Can't believe nobody made a proper Longhorn Sidebar for Rainmeter. So here it is! The Best Longhorn Sidebar you can have on Windows :)
A modernized, yet nostalgic Sidebar with lots of great features and skins...
It also uses like 40MB of RAM and 0-1% CPU on my Core i5 Laptop, can't say the same about most Sidebars.
- Download https://www.rainmeter.net/
- Install Rainmeter
- Download LonghornSidebar.rmskin from Releases and double click it
Enjoy
You'll find almost every Part you may want:
| Preview | Name | Features | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Template | Development Template to easily create a new Part | Yes |
 |
User | Shows Username and Icon, configurable Text | No |
 |
Search | Lets you Search Google, opens browser with query | No |
 |
MediaPlayer | Works with most Media Players, Configurable | Yes |
 |
Weather | Configurable Weather, shows lots of info in Tooltip | Yes |
 |
RSS | Shows XML RSS Feeds | Yes |
 |
Favorites | Configurable App / Website Launcher | Yes |
 |
Greeter | Changes depending time of the day, Configurable | No |
 |
Launcher | 5 App Launcher, Configurable | No |
 |
Network | Shows Network Activity in a graph | No |
 |
CPU | Shows CPU Activity | No |
 |
RAM | Shows RAM Usage and Activity | No |
 |
Storage | Shows selected Disk Usage | Yes |
 |
Visualizer | Animates to Music | Yes |
 |
Recycle Bin | Shows Recycle Bin size | Yes |
 |
Shortcuts | Configurable 4 website launcher | No |
 |
Notes | Simple Notes editor | Yes |
 |
Slideshow | Configurable Slideshow, Shows and Opens Pictures | Yes |
 |
ToDo | Interactive ToDo Tile, Remembers Marked items as complete | Yes |
 |
Uptime | Shows PC Uptime, Right click lets you Shutdown, Sleep, etc | No |
 |
WorldClock | Shows World Time, Configurable | Yes |
 |
Clock | Shows the time... | Yes |
 |
Clock2 | Shows the time... in another style | Yes |
 |
Clock3 | Shows the time... in yet another style | Yes |
 |
MediaPlayerAlternative | Same as Music Player | Yes |
Included Skins from the Classics:
The Sidebar is also colorizable through the Settings Window.
- High DPI included for 100%, 150% and 200% Displays
- Ability to position on the Right or on the Left with one click
- Option to stay on top of other Windows (Reserve screen space)
- Auto-layout on screen resolution change (new)
- Easy Snapping
- Blur Effect on Win10 / Win11
- Super easy Customization
- Lots of Variants in every Widget
- Big Clock Calendar
- Possible future Translations
- Create your own Part using included Parts\Template
Some more included Extras for real Longhorn fans:
| Preview | Name | Features |
|---|---|---|
 |
Reserve Screen Space | Included Utility lets you realistically reserve screen space for the Sidebar, does not run in Memory |
 |
Tray Clock | Clicking the lower Clock opens up the Classic Longhorn Calendar |
 |
Animated Logo | Included the Animated Logo from the Longhorn Demo, you can put it anywhere on your Desktop or the Sidebar |
 |
Build Tag | Put a configurable Build tag on your Desktop |
 |
Configuration | The sidebar has lots of configuration options |
If you find any bugs just let me know in a comment or something. Technically this thing supports multiple languages, you need to edit English.inc and replace it with your values. I started a few languages already but then I got lazy.
Software and Components
Images and Media
Thank you to MrLapinou for Longhorn Research Credits to guinness for coming up with the reserve screen space AutoIt Script