From: moreno_news@mailinator.com   
      
   >> I do think there is great advantage in maintaining (or at least   
   >> having the option to programmatically enable) native look-n-feel; if   
   >> you're developing a multi-platform application, that is because you   
   >> expect many users of a variety of OSs to use it;   
   >   
   > I agree with you, but I think that it also depends on the particular app   
   > to some degree.   
   >   
   > Many apps, probably the majority, use the GUI in a "straightforward"   
   > way, and arguably should follow the native look-n-feel as much as   
   > possible; that makes using the app simpler for most people (as the   
   > bulk of the user-base on any OS will already be used to that OS).   
   >   
   > There are a few apps, though, that have very distinctive interfaces,   
   > and probably want greater control over the details, even when it means   
   > ignoring the native look-n-feel [ ... ]   
      
   Absolutely agreed --- it is true that some developers decide to   
   "push the envelope" by ignoring native look-n-feel and doing what   
   they think/decide that is "doing better" for the particular   
   application  (heavily graphical applications could count as a   
   #1 candidate to fit in this category).  Clearly, in those cases   
   you want *the same look* across platforms.   
      
   > Ideally a GUI toolkit would support both styles of use, allowing the   
   > app author to choose whichever suits him the best (but defaulting to   
   > "native")...  [ ...]   
      
   Actually, developing with custom look is implicityly true of *any*   
   toolkit --- it simply has to support using a backgrond image, placing   
   images at arbitrary positions, and handling mouse events for specific   
   positions;  the developer then decides not to use any of the "standard"   
   controls (for example, do not create a toolkit-based push-button, and   
   instead, put an image of what you want a push-button to look like, and   
   handle mouse events for that image --- including replacing the image   
   with an image of the button in its "pressed" state, etc.  (now, whether   
   or not a developer wants to go to those extremes, that's a different   
   thing  :-) )   
      
   Cheers,   
      
   Carlos   
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