Microsoft planned to include a Control Panel applet and configurable battery, calendar, email, wireless network, and Windows Media Player modules for SideShow.

Auxiliary displays were listed by Microsoft among other forms of information indicators for personal computers during the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference of 2003.

[1] An auxiliary display feature was later presented by Microsoft during the WinHEC 2004 where it was scheduled to be included in Windows Vista, then known by its codename, "Longhorn.

[6] In February 2005, Microsoft announced that the first beta version of Windows Vista, then codenamed "Longhorn," would include support for the feature; a preliminary software development kit would also be released concurrently with the operating system.

[11][12] Microsoft Office 2007, released to manufacturing on the same day as Windows Vista, included an Outlook 2007 calendar gadget for SideShow.

[3][7] Microsoft has published documentation which suggests additional uses for SideShow devices, such as the ability to transmit information and notifications received from a computer across televisions and set-top boxes,[14] and the ability to serve as a second screen for PC games and their content (e.g., character statistics or maps) and to enable new multitasking scenarios during gameplay.

Hardware-specific, native applications that provide rich-media experiences like audio and video playback that can be accessed through the SideShow user interface require the SDK from the specific platform vendor.

For example, Nvidia provides the Preface platform that includes abilities like MP3, AAC, MPEG-4 encode-decode and other digital media formats.

[22] In 2006, after being featured at WinHEC, the 7-inch and 10-inch "Momento" digital photo frames were released by their developer, A Living Picture,[23] and provided Sideshow functionality over WiFi.

[29] Intoware (formerly Ikanos Consulting) provided AccuWeather, Facebook, Flickr, iTunes, Twitter, and Windows Live Messenger.