None of the Dashboard widgets I use appears on Apple's Top 50.

One almost does: iStat Pro displays a wide variety of information such as CPU, memory and storage utilisation, plus various internal temperatures and fan speeds. I don't really need it as iStat Menus puts the same info into my menu bar, but there's something about the widget that appeals to my inner geek. iStat Pro's sibling, iStat Nano is currently number 2 on the widget Top 50. It presents similar information in a smaller footprint.

I have a couple of weather widgets. The main one is TheBom, and I keep it set to the Bureau of Meteorology report and forecast for my local area. I also set the standard Weather widget to whichever city I'll next be visiting, so it typically displays the weather for wherever I most recently went.

Time Machine Buddy makes it easier to see what Time Machine's been doing. It works by reading the system logs, but it's more convenient than using Console for that purpose. The widget shows you when the last Time Machine backup occurred, how many files and how much space were involved, and whether any pre or post backup thinning was required (ie, whether Time Machine had to free up some space on the destination volume). Information from previous backups is also available.

The only other widget I use regularly is Daily Comics, which displays the latest strips from a fairly wide range of comics including Alex, Dilbert, Ginger Meggs, Joy of Tech, and Legostar Galactica. When browsing through the list, be warned that some may not be suitable for general audiences. Changes to the source websites may break comic retrieval. If that happens to one of your favourites, report it to New Planet Software - my experience is that they are very responsive.

iStat Pro, TheBom and Time Machine Buddy all come from Australian developers. I didn't pick them for that reason, but it's good to know that local developers are delivering the goods.

So which widgets work for you?