Several months ago I stumbled upon PowerGadgets and have been finding more and more uses for it ever since.  I was initially intrigued by the ability to run powershell scripts but didn't have any immediate needs that required that much power.  One of the strengths of PowerGadgets is the ability to run database queries and then to present the data using very slick graphs, guages and maps.  On Vista, these visualizations are displayed using the Windows Sidebar, however you can also use floating windows which allows PowerGadgets to be equally at home on Windows XP.

My sidebar is now littered with numerous gadgets that I use to show key application metrics, from DotNetNuke Marketplace sales figures to helpdesk work queues. ...