Draft:Personalization

Personalization is a Settings (and previously Control Panel) applet which is used for customizing the look and feel of Windows such as changing the background wallpaper, sound schemes and color accents.

History[edit source]

Before Windows Vista, various elements of Personalization applet were separated into multiple applets or they existed in other major applets such as Display and Mouse Properties.

Windows 1.x and 2.x[edit source]

Earliest precursors of the Personalization applet existed in Windows 1.x and 2.x in Control Panel's "Preferences" option menu called "Screen Colors". There, you can change the hue, saturation and brightness of the user interface colors.

"Screen Colors" in Windows 1.0 Beta Release
"Screen Colors" in Windows 1.01
"Screen Colors" in Windows/286 2.11

Windows 3.x[edit source]

Windows 3.0 rebranded the "Screen Colors" applet to just "Color" where it had a simpler design compared to Windows 2,x and also allowed the user to select theme presets. Applet's window previews are also resemblant of the later versions of Windows where the later versions of this applet shows the active window and the inactive window behind it. Alongside the "Color" applet, the "Desktop" applet was introduced where you can change the desktop wallpaper and various icon preferences. The "Sound" applet was also introduced in Windows 3.00, however it only has one option which is for enabling/disabling the warning beep. This applet would later be expanded in Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions 1.0. With the introduction of screensavers, Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions 1.0 received a new applet for screensavers as well. Windows 3.1 brought only one new customizability option where in the "Desktop" applet, you can now enable/disable Alt+Tab switching.

"Color" in Windows 3.00
"Desktop" applet in Windows 3.00
"Sound" applet in Windows 3.00.
"Sound" applet in Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions 1.0
"Screen Saver" applet in Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions 1.0
"Desktop" applet in Windows 3.1

Windows 95[edit source]

Windows 95 merged "Desktop", "Screensaver" and "Color" applets under the name "Display Properties". This new applet also allowed the user to change the desktop resolution and the color bitrate besides the regular personalization options. Windows 95 also introduced "Taskbar Properties" and a completely redesigned sound event properties applet.