"Over the weekend Microsoft "retired", that is removed, its Windows Live Gallery, the online repository for, extensions and add-ons for various Windows Live services and products including Windows Vista and Windows 7 Gadgets. Our headline perhaps overstates the situation - Gadgets still exist, you can download them and you can write them. But what has been taken away is the showcase where you could share them and even receive payment for them, i.e. an app store for gadgets. This seems to be another example of Microsoft overthrowing the established order in its rush towards Windows 8. If you attempt to access http://gallery.live.com you reach a page which states Microsoft's reason for this abrupt retirement:"