DesktopX PRO allows users to export widgets as GADGETS.  Gadgets are like widgets in nearly every way except for one crucial difference: They don't require a parent program in order to use. 

As cool as widgets are, there's only so much work that a typical ambitious software developer is going to put into something that they then have to say "Oh, yea, um, to run my widget, you need to go to <insert site here> and download this widget program in order to use what I made." 

Even with Yahoo's recent acquisition of popular widget enabler, Konfabulator, it still requires users to go off and download the 8 to 10 megabyte Yahoo Widget enabler (Konfabulator) just to use a 600k widget.  The same is true of DesktopX widgets and all the others.

But with GADGETS they're stand-alone.  The Neowin gadget is one example. They're still only 800k or so, use little memory and are easy to create but they don't require any extra downloads.  The Vista Explorer is another gadget example. It's only 500K (the 1.5 meg ZIP file contains both a Vista web browser AND file manager, both gadgets).

So getting to the point: Stardock is about to launch DesktopGadgets.com.  A place for people to submit their gadgets either to give-away OR to sell.  When the user uploads their gadget, they set their price. Sales are split 50/50 between the developer and the site.  It'll be heavily moderated so only high quality gadgets will be allowed.

If you are interested in creating gadgets, first you'll need DesktopX Pro. Once you've created a gadget that you think is good, contact me (bwardell@stardock.com) about being part of the opening launch of DesktopGadgets.com.  And if you know someone who makes gadgets already make sure they know about this news item!