Windows sidebar

My Vista has a feature of placing a sidebar on the right side of the screen (default). It is normally installed when the OS is installed and can be removed by following certain instructions. There is also a function in the control panel to activate/deactivate it and change sides. Go to 'control panel'----'windows sidebar'------- and uncheck a line something like install at startup, or something like that. Then restart your pc. The sidebar should not be there. With other OSs, I am not certain of the procedure.