Just want to make a point about configurable chrome.

Configurable UI is not just about changing the look of the UI. You're also able to change the content and the behavior of the UI.

You can break it down like this: (1) The actual content, e.g., what toolbars you have in your app and what buttons should go on them.

(2) The presentation of the content, e.g., the colors to use on the toolbars and the icons to use for each button.

(3) The behavior of the content, e.g., telling the Aurora tree view that it should use single click or disable inline editing, etc. etc.

With RDF you have control over all three aspects of configurable UI. So what you're getting here is much more than just a "theme" or "skin" generator. You have the capability to dictate what goes ONTO the toolbars.

Tired of ridiculous buttons that you don't ever use? Then don't serve them up to the user. Want to add a brand new toolbar that points to the user's file system? Go right ahead. Want to supply your own favorite set of bookmarks that will be shared by everyone who uses your chrome? You can do that too.

The skins/themes are just eye candy. The ability to control the content is what's really cool about this feature.

I know the look is not really what's "cool" about this feature, but just as configurable skins make Winamp 10x more attractive to use, so could this feature.

My question is, how nice can you make the buttons/toolbar look? Can you use high-color bitmaps as backgrounds? Can you use high-color images as icons, and replace EVERY button image with a high-quality image of your choice? Are there limits on the size of the buttons? What about the little "tag" on the left side of each toolbar, can you change the little graphic for that?

I think it would be really cool if you could do a total makeover of the Mozilla UI, you would see a "skin" community develop like around Winamp...

If anyone has a website with an example of a Mozilla skin, please email me at haviv@erols.com and I will list it in my Mozilla skins list (coming soon) on Mozilla's Dominion http://www.trailerpark.com/phase1/arielb/netscape/ (in fact, if there's a Mozilla website that's not on my list, please tell me about that as well. Thanks!

The goal of course is complete configurability. Given time constraints, however, we stopped with the toolbars and tree views. We also aren't making as many things about them configurable as we could (e.g., fonts aren't being addressed in this rev).

The grippy on the LHS of the toolbars was originally going to be customizable, but I punted on it in this rev to cut down on the amount of work. If someone wants to go off and do it, more power to 'em. :)

Yes you can use high quality images: GIFs and JPEGs can both be used.

In theory, there is no limit on the image size, although I should probably do something about that... and I also have no idea what would happen if you put a really big image on a toolbar.

Well I think this is great in that it is one of the most tangiable advances that we have made. From a marketshare perspective this will be what makes a newbie/technonovice choose our baby over MS' tool. I'm betting they will copy the idea by the next browser release if it is at all possible. Good work hackers!

Chrome is cool from what I have seen. My question is does it work on the Unix and Mac side or is it only an MS thing. Attracting new users will be hard (expecialy in the corporate world) if there is no consistency across different platforms. One use I can see for chrome is for IS departments to customize the interface to link to intranet specific resources and to give a consistant look and feel for the company. Thanks.

John Palmieri Martian Rock Interactive