skin - technical definition

(1) A custom covering for a hardware device. For example, there are numerous coverings or replacement cases for cellphones and iPods in myriad colors and styles. Vinyl coverings for the outside of computer tower cases that depict sports, high-tech and other themes are also available.

(2) A custom look and feel of an application or graphical user interface (GUI). Media players and applications, typically in the multimedia genre, are often customizable. They either come with a selection of skins or accept skins from third parties. Windows enables developers to create an entirely different look for the window frames, scroll bars, buttons and elements on the Windows interface. See theme aware. See also skin effect.