I use it daily, whenever I don't want to open a web browser. Its really convenient for me.

I hate Dashboard.

It's a solution (such that it is) looking for a problem.

Problem is, it's become more of a problem than a solution.

It's a memory hog, you can't quit it and it's no more efficient to use than a browser and bunch of bookmarks...

I always use the weather, dictionary, translation and conversion tools in the dashboard.

I don't ever use Dashboard. I don't see any need for it. Leopard would be better off if you could simply place widgets on your desktop.
Happy New Year and keep up the good work!

I would like to see the dashboard interface done away with and the widgets placed directly on the desktop.

I killed it and removed it from the dock soon after moving to Tiger.

And I've noticed TinkerTool and Mac Pilot both have options to disable Dashbored now so you no longer need to use Terminal.

i use dictionary widget all the time (engineering student that cant spell "good")
wikipedia widget alot, i like widget stickies better than desktop
and i always have calculator, weather and istat pro and occasionally airport radar

tho i do find myself using activity monitor more and more as opposed to istat

I use it...

I use the popular "iStatPro" widget, the calculator widget, weather widget, and I also use the "iShack" widget (which I use to put screenshots up temporarily).

I used dashboard all the time. I use the Dictionary, Weather forecast, Calculator, and Stickies just about every day.

When I'm travelling or someone I know is travelling I set up additional clocks and weather widgets so I can see what it's like in different parts of the world.

I always launch Dashboard using the icon in the dock. I find it a lot faster to use Dashboard to check the weather or a couple stock prices than to fire up a Web browser to do the same thing. I really don't think of it as being much different from any of my other applications.

Given that several of the features Apple is touting for Leopard are dashboard related (Dashcode, Web Clips, and .Mac synching), I don't think it will be going away any time soon.

I use Dashboard all the time.

I get headlines from a BusinessWeek and CNN widget, I always use the calculator, I check weather with my Radar in Motion widget, I get local gas prices with my Gas Price Watch widget, and on occasion I use the conversion widget, dictionary, and Wikipedia.

So yes, Dashboard is super useful for me and I feel like my hands are tied behind my back when using a Windows PC without Dashboard.

The only thing I use dashboard for now is the widgets "AppUpdate" and "WidgetUpdate" and I only run them occasionally. I used package tracker widget as well but found a website that makes an RSS feed for that now so I don't need to use that widget anymore.

I use Quicksilver and it's faster to launch apps that way rather then bringing up the dashboard, scrolling through the widgets, and opening them. Sure I could just leave all the widgets open running in the background but that uses too much RAM.

I don't ever use Dashboard. I don't see any need for it. Leopard would be better off if you could simply place widgets on your desktop.
Happy New Year and keep up the good work!

I use dashboard frequently for the following:

Getting a weather forecast
Checking the latest prices of my stock
Listening to a radio station
Flicking through some comic strips
Quickly reminding myself what the date is
Tracking a flight when I am at the airport
Finding out what the lyrics of the song I am playing in iTunes

Could I live without it? Of course, but whilst its there, I certainly make good use of it.

Great question! Over the years I have tried to keep my Dashboard slim, removing much of the standard widgets. I did keep a few I thought I would use, but I NEVER did.

It is just too complicated to use the widgets and takes too much resources to keep them around.

The original idea (before Apple highjacked it) to have the widgets on the desktop might be a better idea, but, as I said, I have no use for them.

Are you kidding? I use dashboard every time I touch my Mac. I couldn't live without the weather, calculator, dictionary, calendar, or stock widgets. Also, it makes scouting wi-fi networks easier to use a widget like Air Traffic Control or something similar.

I use Dashboard all the time, I find the dictionary, calculator and currency converters incredibly handy in my day-to-day workflow. I've been using the world clock widget a bit recently too as I've got a mate in Tokyo and it's handy to know what time it is over there.

I use dashboard all the time. the widgets i rely on the most are The Weather Widget for checking the very unpredictable weather here in ireland, The unit converter to convert british pounds or dollars into euros when shoping on amazon, digg dong for checking the number of digs on any of my blog stories that have been posted on digg. I also find haveing the calculator available at a keystroke very handy. I don't think I could go back to not using widgets as they are part of my daily routine now.

I loved the idea of widgets at first. My enthusiasm began to wane when I realized they took up RAM even when F12 hadn't been pressed (the delay between invoking dashboard and the time the widgets loaded with information was also problematic). Once I had to pick and choose which widgets to use, I realized that very few were more functional than their website equivalents. I wouldn't mind at all if Leopard did away with dashboard entirely, unless it changed the RAM usage.

I use Dashboard for many things. I use it for a quick calendar (I don't use iCal). I use the dictionary widget to do a quick lookup (although it's useless if I can't spell the word which is annoying). I have my local weather widgets and the area dopplar radar map widget. And occasionally I'll use other widgets like the IP locator, translator, maintidget, etc.

I agree that the widgets take some resources and I've even had some problems with one widget apparently hosing my network connection but I tolerate the problems.

I use Dashboard enough that I would like to seeit retained in Leopard.

I actually have it disabled, I'd rather just launch a real application if I want to know something.. like look up a definition, see the weather report... etc.

Interesting, I use DB on a near hourly basis. Just a few of the widgets that make my life easier or more fanatical ;)

Calendar
Calculator
iStat Pro
Weather Australia
Degrees Downunder (Yep, I'm obsessed with the weather)
Bloglines notifier
Gmail Widget

I jump into DB so regulary that my F12 key is starting to wear out! Love it!

I use it sparingly for the weather, calendar, and dictionary widgets, but that's as far as it goes.

When I switched to Mac 6 months ago, I thought Dashboard was cool, but the novelty wore off as soon as I realized how much of a resource hog most of these widgets are.

I love dashboard. Web based timer at work lives in the safari light browser, very handy. Some cute ruler widget replaced the piece of paper i used to "eyeball" things with on screen, fun. itunes widget used to be quite handy until it was replaced by the greatest widget of all... the apple remote.

and finally the calculator, because in general i hate numbers.

please keep the dashboard. a check box to turn it off should do.

i use the weather widget, and i also use the garfield widget teehee

onc ein a while unit converter and calendar. i also have a big silver apple right in the middle, just to make it pretty =D

I probably use the weather widget the most, but I also use the widgetTerm terminal program. Everything else is just entertainment - horoscope, oblique strategies, and some color galleries.

I use it regularly. I keep the weather widget handy. I often use the Address book widget, the Dictionary widget (it would be nice if, like the application, it could suggest words when I don't know how to spell what I'm looking for), wikipedia, an RPN caclulator, wimic, and a sudoku game.

I use the Dashboard all of the time!

I have a great Notepad widget, I was never able to just jot down notes before this, I can just copy and paste and it stays in there with easy to add notes

Weather: I would never check without this widget!

PackageTracker: is great and use it when I have packages coming

iStat mini: is quite useful

And a countdown app I use quite frequently

Widgets are very useful and with 2GB of Ram I can use it without a problem(given I use dashboard quickstart)

I guess it depends on how much ram your system has and your work patterns, but there are many useful widgets out there for those who look for them

I have a MacBook with only 512mb of RAM. I had my dashboard loaded with useless things, and it slowed my system to a crawl. I didn't realize it was Dashboard until I checked Activity Monitor. Widgets simply use too much memory (several mb), and especially for the stock 512mb configuration. I have Dashboard disabled on my computer.

When I first saw dashboard I thought "I'm never going to use that". Odlly enough I've found that I am using it quite a bit. I often check the weather and keep notes in there. I also use it for a few web comics I read and conversion. I don't think it's something amazingly useful unless you have lots of little apps that do basic stuff that you want to access a lot but don't always want up

I use Dashboard mostly for the Translator. Since my mother tongue is French, it is a good tool to communicate with you guys!

Besides, Calculator, Address Book and Stickies are always on duty.

I also adopted useful third party widgets such as iCliplite, Notepad, Picker and iStarter2.

Even if it has a sloooow first time loading and is voracious in RAM consuming, for me Dashboard is a great app which I employ and appreciate every days.

I use it all the time... weather, istat pro, calculator, wikipedia and ical events.

i use widgets alot. You just have to find the right ones.i use widget/app update to find updates to my apps/widgets. I use assignment planner widget to remind me of my assignments. I use harmonic for lyrics. I use Capture for screen captures. I use so many widgets to list. BUT a new implementation of the dashboard would be nice. Or apple could buy amnesty and use their solutions.

I use Dashboard every day. I use it to check the weather and also to look at weather radar. To play Sudoku, check system resources such as external IP address, HD space left, etc. I also use a random password generator widget for passwords to assign users at work. That's what I mainly use it for. I think it's handy to have, but not essential for everyone.

I use them all the time, took a pic of my current ones, click on my username/posted by and it will take you there..

I use dashboard for a quick glance at waether and time around the world. Unit converter gets used all the time. I like to leave myself post it notes for little reminders. Most importantly I use dashboard to continually remind myself how long till MacWorld.

Me. :)

My Dashboard is an indispensable tool in regulating my daily activities. Yes, there are plenty of other applications that I could use to accomplish those functions, but I like the small, quick nature of widgets. I want their functions to be immediately accessible. For example, I'm a music student, so having the piano widget on Dashboard is wonderful for reference pitches (I can solfege very well, but I'm far from having perfect pitch). Yes, I could do the same thing in Finale... but anyone who's used it know that it's a big hassle. I can dash off a LiveJournal post, or quickly check my system information with iStat. It's not essential, but it is an awfully nice convenience.

I use the flight tracker every so often when I need to pick up somebody at the airport. I also have a pretty good little Othello game that is too easy to beat. Other than that, I don't use Dashboard at all.

I often advise PPC Mac owners who have not upgraded to Tiger not to bother. Without Spotlight and Dashboard, the whole OS seems to run a lot more smoothly.

I agree with the poster who voted for widgets directly on the Desktop. I know this can be accomplished through various Terminal hacks and/or third-party utilities, but I'd like to see that as a default option.

I don't use the dashboard becuase it is not "handy" enough to get the information I need when I already have a Safari window open. With a MacBook, if you don't have a hotspot, it can be out of the way to hit the F12 key.

I use it regularly. I love having the calculator right there. The weather widget is really big for me, considering the crazy Buffalo, NY weather. There are a few others that I lean on, mainly iStat pro, stickies and the translator.

I use multiple screens and like having my widgets on my desktop. I keep Yahoo widgets for weather and other useful stuff on one of my side screens.
I wish Dashboard did this so I wouldn't need to install an extra widget engine. I've tried Amnesty and didn't like it as well as Yahoo.

I use Dashboard primarily for the weather, quick-calendar glances, and occasionally the calculator

I use Dashboard numerous times per day. As a South Dakotan, I rely heavily on the Weather widget, especially during the winter. I also constantly use miniStat2, NotePad, iCal Events, Dictionary, Calculator, Address Book, and iTunes.

However, I would not mind one bit if the memory usage could be amended. I am constantly surprised by how much of my 2 GB of memory is allocated to widgets when Dashboard is standing on the sidelines.

I use Dashboard every day. While I think it's too slow (especially on first launch), it's a very useful tool to me. A friend of mine who just switched to a Macbook (and has been a Windows power user for years) raves about his love for Dashboard. I suspect that a lot more of us use this than you realize.

I quite like dashboard for very specific purposes. However, like others before me have already stated, it would be nice if one could turn in off using the control panel. Also, it would be nice to have an easy way to have a widget on the dashboard. However, like any feature on any operating system, not everyone is going to love it or even use it.

I, too, thought it was cool when I got my first mac w/ OS X. But the novelty wore off quickly. Now, thanks to tinkertool...I just disable it.
Calc, weather, dictionary - pretty much the only things I used it for near the end..are just a click away in my browser or from the dock.

No, I don't use it.

AFAIK, what was worth having in Tiger was core image and core data; what sold it to the public was widgets and desktop search. Ignorance and advertising trump engineering every time.

When you think about it, why would I want great lumps of HTML and JavaScript posing as applications on my local machine? Besides, anyone and everyone writes widgets, including people who know web languages but who haven't mastered programming languages - actually, that's kind-of the point of Dashboard. But you have to question whether that's a positive thing from the user's point of view.

As far as I'm concerned, if I wanted a local application, I'd want it written properly by a professional programmer in an application-programming language - objective-C in the case of OS X. And if I wanted a web application, I'd want it to live on the web, and I'd access it with a browser.

OS X is a solid desktop platform - the best out there. But Jobs does have a magpie's eye for what's *flashy*. One has to wonder what business - a market you'd think Apple would be chasing but usually the target of sly innunedo in Mac vs. PC ads - makes of flash like Dashboard.

Better to leave it to the third parties - get such stuff from Yahoo if you want it, and don't get it foisted on you if you don't.

It's just more stuff to clutter up the screen. I dumped it long ago.

I very, very, very infrequently use the dashboard; the main use I have for it is the Dictionary widget, which I love!

I've got Calculator and Unit Converter there and use when the need arises, while Stickies, Radio Tuner and BBC World Service are there mostly for the heck of it.

For stuff I use throughout the day (Calendar, Weather, etc) I've installed Yahoo Widgets (the old Konfabulator) and these are placed on the desktop and are active constantly.

I use DB daily. I mainly use it for a calculator and weather forecast. Sometimes I'll use it for looking up a business in the yellow pages, or when I need to make a quick check of my uptime (for bragging rights (currently 8 days and some change.... stupid security updates).

Yes, calculator can be replaced by the application, but that means I have to add it to the dock, and I already have 22 items in there that I use regularly and don't want to add clutter. Or I would have to open the Finder, select Applications, and double click on Calculator. To me it's easier to just hit F12 and start calculating - 3 out of 4 times the calculator is already highlighted when I summon the DB.

I use Dashboard enough that I'd probably hate to see it go. I use it to check weather, iStat Nano, calculator and dictionary defintions...but if they do get rid of it I hope Leopard has some built in things to replace that at-a-glance info.

For me, Dashboard does an admirable job of living up to its name. I am frequently dashing to this handy panel for a quick definition check in the Dictionary widget or in the Wikipedia widget, or to use the Calculator. Say Cheese is great for a comic break. I also use the Easy Envelopes widget from Ambrosia Software. Occasionally, I have time to complete another line in Sudoko or have need for Google Maps or, maybe, the Apple Store widget. Most of all, I use it for checking the weather, comparing data from the Weather Channel widget and the AccuWeather widget. My only disappointment is that the panel of active widgets does not always come up as quickly as I would like. But no way would I ever want to have to do without Dashboard!

I hate dashboard but reading these posts, it is evident that many find it useful. I just wish that Apple gave us a way to easily disable both Dashboard and Stoplight (database is too large and slows down computer, have to add external drives to privacy but then can't search them when you need to find something) without having to resort to 3rd party programs or terminal.

Sounds from the many comments like a wash on this--lots of us (including me) use it, lots don't. So maybe a simple disabling preference would address the "memory hog" concerns for those who don't use it.

I have a question about something related: has Automator ever caught on, with anyone, for anything? I just can't get my mind around it-it seems like even the examples I can find of "good uses for Automator" are lame. Any interest in that topic?

Yes of course I use dashboard!
- converter, flight tracker, dictionary, calendar, radio, and others.
It's also great entertainment to see what people create. It's useful and playful.
Come on people, have a little fun on your computer!

A solution looking for a problem is quite appropriate. Dashboard is a memory hog and I disabled it.

Never use it. It makes no sense to have an entire suite of such different "mini apps" totally removed from your regular environment. Why do I need to call them all into view when I just want the one?

After ignoring it for a really long time, I started using it when I realized that's the quickest way to get to the calculator. Then I found widgets to send SMS and a currency converter, and I was sold :-)

i love dashboard! and i use it all the time.

there are so many great widgets i can't be without anymore:

- flickrator 2.0 (much faster way of searching for images than actually going to flickr.com)

- bitsticks (for torrents. i can download torrents & keep track in dashboard instead to use a torrent app)

- wikipedia widget

- dictionary widget

- Looking forward to

- istat pro

- astronomy picture of a day & riding with robots widgets

- pemdas calculator

- weather widget

- utilities widget

- stocks widget

- weather widget

and last but not least...

- dashquit widget (for the now and then when you need to quit your dashboard to release some more ram/ cpu for work and other intensive tasks).

Every day usage for weather, calendar, train times, road alerts in my area, Easy Envelopes and the BBC Radio widget!!!

I like it as it is not cluttering up the desktop - easy to access, easy to dismiss.

I'd like for it to be less resource hungry.

Otherwise, well thought out, easy to use and trouble free - for me!

I'm running Tiger on a G4 Power Mac. Processing cycles are dear to me, and I disabled Dashboard on my first launch of Tiger. I disabled Spotlight as well, but for a single disk partition.

The world clocks are very handy - I disabled dashboard for a while, but I missed those darn clocks! I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find another world clock application for the desktop.

Interestingly I always prefer the desktop calulator, not sure why.

For currency conversion I use google eg. 1.45USD in NZD

Use it regularly: iStat, Yahoo Traffic, Gas (!!!), Dictionary, my little meditation timer, my cheap airfare finder, and the big one: the Oblique Strategies deck, all four incarnations of it in one easy place.

I've got the processor and RAM to spare, it's worth it.

I use it all the time.

It's a quick & efficient way to work.

Weather radar, weather forecast, stock-updates, sticky notes, Macword news, calendar & even the clock.

It's a perfect implementation for info you want to check repeatedly at a glance but don't want to bother bookmarking pages or even moving away from your work space.

You pop the updated info up, check it at a glance and poof it's gone and you're right back where you were on the desktop.

I think the people that don't like it don't use or haven't tried the right widgets.

I don't use it.
Why tie up all my resources with this one dashboard system. I can't do my normal work when I have it up in view. Plenty of cool widgets, but if I can't live without one, I can usually find the same functioning app in a stand alone config. Do away with Dashboard and fix as many OS bugs as you can before they are exposed by month of bug review.

I use it like a lot of other people. But what strikes me is this. The people who uses it are telling this in a normal way, but the people who does not are shouting about it and using words like i Hate it or Killing it direct in Bold layout. Why is that?

Its immediate demise !

I hate that you can't quite it. Please make a protest list of those of us that think it should be a system option.

I am a mac fan but I have to say many mac people are overly critical. No, forget about critical. I call them a bunch of snobs. If you don't like how dashboard or spotlight works and if you are a mac fan email your suggestion to Apple. I myself like db and spotlight a lot and use them often enough. Sure they can be improved and they will be, based on our suggestion and criticism. Just don't be such a snob when u voice your opinion. And oh yeah, buy some RAM.

Dashboard? When I bought my first mac ( I am a recent switcher ) I thought, "How cool!". Now...a year later...useless!!

i use dashboard all the time, but i'd rather see this feature as an option instead of something that we have to use hacks to disable it.

Best use of dashboard: checking your e-mail (gmail)

Dashboard is another example of Apple implementing software that's a bit too demanding for a lot of machines but will run easily on newer or higher-powered hardware. If your system is at all pokey, Dashboard will be a nightmare-- the wait for widgets to simply appear and load renders them pointless. But on my new MBP they're lightning fast and useful, and the amount of RAM they use relative to what's available is minimal. Apple isn't shy about building into its OS and iApps features that may not be useful without the most current hardware. Try running any version of iMovie, iDVD, Garage Band, iPhoto, etc., on what would have been a legacy machine at the time the app was announced-- performance will suck. I remember in the early days of OS X growing to despise the genie effect in MS Office and elsewhere: it sometimes took 5 second to collapse a window to the Dock on my B&W G3. My take at the time was, "This isn't innovation, it's useless eye-candy!" Today, I love the genie effect since it helps me visually register where an item shrinks to or expands from, and it doesn't tax my new machine at all. I think Dashboard is a similar OS X feature, and in a year or two few users will remember that it once seemed useless to them.

Dashboard appeals to nick-nack people...those who like clutter...like the Launcher buttons in OS7.

If Apple wants to ame Dashboard a winner, just allow programmers to make porn widgets.

I use just a couple of widgets on a regular basis.
I converted them to standalone apps using Amnesty Singles.
Then I cracked the standalone widget apps so that they now run even when Amnesty is not registered or not even installed.

That's pretty nice. (Though I miss the nice flip effect and smooth resizing of the original Dashboard)

Don't use it, except for calculator.
I'd like to be able to turn it off.
It might be more useful in future I guess.

Yup. Used to use it every day, and it's now one of the major things I am missing on Windows. And one of the reasons I will go back to Mac ASAP.

Dictionary is always excellent to have around and a zillion times more elegant than googling.
Weather is cute.
World clock is plain awesome and try as they might nothing comes near in style an functionality. I always need 4 world times so I lined up 4 world clock widgets. They turn black at night which is simply brilliant.
Calculator is always there for me to do simple calculations.
And some essential stocks but I use that more for decoration than serious trading.

So yeah, i use it, it's 100 times better than Yahoo Konfabulator. The only probem with it is that initial startup is dog slow, I hope they fix that in Leopard.

Dashboard is useful only for things you want to check quickly, like the weather, using a calculator, doing a quick conversion, etc.

I use dashboard daily if not hourly. I use it for movie times, weather in multiple cities that I travel to, dictionary, Filemaker access to for a quick peak at data, and quick ARD access to frequently used computers on the network. It is indispensable to me at this point and saves a whole bunch of time and navigation.

Ambrosia's Easy Envelope widget rocks for printing quickly and simply from Address Book (which is more than I can say for Address Book's own printing options). I use it, and Dashboard, all the time.

Ken-
We may be snobs but that is better than being stupid. Just because it is an apple product does not mean that we shoudn't be critical if it does not work properly or cannot be improved in direct response to a question asked in a blog.

I use it daily for 3 clocks showing different time zones, the MAMP control widget, a quick calculator and pearLyrics. All of those widgets are really really handy and I have setup dashboard to open when I travel to the bottom left of my screen with my mouse. It's just AWESOME!!

If you have a 17" or larger I would like and see thru dock holding the widget icons. My Dosck is on the left side, my windows open leaving it exposed. there is enough room to have a verticle on the right side with the size windows I use.

I use it all the time.... couldn't live without it. The weather widgets, translation, flight tracker, dictionary, etc. all at your fingertips is terrific. I'm sure that they'll tune Dashboard for memory and resource hogging. As such I have 6GB of RAM on my box so it doesn't matter much anyway. But I can see machines that have 512MB could be problematic. After reviewing all the comments on here I estimate that it's about 75% of people use Dashboard frequently... while 25% hate it. So I'm willing to wager it's going to be around a long, long time.

I use Dashboard occasionally for the weather, local traffic, gasoline prices and calculator (I like RPN).

I wouldn't shed tears if they were gone tomorrow, because I can easily replace their functionality elsewhere.

For those who say they'd like to keep their widgets on the desktop all the time, there is a way to do it. It has to do which enabling the developer mode (devmode). Look it up at macosxhints.com for details.

I use it daily. Lots of handy wigets available, it's great !

I do not use Dashboard. I would greatly appreciate a simple "turn off Dashboard" option in OS X. If Apple wants to enable it by default, that's fair. Just allow the end user the option to turn it off if we so desire.

I use dashboard almost daily: calculator, dictionary, mac radar for wireless networks, the weather, clock.

I do wish that some of the widgets could be set to run all the time.

I don't think Apple should do away with dashboard but it those who don't want it could disable it completely, what's the beef?

I'm part of the 'use-it-every-day' crowd too. Really, I don't know how I would get by without having a calculator, the currency convertor, my calvin and hobbes comic, the calendar, the dictionary, the wikipedia widget and the earthquake skimmer open and available as soon as I need it.

Go to XE.com every time I need a currency converted? Or open Calculator.app for a 2-second calculation? I don't think so...

Granted, it does hog memory, but it's all swings and roundabouts, no?