Coming up fast behind Internet Exploder and Firefox is Google Chrome, which is a little older than you think (but not much). Google Chrome does everything that you need a browser to do (and occasionally more), so it’s no wonder that the Don’t Be Evil crew (including a number of Firefox developers) threw in impressively integrated theme support starting with version 3.0 of Chrome.
Like Firefox’s personas (but unlike Firefox’s themes), Chrome themes can be applied without having to restart the browser. Unlike Firefox, the changes can affect the navigation buttons — but conversely, even the more drastically-skinned buttons in Chrome are still clearly visible (there have been several times where I’ve re-skinned Firefox and then had to take a few moments to find or figure out the basic buttons — not great).
Not that there is any real lack of themes; both Google and third-party developers have provided enough choices to keep even the most fickle browser-addict happy for a long time. Just remember when you’re grabbing a theme from a third-party site that they may slow you down a tiny bit more than the ‘official’ themes.
Themes are great for the person who is really into the aesthetic look of their computer, but for the person who is more interested in the search results, can you really tell the difference in the search time for the words, for instance, bottled water Las Vegas in any of these browsers? I suppose it your company sold both natural spring water and fresh drinking water, you might want your employees to have a water themed skin on their computers at work. Such a “bottled water” related theme might not only be refreshing to look at when you consider the hot dry climate of Las Vegas, Nevada, it might actually be inspirational. With temperature that can rise to a whooping 120 degrees in the summer along with the desert’s dry air, a water based Google Chrome theme skin might just be the ticket to happier and more productive employees.
You may be wondering “How to install a Google Chrome Theme.”
–Go to the Web Store at http://chrome.google.com/webstore.
–Browse or search for the theme you’d like to install. This is the fun part, since there really are a large variety of themes.
– Once you have made your final decision click the Add to Chrome button on the theme’s details page.
The Google Chrome theme is applied immediately to the skin of your browser. Now it’s time to decide if you like it or not. If you change your mind, just click:>b> Undo in the message that appears at the top of page to go back to your former theme. You may end up trying and discarding several themes before getting the one you really love.
If you want the new theme to be used across different computers you will need to Sync your themes.
– Just use the sync feature in Google Chrome .
You can always reset the theme back to the original classic blue theme in the Options dialog.
Go to the “Appearance” section, and just click the Reset to Default theme button.