Theme (computing)
In computing, a theme is a preset package containing graphical appearance and functionality details. A theme usually comprises a set of shapes and colors for the graphical control elements, the window decoration and the window. Themes are used to customize the look and feel of a piece of computer software or of an operating system.
Also known as a skin it is a custom graphical appearance preset package achieved by the use of a graphical user interface that can be applied to specific computer software, operating system, and websites to suit the purpose, topic, or tastes of different users. As such, a skin can completely change the look and feel and navigation interface of a piece of application software or operating system.
Software that is capable of having a skin applied is referred to as being skinnable, and the process of writing or applying such a skin is known as skinning. Applying a skin changes a piece of software's look and feel—some skins merely make the program more aesthetically pleasing, but others can rearrange elements of the interface, potentially making the program easier to use.
Use
Themes are often used to change the look and feel of a wide range of things at once, which makes them much less granular than allowing the user to set each option individually. For example, users might want the window-borders from a particular theme, but installing it would also alter the desktop background.One method for dealing with this is to allow the user to select which parts of the theme they want to load; for example in Windows 98, users could load the background and screensaver from a theme, but leave the icons and sounds untouched.
Themed systems
Operating systems
Apps
and Google Chrome either support or supported a form of theme. Firefox supports themes either through lightweight themes. Google Chrome version 3.0 or later allows themes to alter the appearance of the browser. Internet Explorer 5 and its immediate successor allowed the background picture of their toolbars to be customized.The most popular skins are for instant messaging clients, media center, and media player software, such as Trillian and Winamp, due to the association with fun that such programs try to encourage.