Yahoo! has announced its acquisition of Konfabulator. But what is Konfabulator? Konfabulator is a JavaScript runtime engine for Windows and Mac OS X. But in simple English, the tool is a scripting engine that allows Windows and Mac users to build desktop widets that perform all sorts of amazing things. Earlier this year, Wired News said the tool was Kon-Fabulous.
Now that the product is free, I have downloaded it and I am trying it out. My first impression is similar to the Wired News opinion. The widgets that ship with the product are great. They are visually appealing – and fairly functional. I love the WiFi Signal and Weather widgets. And after a few minutes, I think I will like the Stock Ticker widget as well.
But the real value of the product is the Javascript functionality. For those folks who don’t use Firefox (and shame on you for not doing so), this tool includes a Javascript engine that can (and will) be used for all sorts of new applications. I think Yahoo! has made a pretty good purchase. But we won’t know just how valuable this will be for quite some time.
BTW, the new product name is Yahoo! Widgets.
-CyclingRoo-