# Hey, I want this - desktop theme question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365 "2006-05-11T13:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/1 "2006-05-11T13:44:39Z")
My daughter has a PowerBook, and she has the neatest desktop (or whatever Apple calls desktops) on it. It scrolls through pictures in a specific file, leaving the desktop icons visible. I use the Picasa screensaver on my Toshiba, which is nice, but it’s a screensaver. This kind of has the same effect, of viewing all my poctures, but wouldn’t necessarily be a screensaver. I Googled and there’s just a mess of themes out there, does anyone know if/where something like this is available for non-Macs? ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/2 "2006-05-11T14:08:03Z")
Not sure if it’s exactly what you want but “Yahoo widgets” has a desktop widget that acts as a picture frame. Have a look at the [Yahoo Widgets](http://widgets.yahoo.com) site. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/3 "2006-05-11T18:20:02Z")
You want a desktop wallpaper changer. There are many available, including one by Microsoft. [http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ce1d596b-6851-4948-ab76-b5ff22d37d69&DisplayLang=en](http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ce1d596b-6851-4948-ab76-b5ff22d37d69&DisplayLang=en) ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/4 "2006-05-11T18:22:39Z")
[Webshots.com](http://Webshots.com) has free software that will switch your desktop every five minutes, or as often as you’d like. You might try that. On the other hand, that widgets system looks like a lot of fun to play with. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/5 "2006-05-11T18:26:28Z")
> [@pmwgreen](#): > > [Webshots.com](http://Webshots.com) has free software that will switch your desktop every five minutes, or as often as you’d like. You might try that. > > On the other hand, that widgets system looks like a lot of fun to play with. From my experience, if you’re going to install Webshots on your PC you may as well pour a glass of water in though the PC’s power supply vent fan. Both are about equally good for your PC. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/6 "2006-05-11T18:29:06Z")
If it’s an Apple app doing it (and yeah, we call it a desktop, too; in fact, first), it could be from the [iLife](http://www.apple.com/ilife/) suite, which is only OSX compatable ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/7 "2006-05-11T18:55:47Z")
I liked the widgets too, they look like fun. I feel safer with some google or Firefox extensions that do the same thing as some of them though. I’ll check the Microsoft link, that looks like what I want. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/8 "2006-05-11T19:36:33Z")
> [@Szlater](#): > > Not sure if it’s exactly what you want but “Yahoo widgets” has a desktop widget that acts as a picture frame. > > Have a look at the [Yahoo Widgets](http://widgets.yahoo.com) site. I had never heard of this so I checked it out and there’s some cool stuff there. Don’t know if it’s all safe. The picture frame is an element of the desktop, though, and doesn’t _become_ the desktop. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/9 "2006-05-11T19:43:21Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I had never heard of this so I checked it out and there’s some cool stuff there. Don’t know if it’s all safe. The picture frame is an element of the desktop, though, and doesn’t _become_ the desktop. They’re pretty cool, I use a couple, a clock (there’s quite a few to choose from), a BBC RSS reader and on my media server I use one that reports HDD space. IIRC Yahoo bought out Konfabulator and renamed it ‘widget engine’. The usual caveats about downloading programs from the internet apply though. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/10 "2006-05-11T20:04:08Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > From my experience, if you’re going to install Webshots on your PC you may as well pour a glass of water in though the PC’s power supply vent fan. > > Both are about equally good for your PC. > > -Joe I’ve never heard of this. Is regular old tap water ok or should it be distilled water? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/11 "2006-05-12T00:35:13Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’ve never heard of this. Is regular old tap water ok or should it be distilled water? Doesn’t matter but it should be boiling. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/12 "2006-05-12T02:12:54Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Doesn’t matter but it should be boiling. Cool, let me go boil some water… Ok, water’s done. Gonna go pour it in. Don’t know what it did, but the computer seems to be acting DF)_!))!D)S_(DFUS)D(FU)(#_)P{WJ)j)DUFSD)JFSD#&())\_!((#_ NO CARRIER ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/13 "2006-05-12T13:22:42Z")
I’ve had a program called “create a saver” by Howie’s Funware (?) for many years. Google it and you’ll find the shareware program. You tell it what folder to look in, and it displays your pictures in a slideshow as your screensaver. You can’t, however, make your desktop appear through it. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/14 "2006-05-12T18:44:17Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > From my experience, if you’re going to install Webshots on your PC you may as well pour a glass of water in though the PC’s power supply vent fan. > > Both are about equally good for your PC. > > -Joe Well, YMMV I suppose. It’s been running on my computer for nearly two years now and I’ve never had a problem. Sorry to hear you have. Perhaps you used a feature I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-want-this-desktop-theme-question/356365/15 "2006-05-12T21:39:31Z")
There’s at least one Web site out there with source code to a program that does this (cycles through all of the BMP files in a given folder, setting each one in turn to be the wallpaper and changing after a set period of time). It was a programming contest at a place I used to work. If I recall correctly, it was under ten lines of code in C++ or VB. It did _not_ require active desktop to be enabled, and we hardly noticed the effect on performance.