Dashboard (Lion)Dashboard isn't as ignorable in Lion as...

Dashboard (Lion)

Dashboard isn't as ignorable in Lion as it was in Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. Whereas before you had to hit the dashboard button (f4) or using an expose hot corner (both kind of pro-level-ey), Dashboard was relegated in a sort of ghetto. Widget development was cool at first, but I feel like there hasn't been a new widget made since 2006.

With Lion, you end up swiping left and right quite a bit, and one extra swipe leaves you in Dashboard. Since you're there, you might as well see some things.

It's not at all obvious how to get more widgets. Click the + bar at the bottom right, and click on the widgets widget. You'll get a list of all your widgets, and a link to get more widgets. This shoots you over to Apple's widget download page.

Widgets are useful. Calculators, unit converters, weather, movie times, etc., basically all the things you need to do for ten seconds on a computer and don't want to have to find a dedicated app. The Safari web clip is pretty great. Do you ever go to a website to check out a thing that updates every day in the same position (like, say, Sinfest?) Clip it in Safari and save it on your dash.

If you hate Dashboard, don't fret. In the mission control settings, you can kill the space, which ghettoizes dashboard to F4.