Google lets 100 artists paint on Chrome canvas
Mariah Carey gets her own Google Chrome theme.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)I'm a little confused. Is Chrome supposed to be a minimally intrusive window to the Web or a splashy showcase for your favorite graphical style?
If you're in the latter camp, the type of person who picks desktop wallpaper carefully and reskins every software that can be reskinned, you'll be pleased with Google's unveiling Monday of artist themes for its Chrome browser. If you're the more utilitarian sort, avoid clicking on the Themes Gallery page.
These two possible attitudes aren't mutually exclusive, but they do live awkwardly together in Chrome. For an artistic canvas, Google's browser has only a minimal menu bar across the top, and it's often obscured by tabs. The best opportunity to show off some graphical pizzazz is the new-tab page, which perhaps someday will become some all-purpose Google portal page but for now is just a means to getting to some other Web page as fast as possible.
But Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search and user experience, enjoys any opportunity to promote her fondness for fashion and art. Who else could have been behind the Oscar de la Renta, Chloe, Kate Spade, and Dolce & Gabbana themes?
A total of 100 new themes are now an option alongside the less eye-catching themes that Google already offered on its own. Mayer's status as patron of the arts only goes so far, though: several artists declined the opportunity to give their work to Google for free, according to The New York Times.
Themes are just eye candy, though perhaps HTML5's built-in audio support will add another dimension some day. Nevertheless, plenty of people care passionately about themes as a way to lighten up their computing experience or display loyalty to some cause. (Any Porsche fans out there?) One feature in Firefox 3.6, code-named Namoroka and about to enter beta testing, is the advancement of the Personas visual customization tool from plug-in to built-in.
I ran into a few snags. The menu-bar text of Mariah Carey's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel theme was only visible on a very wide monitor, with Chrome not maximized and few tabs showing. With the Takora Kimiyoshi Futori theme, I couldn't read status bar pop-up text such as a Web address I hovered over with my mouse. And switching from one theme to another changed the menu bar but not an already visible new-tab page, producing an even more jarring opportunity for visual cacophony.
I generally don't use themes, but I have to say I'm glad they exist. They enable a certain whimsy and help add a bit of spice to a computing experience that can be very impersonal.
Sixteen of the hundred themes now available for Chrome.
(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
I spend most of my day in a browser, so it is nice to be able to change the look & feel of it, from time to time.
The other is to agree with gerrrg when he suggested opening the API. The talented people at Deviant Art could have a ball with this.
Do you realize that the 802.11n standard was only ratified a few weeks ago, but 802.11n products have been shipping for years?
At the rate things are going, HTML5 will also be implemented & deployed, years before the spec is ratified.
Who is ramming what?
Working implementations are VERY important, to the standardization process. They help to validate/solidify the specifications. Apple, Google, Mozilla & Opera are all actively implementing HTML5 functionality in their browsers. Even WebGL was recently integrated into Firefox & WebKit builds.
The internet moves fast & web technologies are no exception. Just relax & enjoy the ride. The companies involved will ultimately work through the details.
Trust me, HTML 5 is many years away. I don't expect it to be implemented or employed, except by a fringe number of sites, anytime soon. How long did it take the majority of developers to start properly using XHTML 1.0 Strict and proper CSS?
still this is pretty cool, they have some good ones, way better than the "turf" theme
- by steavyart November 16, 2009 7:20 PM PST
- So, I am thinking about getting google chrome, but I"m not quite sure. I like the idea of putting a cool theme in the browser, but the ones I have seen aren't that great. I don't want some famous person staring at me while I'm on the internet, I'm not one of those people. I would really like to have something customizable, that I could put my own artwork on, or a funny family/friend photo that just makes you laugh when youopen your browser. Can someone who has Google Chrome please let me know what they think?
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