look-and-feel

The visual impression and interaction style provided by a user interface. This is predominantly the responsibility of the window manager (in collaboration with the underlying operating system) running on a particular computer. It refers to style of such things as window title bars, how windows are moved and resized, how different operations are performed via a mouse, and so on. It is preferable to have a consistent look and feel within a single user environment. However, some window managers do allow individual programs to present a different look and feel from the predominant style of the host environment. Java's Swing components support this idea by allowing an application to select a `pluggable look and feel' from those provided by a user interface manager. An application running in a Microsoft Windows environment could be made to look like one that normally runs in an X Windows environment, for instance. This allows an application to look similar on different platforms, but it can also lead to confusion for users.