 - On a computer that is provided with a desktop kind of user interface, wallpaper is the background pattern or picture against which desktop menus, icons, and other elements are displayed and moved around. A wallpaper image can be in a JPEG or a GIF file format. Wallpaper is
commonly used in Microsoft Windows, Macintosh Mac OS, Linux, and in other operating systems as well. Each operating system provides several
pre-installed wallpaper images for the user to choose from. A user can also choose to download and install third-party wallpapers and use one of these instead.
Typically, a wallpaper image may be centered, stretched, or tiled.
When an image is centered, it is placed in the middle of the desktop and is
surrounded by a solid color. When an image is stretched, it is stretched to
cover all of the desktop. Only certain images can be stretched or they look
distorted. An image that is tiled is placed on the desktop much like tiles are
placed in a shower or a tiled floor. Tiling is commonly used for patterns
instead of photos because a pattern is one square image that repeats itself
across and down the screen, effectively forming a single image.
| CONTRIBUTORS: |
Lawrence Goetz |
| LAST UPDATED: |
08 Jun 2001
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