Theme (computing)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Skin (computing)
)
The same GUI (using Qt) with three different themes

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

computer software or of an operating system
.

Also known as a skin (or visual style in

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.

Video gaming

In

unlockable content for completing specific in-game goals or milestones. Skins can sometimes include historical incarnations of the player character (such as Insomniac Games' Spider-Man, which includes unlockable skins based on Spider-Man's past comic book and film appearances),[2] as well as crossovers with other video games (such as Final Fantasy XIII-2 offering a costume based on Ezio Auditore from the Assassin's Creed franchise, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate offering costume items based on other video game characters for its customizable Mii Fighter characters).[3][4] Fortnite Battle Royale has similarly featured extensive uses of licensed properties as the basis for skins, also including non-gaming properties such as comic book characters,[5][6] the National Football League,[7] and musicians.[8]

Skins are sometimes distributed as part of downloadable content, and as pre-order incentives for newly-released games. In the 2010s, skins were increasingly deemed a virtual good as part of monetization strategies, especially within free-to-play games and those otherwise treated as a service. Via microtransactions commonly known as "loot boxes", a player can earn a random selection of in-game items, which may include skins and other cosmetic items of varying rarity. While often defended as being similar in practice to booster packs for collectible card games, researchers have deemed loot boxes to be "psychologically akin to gambling",[9] and their inclusion in full-priced games have faced criticism from players for being an anti-consumer practice.[10][11] They have largely been supplanted by "battle passes", which are collections of in-game challenges and goals that unlock reward tiers over a short- or long-term period.[12]

Via the

bartering them for real-world money, as well as gambling.[13][14][15][16]

Themed systems

Operating systems

Microsoft Windows
TuneUp Utilities and Desktop Architect enhance theme capabilities. Support for custom themes can also be added by patching system files
, which is not endorsed by Microsoft.
Linux
scroll bars
or list elements), and another theme to customize the appearance of windows (such as, window borders and title bars).
macOS
ShapeShifter
may add this.
Android
Although Android does not support themes, the forked CyanogenMod and its successor LineageOS have native theme support. The CM theme engine is in turn used on many other forked Android ROMs, such as Paranoid Android.

Apps

Personas) or complete themes.[18] While lightweight themes are simply background images for toolbar Firefox toolbars, complete themes have more power to modify Firefox's appearance.[18] Google Chrome version 3.0 or later allows themes to alter the appearance of the browser.[19] Internet Explorer 5 and its immediate successor allowed the background picture of their toolbars to be customized.[20]

The most popular skins are for

Trillian and Winamp
, due to the association with fun that such programs try to encourage.

Standard interface

Some platforms support changing the standard interface, including most using the

ShapeShifter for macOS
.

Websites

Many websites are skinnable, particularly those that provide

CSS
can easily produce different visual styles.

See also

References

  1. MSDN
    . Microsoft. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  2. ^ Carter, Justin (2018-09-08). "A guide to Spider-Man PS4's many costumes, and their comic roots". Polygon. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  3. ^ Phillips, Tom (2012-04-11). "Final Fantasy 13-2 Assassin's Creed costume DLC released". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  4. ^ Lee, Julia (2019-09-04). "Sans from Undertale joins Smash Bros. Ultimate as a Mii Fighter costume". Polygon. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  5. ^ Goslin, Austen (February 6, 2020). "Harley Quinn is officially coming to Fortnite". Polygon. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  6. ^ Romano, Nick (May 7, 2018). "Thanos is coming to Fortnite for epic Avengers: Infinity War crossover". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  7. ^ Hernandez, Patricia (2018-11-05). "Fortnite will start selling NFL skins this week". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
  8. ^ Webster, Andrew (2020-04-20). "Travis Scott is touring inside Fortnite this week". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
  9. S2CID 205565143
    .
  10. ^ Schreier, Jason (October 10, 2017). "Fall Loot Box Glut Leads To Widespread Alarm". Kotaku. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  11. ^ Machkovech, Sam (2017-09-29). "Loot boxes have reached a new low with Forza 7's "pay to earn" option". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  12. ^ Davenport, James (2018-07-05). "Battle passes are replacing loot boxes, but they're not necessarily a better deal". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  13. ^ "How Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is turning into the world's most exciting eSport". PCGamesN. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  14. ^ Bowman, Mitch (May 22, 2014). "The hidden world of Steam trading". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  15. ^ Lahti, Evan (September 17, 2015). "How $400 virtual knives saved Counter-Strike". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on January 11, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  16. ^ Coe, Curtis (August 14, 2013). "CS: GO Arms Deal update adds more than 100 weapon skins, supports eSports". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  17. ^ "Theme File Format (Windows)". Microsoft. 2017-08-13. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  18. ^ a b "Use themes to change the look of Firefox". Mozilla Support. Mozilla Foundation. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  19. ^ Glen Murphy (October 5, 2009). "A splash of color to your browser: Artist Themes for Google Chrome". Google Chrome Blog. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  20. ^ "How to Restore the Background Bitmap on the Internet Explorer Toolbars". Support. Microsoft. 24 January 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theme_(computing)&oldid=1173029051"