Based on the Mac software WriteRoom, Dark Room for Windows looks a heck of a lot like the classic text-adventure game Zork. It's a black background with a CRT-style green foreground color for your text that aims to offer a distraction-free application for writing. There are few bells and no whistles: this lightweight text editor is without buttons, menus, or anything else that might disturb your concentration. You can either accept the default preferences and start typing into a new document, or hit Ctrl+, to open up the Preferences.
Because Dark Room starts in full-screen mode by default, you won't be able to see the menus at the top of the application. To access the Preferences from the "View" menu, exit full-screen mode by hitting the F11 button, then select "View." From the Preferences dialog, you can change the color and size of your font, the color and size of the Dark Room "page" (the writable area of the screen), and the color and opacity of the background (behind the page), as well as a variety of advanced settings, such as the ability to open documents in Dark Room from the Windows context menu, multiple monitor support, neutral highlighting, and autosaving.
Basic text-editing features like "Copy," "Paste," and "Find," help you do slightly more advanced tasks, but that's about it. Users can't make global replacements, for example. Most people will probably find its lack of tools frustrating, but if you need a nice, dark room in which to write, this app could be your best friend.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
We've looked at and reviewed Windows and Firefox themes before at CNET Download.com, but after getting a new computer at home, I figured it was time to revisit new themes. Though a Firefox theme is hardly a must-have Killer Download, I would argue a working (or nonworking) environment in which you feel comfortable makes all your computing more enjoyable. Once I got the new system online, along with my usual security downloads and other useful utilities, I decided a little browser customization was in order.
Most of my regular computing at home including e-mail, writing, and other work-related stuff is done on my Mac. Since I designed my Windows machine from the ground up for gaming, it seemed fitting to me I would give it a gaming feel when it came to themes. Many gaming sites, including our very own GameSpot, have a darker-themed look to set off the graphics of the hottest new games. That's why I decided to cross over to the dark side when it came to choosing my Firefox themes. I should note dark themes are not for everyone, so only download these if you like the dark look.
Here are a few of my favorite dark themes so far, but I'm hoping readers will add more in the comments so we can all check them out. As with most Firefox themes, these themes are easy to install. After downloading, simply drag the .JAR file onto Firefox's theme dialog, select "Use theme", and restart your browser. You're new look should load right up.
I like the glassy buttons, but I would like it better if the sidebar shared in the darkness.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Aquatint Black is a dark grayish theme with glossy blue interface buttons. I like the look of this one mostly, but it does something weird with the graphics in my All-in-one Sidebar Firefox extension. Maybe this is an All-in-one Sidebar specific problem, but it also leaves all my bookmarks a much lighter color. All pull-down menus are the same dark gray color with a glossy-blue highlight running down the left side. If you're not sure about having a dark theme, this is the lightest of this group so you'll know immediately if it's your cup of tea.
The crisp colors of the icons look great on the dark interface.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Aero Fox does a great job of emulating the look and feel of Vista. Though Vista hasn't really caught on for a lot of Windows users, the glossy buttons in Aero Fox contrast perfectly with the darker overall theme. The glass-like quality of the interface looks great. They left the pull-down menus a pleasing dark gray (without the gloss) for better readability. Even if you're not a Vista user yet, this theme is definitely worthy of a look.
The darkest theme of this group has a really clean look.
(Credit: CNET Networks)NASA Night Launch is probably the darkest theme of the group, but it's also my favorite. The flat buttons look great on the dark interface, and a few other extras make it a nice-looking choice. As you load Web pages, you're treated to an animation of the Space Shuttle taking off in the throbber on the upper right. Window backgrounds include a larger picture of a night launch as well. Though the shuttle pictures are a little hokey, I like the overall theme the best out of this group.
If you're looking for a dark Windows theme to complete the look, try the Zune Theme we reviewed recently in the Daily Download. Got a dark theme for Firefox or Windows you like better? Let me know so I can check it out!
Power Downloader knows one of the most difficult things about studying and writing papers is staying focused. When he received a stressed out e-mail from Kitty Kilobyte recently saying she was trying to write a paper for school, but kept getting distracted, Power knew all too well what she was talking about. Even when Power Downloader needs to get to work, he will sometimes find himself surfing the Web or checking e-mail, so he knows how easy it is to get distracted. Over time, Power is sure Kitty will develop the skills necessary to focus on her work, but for now he decided would try to find her the perfect tool to stay focused.
Dark Room only gives users the essentials so they can focus on writing
(Credit: CNET Networks)After some searching at Download.com, Power Downloader came upon a little textpad application called Dark Room. While the program is not particularly strong on features, it does one thing very well: it eliminates distraction. With Dark Room on her computer, Kitty would be able to write her paper without the usual distractions of her computer's desktop. Dark Room would let Kitty write in full screen with a black background so all the chat notifications, e-mail alerts, and other distractions are conveniently hidden out of view. If she didn't like the default black background, she could switch the background color, the text color, and the font, all in the Dark Room options. Playing with some of the options, Power couldn't help but think this application would be extremely useful for writers as well if they knew all the hot keys. A helpful readme file comes with the download and Power Downloader made sure to point out in his e-mail to Kitty she should read it for all of Dark Room's features and hot keys before she gets started.
After sending the e-mail with a link to Dark Room to Kitty, Power Downloader decides some of his old criminal case summaries could use a little work. With Dark Room, Power Downloader won't have to worry about being distracted while he remembers past pursuits of Internet bad guys.
(Credit:
Dark Room Team)
You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here.
OK, not really, but the freeware Windows app Dark Room (based off the Mac OS X 10.4 software WriteRoom) looks a heck of a lot like the classic text-adventure game Zork.
The idea behind Dark Room and WriteRoom is simple: offer a distraction-free application for writing text. Both apps throw out the bells and whistles and provide a lightweight text editor without buttons, menus, or anything else that might disturb your concentration. ... Read more
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