Widgets are getting an official approval (via Steve Rubel) from W3C. This is an attempt of standardising the widgets specification before it gets too late.
This document describes widgets. It covers the packaging format, the manifest file config.xml, and scripting interfaces for working with widgets.
The type of widgets that are addressed by this document are usually small client-side applications for displaying and updating remote data, packaged in a way to allow a single download and installation on a client machine. The widget may execute outside of the typical web browser interface. Examples include clocks, stock tickers, news casters, games and weather forecasters. Some existing industry solutions go by the names “widgets”, “gadgets” or “modules”.
So this specification covers widgets sitting outside the browser too, might even include the desktop widgets. Widgets have been a popular mechanism of organising remote information. After the Web, the desktop had taken a liking to it, especially on Mac OS X and desktop environments like KDE.
The draft specifies the widget files and folder structure, the content type application/widget, the extension as .widget when not served over HTTP, details of the widget and the widget geometry. The interesting inclusions in this document, unlike other documents from W3C, are the scripting interface and widget autodiscovery. Both these highlight the realisation that widgets specification should include programmatic access. This will lead to easier catalogue or interoperability within widgets. Thought has been given to the security model so that the widgets do not access the local resources using the file protocol.
However the document is in early draft version and suggestions are invited. I think this is something that will bring the desktops and web together, where widgets sitting outside browsers will be accessing the Web without any specific effort from the user.
