The dashboard widgets of old versions of macOS are again available on a website. If you want a good dose of nostalgia, or even need to convert meters to miles, you can just use them.
It’s been a few years since they disappeared, but they still marked a generation of macOS users: the famous Dashboard widgets, the pinnacle of class and modernity, are back. Spotted by the media Gizmodo on July 3, 2021, the brand new dashboard is the work of a young developer. It is hosted on a website and is accessible free of charge.
A clock, a calculator, a mini tiger puzzle, a post it to take notes quickly, and finally a tool to convert a whole bunch of measurements: these widgets are awesomely retro. After being removed from Macs in 2019, they seemed to be doomed to oblivion, but thanks to the work of this developer, you can enjoy these little tech gems again.
Find the dashboard and widgets of old macOS here.
A conversion tool, a puzzle and a clock
The developer behind this project, Zane Klein, explains on Twitter the history of the project. ” I realized today that old Mac widgets are fully coded in HTML, CSS, and JS. Logically, I did what any sane person would have done, and made this little site where you can experience a few. “, He explained on July 2, 2021.
TIL old Mac Dashboard Widgets are made entirely out of HTML, CSS, and JS. Logically, I did what any normal person would do and made a little website where you could experience a few that are still working at https://t.co/M6tFtYPEZp. pic.twitter.com/5G39o3BoB6
– Zane (@zzanehip) July 2, 2021
On the same galaxy wallpaper as that of the macOS X Snow Leopard version, you will be able to find these 5 famous widgets, and especially use them. You can display the Cupertino time, where Apple’s headquarters are located, or the time in Paris, Guam, Ponta Delgada, or Beijing. And converting degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius has never been easy, nor “foot-pound / second” into “Btus / minute” (we don’t know either, but it’s possible, so take advantage of it?).
Contacted by Gizmodo, Zane Kleinberg also indicated that he did not intend to stop there. His project is to create a complete and functional version of the dashboard. Indeed, all the widgets of this time are for the moment not available on the site of Zane. There was a very large quantity of them, from translation tools to the calendar, including weather widgets, stock prices, and even an address book. Only 5 are currently available on Zane’s site, but things might change soon.
For the moment, there is a big absence among the available widgets, the one that users of older versions of Mac have certainly used the most: iTunes. And if it was dear to your hearts and you dreamed of being able to use this little retro tool again, rejoice! A developer has just created an exact replica, which will allow you to listen to all the hits of the 2000s, and more.
