If you are like me, one reason you switched to Linux is for customization. In the past I ran Gentoo where every bleeding edge package was available to me. So I was always trying out new and cool GTK engines as they came out. But on Ubuntu, you don't get that luxury all the time. So, I will show you how to get two of the latest engines available, Murrine and Candido, on your spiffy Ubuntu machine.

What is a GTK Engine?

For a little background, a GTK engine is what drives the look and feel of the apps on your Gnome desktop. This includes what some people think of as the desktop itself - the filesystem browser, Nautilus, and the panels, gnome-panel.

And here you thought the theme was the only thing that mattered. The GTK engine is like a house, and a GTK theme is the paint on the house. You can make the house look different ways with the paint, but in the end it still is the same house underneath. And a good paint job can only do so much.

The engine can have a drastic effect on the performance, making Gnome feel snappy under some, and sluggish when using others. So, it's pretty important to the look of your desktop, even though most of us forget it is even there.

Murrine and Candido

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