![]() ![]() "A guy named Stefan Stuntz cooked up one called Magic User Interface, or MUI, that allowed complete control over the appearance of applications that were coded for it. "AmigaDOS let you tell applications to use alternative GUI libraries," he recalls. Poag traces the phenomenon to the heyday of the late, lamented Amiga computer, circa 1990. Users have been hot-rodding their systems since the early days of personal computing, but they didn't start skinning until developers gave them the chance - intentionally or not. "The next generation will make the jump from the standardized GUI to some as-yet-unnamed ideal, where total customization is the norm. Poag, a computer science student at the University of Arizona in Tucson whose Propaganda site ( ) serves up bitmaps as raw material for skinners. ![]() "Our generation made the jump from text-based interaction to graphical user interfaces," says Bowie J. "It makes sense that there would be a different interface for each use." The homogeneity that helped turn computers into consumer products, skinners say, has outlived its usefulness. "People use computers in so many different parts of their lives," says Drew Cohen, CEO of NeoPlanet, which makes a skinnable browser of the same name. Functionally, they're televisions, radios, typewriters, banks, department stores, libraries, meeting rooms, and lecture halls. The rise of skinning underscores a shift in the popular conception of computers. Meanwhile, marketers are eyeing an unlimited territory of virgin screen real estate, and businesses like NeoPlanet are springing up to sell it. Windows Media Player 7, released in July, accommodates customized graphics and functions, and the next version of MSN's client software will be skinnable as well. Netscape Communicator 6.0, now in beta, can be enhanced with alternative graphics and "chromes," Netscape's word for custom features. Early versions weren't designed with skinning in mind, but the program has become more skinnable with each release, and other apps are undergoing the same transformation. An abundance of skins helped propel the Winamp MP3 player to mass popularity, leading AOL last year to purchase its developer, Nullsoft, for an undisclosed sum. Recognizing that personalization can help cement the elusive one-to-one bond, software companies have begun to tout skinnability as a feature. The most popular ones rack up thousands of downloads and spawn myriad variations as their champions hone them to a fine edge. But the site's archive, with more than 11,000 skins for 100-plus programs, is open to all. "It's soooo cute and cuddly and lovable and squishable," gushes another. Membership, which is free, entitles you to upload skins and post messages: "It sucks and I'm tired," complains one member in response to Chris Carey's Winamp skin YummiYogurt. Cofounded last year by Damian Hodgkiss, Chad Boyda, and Bryan Beretta as a place to show off their creations, quickly evolved into a gallery and town hall for skinners. Skinners distribute their wares through sites like, , DeskMod, and, the undisputed leader. "By customizing something that's important to you, you make the world your own." "People get attached to their computers," he continues. At its most baroque, skinning weds customized functions with a unified look that spans the operating system and several applications - "like a sci-fi movie you live in," in the words of Ian Lyman, one of the cocreators of the skinnable Sonique music player. ![]()
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