In its early days, Google's flagship Android operating system sought to innovate and fill the gap left by counterparts the likes of PalmOS and other digital assistants in the wake of the original iPhone taking the industry by storm and bringing touchscreen pocket devices into the mainstream.

One way of doing so was by providing users with a way to preview pivotal information at a glance in an intuitive fashion through widgets, all without leaving their home screen panels. Those who miss this particular functionality on their PCs can try out what TidyPanel has to offer.

A spiritual successor to Microsoft's earlier attempts
With the launch of Windows Vista, the tech giant tried to bring a part of what made their initial pocket PCs special by turning their desktop into a customizable front page for staying up to date with their RSS feeds, viewing their system performance in real-time and knowing what the weather would be like in the near future.