So, what are desktop themes? Desktop themes changes the entire look of your computer desktop including wallpaper, cursors, icons, sounds, colors & even shutdown screens & screensavers as applicable. The majority of desktop themes are free to download & use. Desktop themes are available for purchase on disk from Left-Side Software for $15.00 US. There are over 300 themes per CD. Not a bad deal considering the amount of work that goes into creating each one! Those of you already using desktop themes to brighten your desktop are already familiar with Microsoft's Plus! package. So why use TUCOWS Desktop Themes? In my case Microsoft Plus! had many features that I did not need, also I would have had to purchase Microsoft's Plus! package (which was more than I cared to spend just to support desktop themes) (unless you have Windows 98 (Second Edition) where the themes component of the Plus! package is included). Finally, TUCOWS Desktop Themes offers considerably more features including the ability to edit & create your own desktop themes, a feature completely lacking in Microsoft Plus!. In order to edit and/or create desktop themes you must purchase a license from Left-Side Software for $15.00 US. All other portions of the software are entirely free to use.
A good place to start collectig desktop themes is TUCOWS. Upon entering the TUCOWS website click on the Themes link, you will then be asked to select a mirror closest to your location before entering into the desktop themes portion of the site. Once there you will have a wide selection of desktop themes to choose from. Included in the TUCOWS site are links to the theme authors websites. Most of the desktop themes will be in .zip format so you will need a compression utility like Winzip at http://www.winzip.com//. The latest version of Winzip (Ver 8.0) now allows the user to install desktop themes & screensavers from within the Winzip utility itself.
