Chapter 11: Setting Up Your Desktop

Choosing a Desktop Theme

You can change the appearance of practically anything on your desktop. However, getting a collection of colors, icons, pictures, fonts, mouse pointers, screen savers, and so on that look good together takes more time and artistic talent than most of us have. A desktop theme is a complete "look" for your desktop. By changing themes, you can alter everything about the appearance of your desktop in one fell swoop.

Windows 98 and Me had both "desktop schemes" and desktop themes. Desktop themes were separate Windows components that you could install from your Windows Me/98 CD-ROM, while desktop schemes wre selected from the Display Properties dialog box. Windows XP combines most of the elements of both into desktop themes.

A desktop theme provides not only a system of colors and fonts, but also sounds, icons, mouse pointers, a desktop background, and a screen saver as well. Windows XP ships with two themes: Windows XP (the default "Luna" theme) and Windows Classic (which looks like earlier versions of Windows). Microsoft promises that you will be able to download other themes from its Web site. Also, we have confidence that themes for Windows XP will appear on third-party Web sites like C|NET's Web site (at http://download.cnet.com), which already has countless themes for earlier versions of Windows.

Changing Themes

To change your desktop theme, follow these steps:

1. Right-click any empty spot on the desktop and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. The Display Properties dialog box appears with the Themes tab on top, as shown in Figure 11-2.

Figure 11-2: Choosing a desktop theme from the Display Properties dialog box

2. Select the name of a theme from the Theme drop-down list. A preview of the theme appears in the Sample box below the Theme list.
3. Click OK. The Display Properties dialog box disappears, and Windows applies the theme to your desktop.

Creating and Saving Your Own Desktop Theme

After you choose a theme, you can modify it by changing individual elements:

• The background image or color
• The screen saver
• The color scheme
• The windows and buttons
• The font or size of text used in title bars, message boxes, menus, and elsewhere
• The size or shape of icons
• Visual effects, like whether a menu fades or scrolls up after you're finished using it
• Sound effects

After you have modified a theme, it is listed as "modified" on the Theme drop-down list of the Themes tab of the Display Properties dialog box. To save your changes as a new desktop theme, do the following:

1. Open the Display Properties dialog box by right-clicking any empty space on the desktop and selecting Properties from the shortcut menu.
2. Click the Save As button on the Themes tab of the Display Properties dialog box. A Save As dialog box appears.
3. Use the Save As dialog box to find the folder where you want to store the file containing the new theme.
4. Type a name for the theme into the File Name box in the Save As dialog box.
5. Click the Save button.
6. Click OK to close the Display Properties dialog box.

Your new theme now appears on the Theme list in the Display Properties dialog box. To remove it (or any other theme) from the list, select it and click the Delete button.