Winamp terminology for "
theme", later crept into use with other programs as well. WinAmp's
UI components are
bitmap based, so each of these component bitmaps can be replaced with other bitmaps - in other words, the look of the whole
UI can be changed on the fly.
This has many advantages, mostly that it allows the user to customize the UI.
Mere skinning is different from the way Mozilla and GTK+ handle their themes: In those programs, not only the outlook of the GUI can be changed, but the behavior and functionality as well. (For example, if the default scrollbars have "up" button in top and "down" button in bottom, you can make a scrollbar in your GTK+ theme that looks like NEXTSTEP scrollbar - both buttons on the bottom).