The facility to use desktop ‘gadgets’ such as news and weather feeds on managed desktop PCs unfortunately has to be removed following Microsoft’s discovery of security issues in Windows 7.
Whilst accepting that staff may have found ‘gadgets’ useful, Microsoft’s statement that they ‘could be exploited to harm your computer, access your computer’s files, show you objectionable content, or change their behaviour at any time’ can’t be ignored.
‘Gadgets’ are now no longer available from Microsoft, and will be disabled on University managed desktop PCs starting from October 21.
The green-coloured printing information icon is not a gadget, nor are the icons in the task tray at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. These remain unaffected by this change.
For further help and advice please contact ithelp@shu.ac.uk or the University IT Security Officer at itso@shu.ac.uk