One of the great features added to the Pocket PC 2002 operating system are that of configurable themes for the Today screen.

These may be accessed and configured via the Today screen options in Menu|Settings|Today.

The only disadvantages with the standard Microsoft OS Theme loader are:

• You can only store theme in the following locations:
  • \Windows\
  • \My Documents\
  • \Storage Card\My Documents\
• Each theme has to be changed manually.

ThemeMaster from Raggio Pocket Applications aims to address these limitations and give additional functionality to your Pocket PC.

	Once installed on the PPC the ThemeMaster program may be launched by tapping on ThemeMaster under the start menu or on the TheMaster program shortcut on the Start|Programs screen. The initial PPC Today screen with ThemeMaster icon showing in the bottom tray (after initial loading). The ThemeMaster program now hides itself after the initial loading operation.
	When the program is loaded the main menu screen is opened. (This screen may also be accessed by tapping on the ThemeMaster icon at the bottom of the Today screen once the program is running in memory). A double tap on the icon will load a random theme. On loading TM scans through the\Windows and \My Documents\ folders along with the folder specified in 'Path' to search for theme (*.tsk) files. These are then detailed within the pop up list box in the centre of the screen. The Preview window serves to show you a small preview image of what the theme graphic will look like once installed. The buttons at the bottom of the screen allow you: Load a theme selected from the list. Load a random theme. Delete the selected theme. Hide the application, i.e return it to icon status. Exit ThemeMaster completely.
	The much more interesting options are towards the top of the screen where you may allow ThemeMaster to change themes automatically via: Random theme selected from the list. Sequentially loaded theme in list order. No automatic changes A time period may then be set using the Delay pop-up, from 1 minute to 1 day whereby TM will change the theme after this interval has elapsed.
	Here you can see the Chronos theme being previewed prior to loading.
	The Chronos theme fully loaded.

Pro's and Con's

Pro's:

• Change your current theme quickly and easily on demand
• Works on PPC 2002 devices and 2000 devices ( running Novosec's Facelift)
• Rotate your themes automatically after a time delay
• Select a theme at random, sequentially, or from a list
• Runs as an application in your system tray
• Small sized app that requires very little system resources (25.8Kb)
• Uses native theme files (.tsk) - no decompression or translation required as per some competing programs
• Use themes stored on storage cards (or any other user-defined path) as well as those stored in main memory at "\windows" and "\my documents"
• Ability to delete themes
• Ability to specify a user-defined folder to search for themes
• Save user settings to the registry between sessions
• 'Stealth' Install on PPC2002 machines (no loading theme screen shown)
• Hardware buttons may be used to scroll through and select themes

Con's:

• None

Bugs:

• None

Suggestions:

• Allow different folders to be specified to load different themes during Office and Home hours
• Add an option not to show themes in the various folders (I hate the standard 'Fire' theme)
• Add the option to add a shortcut into the startup folder so ThemeMaster runs automatically
• Add the ability to use times themes, that is a theme named 1000 would load at 10:00am, one named 2200 would be loaded at 22:00 hours.
• Add an optional sound effect (user specified WAV file) which would play on a theme change

Conclusions

ThemeMaster is a small application as far as memory size and cost are concerned, but very cool in use. It's a pleasure to be able to turn the PPC on and see a different theme in place. Gone are the days of thinking which theme should you use today, with ThemeMaster your variations are only limited by your storage space. During the review period I've been supplied with a number of updated versions which have incorporated feature requests. You can't beat such excellent support.

Demo

A ThemeMaster demonstration can be downloaded from here.

Product	ThemeMaster
Developer	Raggio Pocket Applications
Cost:	$6.99
Web Site:	http://www.theraggios.com/rpa/
Rating: