Desktop notes are

computer applications A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These pr ...

that allow putting

Post-it note A Post-it Note (or sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. A low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to be easil ...

-like windows on the screen, with reminders, short notes and other clippings. They are typically rectangular and yellow, like their real-world counterpart, but most applications support other colours and more elaborate designs. The earliest-known desktop note application is "Note pad" made for the GEOS system for the Commodore 64 in 1985. For the

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

, the Stickies application was developed by Jens Alfke and included in System 7.5, released in 1994. A number of applications have duplicated the functionality of Stickies on other platforms.

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

has its own built-in desktop note functionality with the Stickies application and, from

Mac OS X Tiger Mac OS X Tiger (version 10.4) is the 5th major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. Tiger was released to the public on April 29, 2005 for US$129.95 as the successor to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Some ...

through

macOS Mojave macOS Mojave ( ; version 10.14) is the fifteenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. Mojave was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4, 2018, and was released to the ...

, with

Dashboard For business applications, see Dashboard (business). A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel (IP), or fascia) is a control panel set within the central console of a vehicle or small aircraft. Usually located directly ahead of the drive ...

, an application that has notes and other desktop widgets. On Microsoft Windows, desktop note applications have been included by default since

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...

, which has the Notes "gadget". It is used as part of

Windows Sidebar Windows Desktop Gadgets (called Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista) is a discontinued widget engine for Microsoft Gadgets. Desktop Gadgets have been replaced by Windows 10 Taskbar Widgets. It was introduced with Windows Vista, in which it features ...

. As Microsoft states in its description, "Notes" can be used to "Capture ideas, notes and remainders in a quick and easy way." On

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...

, the successor to Vista, this functionality is replaced by a stand-alone application called Sticky Notes, in which the notes can be freely repositioned on the screen. Third-party desktop note applications such a
ShixxNOTE
ref> offer more options than Sticky Notes. On

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

, desktop notes have existed for a long period of time. The GNOME desktop environment has a built in "sticky notes" feature available, whereas

KDE KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that allow collaborative work on this kind of software. Well-known products include the ...

(K Desktop Environment) has a desktop notes application called Knote.

References

{{reflist Desktop widgets

See also

References