Over a year ago, the always-excellent Lifehacker.com had a brief article on how using a dark and low-contrast Windows theme may help reduce eye strain from prolonged computer use.
Since then, I’ve become a fan of dark Windows themes and wallpapers. My current XP install sports a desktop theme called Razor2 Final and is accompanied by a suitably subdued wallpaper of wood panelling courtesy of the Dark Wood Wallpaper Pack. It works better than it sounds:
The laptop computer in the other room, which is used far less frequently than my desktop, sports an altogether more vibrant and feline wallpaper called Kyoko:
Classy!