Some of the programs are specialized, unlikely to be of use to general users, but most are not. So many good programs come with Mandrake Linux that you could try out five new programs a night for a year without running out of choices. Mandrake has included scores of KDE interface themes, all accessible in the control center. If you are used to the way Windows handles themes, you're in for a surprise the first time you click open the themes applet in the control center and start checking out the KDE themes. Under Windows, themes change the colors of various parts of file and folder windows, the colors or images used in the background on the desktop and the fonts used within windows.
Themes can also change the sounds associated with various actions.
KDE's themes do these things, too. But because the KDE graphical interface uses a vastly different system than the one Windows uses, KDE themes can change the way windows are shaped and crafted also. One KDE theme might show a wrought-iron effect on all borders around the windows on your screen while another might have a heavily shaded title bar with delicately cut rubies at the upper right in place of the standard buttons for closing and minimizing windows. Some of the KDE themes are wacko, with crazily shaped window borders that extend a few inches beyond each edge of a window and silver gray fonts against black backgrounds, but others are simply stunning in their architectural elegance. The fact that Windows fails so spectacularly at this goal probably keeps programmers who write Linux software from attempting the impossible.