EDIT: (12th January 2009) – If you are running Windows 7 Beta then head to this post for an updated version.
Finally I can announce that over the last few months we have been helping National Rail Enquiries in the UK develop the official Live Departure Board Sidebar gadget for Windows Vista and today the gadget is available for download from this page at Windows Live Gallery: http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=aef90e44-18cf-4246-b1d9-4ab83e0e13db
Some of you will remember that this gadget originated from a proof of concept and enhancements to that proof of concept that I had been working on for some time to demonstrate the capabilities of the Windows Sidebar so I'm quite proud to see this go live today.
Here are some screenshots of v1.0:
Screenshot: Main gadget with flyout open.
Screenshot: Gadget selection window (drag multiple instances of Live Departure Boards onto your sidebar to watch multiple stations)
Screenshot: Gadget refresh disabled. This occurs if you don't have a working internet connection or a screensaver is running (to save bandwidth).
Screenshot: Station messages. When important messages arrive the message icon is shown. Clicking on it brings up a small window with the messages for that station.
We have decided for now to limit the gadget to only showing departures (which accounts for the majority of usage on the existing Live Departure Boards website). There are future plans for the gadget being put in place, so feel free to leave a comment with your suggestions on how it could be improved.
You can also read a press release about the gadget here: http://www.conchango.com/Web/Public/Content/NewsRoom/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?PageID=314