OS X Lion: Dashboard and widgets

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Dashboard and widgets

Dashboard is a collection of small programs, called “widgets,” that let you quickly do a wide variety of tasks such as checking stock prices, finding local or global weather information, looking up words in the dictionary, and more.

Examples of Dashboard widgets

Dashboard comes with many widgets already installed. If you’re connected to the Internet, you can download additional widgets. There are also two easy ways to create your own widgets: Web Clips and Dashcode.

Some widgets are linked to larger applications. With the Address Book widget, for example, you can search for a name and address without opening the full Address Book application. Other widgets, such as Weather, provide web-based information without opening a web browser.

  • To open Dashboard from your trackpad, zoom to Mission Control using a three-finger swipe, and then click the Dashboard (first thumbnail on the left). To close Dashboard, zoom back to Mission Control, and then click a desktop thumbnail.

  • To open Dashboard from your keyboard, press the Dashboard key. If your keyboard doesnʼt have a Dashboard key, press F12 (Fn-F12 on portable keyboards). To close Dashboard, press the key again.

Dashboard keyboard key

Last Modified: Oct 31, 2013
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