“Microsoft’s plan to providing Windows XP (aka Whistler) with
interface themes (aka skins) may be knocked on the head by Apple,
which has patented desktop themes.”
“The patent, granted on 13 February from an application made way
back in May 1998, covers “systems and methods for providing a user
with increased flexibility and control over the appearance and
behaviour of objects on a user interface are described.”
“…We were interested to learn that Apple’s original patent
application was made a mere eight days after well-established UI
enhancements-oriented Web site Themes.org was launched, on 25
April 1998. Themes.org – for those not in the know – provides
stacks of modified interface widgets for the main Linux GUI window
managers, including KDE, Enlightenment (Gnome’s WM), WindowMaker,
AfterStep and Blackbox.”
Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.
LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.
Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2025 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved
Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.