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Widgets on the desktop have a long history in currently mainstream OSes. I remember Windows 95 Active Desktop [1] which worked in combination with Internet Explorer 4. HTML widgets rendered on Windows' desktop.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Desktop

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I remember xeyes on my Unix desktop

Wasn't that running in its own window [1]? However I'm pretty sure that somebody made it render directly on the screen below all the other windows, or in front of them. I remember cockroaches scrambling to hide below windows [2] or snow accumulating above windows titles [3].

[1] https://cyber.dabamos.de/unix/x11/#xeyes

[2] https://cyber.dabamos.de/unix/x11/#xroach

[3] https://cyber.dabamos.de/unix/x11/#xsnow

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