Weekly Poll: Do You Still Use Dashboard?

When Dashboard widgets first debuted in OS X Tiger, I was immediately hooked. It was a lot like the precursor to iPhone app addiction. There were all these cool little utilities that performed tons of useful and entertaining functions. In no time at all I had a Dashboard full of widgets. I even went so far as to learn to break into certain widgets so I could customize the interface, add different sounds and perform other tomfoolery.

My fascination was fairly short lived. The “out of sight, out of mind” theory kicked in quickly and I soon began going entire weeks and months without so much as a glance at any of my widgets. Before long I closed them all down to save on memory.

These days I leave a few widgets open: weather, iStat and Google Analytics, but I rarely remember to check on them. However, the new Dashboard swipe gesture in Lion has reminded me to check on my old friend Dashboard more frequently.

It seems though that most developers have lost interest in the feature, even Apple doesn’t go out of their way to showcase widgets like they used to. In practice, Dashboard seems like an abandoned project but one that Apple is cautious about removing altogether. How long before Apple kills Dashboard completely or gives it a refresh good enough to bring it back into the spotlight? Perhaps a widget section of the Mac App Store could breathe new life into an old feature?

I’d like to know what you think of Dashboard. Cast your vote in the poll and let us know whether or not you even use it anymore. After that, leave a comment below with your opinions about what should be done with Dashboard. Is it fine the way it is? Should Apple abandon it? Should there be an App Store for widgets?