GDesklets

gDesklets is a GNOME program which provides the architecture for small applets (desktop widgets) to be placed on top of the user's desktop. It is comparable to other desktop widget programs. The applets placed on the desktop are meant to be quick ways for the user to retrieve information and not get in the way of normal activity.

Desklets
The small programs that run inside gDesklets are called desklets and are small Python applets loaded into the gDesklets daemon. There are many gDesklets available from the gDesklets home page. Some of them include:
 * Clocks
 * Calendars
 * Docking
 * Weather
 * RSS feed aggregators
 * Controls for other applications (such as XMMS and Pidgin)
 * Animated toolbars
 * Desktop notes
 * System monitors