efficient. Is that such a hard thing to admit that we have to jump backwards through hoops to explain why it's impossible that Apple could ever rip anyone off?
bacon_skodaJul 26, 2005
<a class="user" href="http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&e=5&u=/ap/20050726/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_konfabulator">http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&e=5&u=/ap/20050726/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_konfabulator</a>"The deal, finalized late last week for an undisclosed price, gives Yahoo access to a toolbox of mini-applications ? known as widgets ? that have built a cult following since Palo Alto-based Konfabulator first introduced them for Apple Computer Inc.'sMacintosh in 2002.Apple liked the concept so much that it includes a widgets dashboard in the Mac's operating system. With just three employees, Konfabulator designs its widget software to run on the ubiquitous Windows operating system as well."why are we arguing?
blizaineJul 26, 2005
Who cares if Dashboard was a rip off or not..... It is so much better than Konfab, that it really doesn't matter. I was pumped to download the PC konfab so that I could get some "Dashboardness" on my XP box only to find out all of its short comings. Maybe it's just me not knowing how to use it. But, is there a way to have the widgets not loaded and not consume recourses, and then hit F8 to make them appear? I know you can leave them on your desktop and hit F8. I want them to go away completely when I don't need them (which is 90% of the time). People need to realize that the innovation and creativeness that is on the Cupertino campus is unparalleled. All Apple did was take an average idea like Konfabulator and make it a GREAT idea, Dashboard. No harm in that.
hawks5999Jul 26, 2005
Wednesday, June 30, 2004...
blizaineJul 26, 2005
Ok, I've been playing around with Konfab on my PC and it is better than I originally thought.
praxJul 26, 2005
This is old-- June 30, 2004!
jaymoonJul 26, 2005
What's wrong with old news? lolThe only difference I see between the Dashboard and Konfabulator are the widgets. Since they are completely different, it just matters about what the community comes up with. I've seen so many widgets I want with Dashboard, but can't have cause I don't have a Mac... But does that make it better? I wouldn't go out and buy a Mac just so I can have a ______ widget.