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Metal

The original Java Look and Feel was code-named "Metal", and that's pretty much what it looked like.  It was very flat (two-dimensional), dull, colorless, and generally pretty boring, especially when compared with current GUI Look and Feels on Windows and on various Linux systems. Here's an example of the original "Metal" look and feel, an image from the SwingSet demo:

The marketing people decided, in their infinite wisdom, to call "Metal" the "Java Look and Feel" (what imagination!), but most people continued to refer to it as "Metal"

Themes

Then, in Java 5.0 (a.k.a. 1.5), the Java developers added the concept of "Themes" to the "Metal" Look and Feel, and made the default theme be one called "Ocean". The original Metal default became the "Steel" theme. 

What you've seen so far in most of the examples, is the Ocean theme of the Java Look and Feel.  Here's what "Ocean" looks like, to contrast it with the above:

A definite improvement, although it's still pretty two-dimensional.  At least the buttons are made to look like they have a three-dimensional component.

For more details about Metal themes, see here.

Synth

The newest look and feel for the Java 5 release is called "Synth".  It allows you to customize your own look and feel by means of an XML file, instead of having to perform lots of nitty-gritty coding in lots of different places.

The Synth look and feel class is:

javax.swing.plaf.synth.SynthLookAndFeel

and you can find its API here.

How to use Synth is beyond the scope of this course, however.

Future Efforts

More definitely needs to be done, and people are working on it.

Here's a button to click to see some of what's happening regarding Look and Feels (what is the plural of Look and Feel, anyway?) in the JavaDesktop Community ( http://community.java.net/javadesktop/) -- the so-called "Nimbus" Look and Feel:

SwingSet Demo from JavaDesktop (You'll need Java WebStart installed on your system for this to work)

By way of comparison, the original SwingSet Demo may be launched from:

SwingSet Demo from java.sun.com (Again, you'll need Java WebStart installed.)

This page was last modified on 02 October, 2007