Windows Xp Themes

 Windows XP is a great operating system. Not only it has got great features but also has nice UI. There's lots of Customization option in Xp like boot Screen, Welcome Screen, Themes, Icons, Cursors, Screensavers, Docks, Start Menu, Mouse Click Effects, Virtual Desktops, System Snapshot Sidebars etc. Everything can't be discussed in a single article as it would make it very lengthy. In this article I am discussing about themes. I am discussing about different Programs to give Xp a fresh new look. There's some great software out there which give your XP a completely new look.

The themes in Xp are located in %windir%\Resources\Themes folder in .msstyles format which is the official theming format for Xp. Windows Xp comes with Luna Theme with three Color Schemes – Blue (Default), Silver & olive.

Soon you will get bored with official themes bundled with XP. You have got different options to theme Xp.

Option 1 – Visit http://downloads.microsoft.com and search for themes. Microsoft has created few beautiful themes – Royale, Royale Media Center Edition Theme, and Microsoft Zune Theme. Each of these have accompanying wallpaper to match the color of taskbar and windows. Microsoft may require to validate online your Windows License before downloading these themes. You may also download these themes from http://www.softpedia.com if you don't want the hassle of validating windows. You may have to unzip the themes manually in %windir%\Resources\Themes\(Your Theme Subfolder)\ folder if the theme didn't came with installer.

Royale Theme-

Zune Theme-

 

Option 2- You can buy Software which comes with packaged themes like Windows blinds or freeware software like Bricopacks. Some of the Popular Softwares are –

• Windows Blinds 6 (Commercial) – This is one of the best theming software available. It is designed to work on Xp and Vista. It has a different theming format of its own apart from .msstyle format. It has some cool features like - New start menu animation support, Per-application visual styles, Animation supported on title bars, buttons, and many other elements, Ability to skin the sidebar (Vista), including IE navigation arrows, IE tabs, start menu shutdown/lock buttons, Tons of configuration options for users etc. More detailed feature list here. You don't have to manually extract the themes in the windows directory, it has an interface for applying the themes. Windows Blinds is used by some major IT companies like Microsoft, ATI, nVidia, Alienware etc to create their own branded UI for windows.
  

  Screenshot of Windows Blind Theme-
  
  

  
   

   
  

• Style Xp (Commercial) -Windows Xp doesn't applies the 3^rd party visual Styles (.msstyle files) because they are not digitally signed by Microsoft. Style XP works by patching the Xp system file called uxtheme.dll which is responsible for checking & blocking the unsigned .msstyle themes. Style XP is not a skinning engine. It uses Microsoft's built-in visual style engine, but enhances it by providing many useful tools. Style XP Features- It can import, select, rotate, and manage themes, visual styles, wallpapers, logons, boot screens, icons, and explorer bar, like the original Microsoft Blue, Olive Green, and Silver Visual Styles, Style Builder & Style XP skins support three font sizes Normal, Large, and Extra Large.
  

  Screenshot-
  
  

  
  
   
• Tune Up Styler 2 (Commercial) – This utility comes as a part of Tune Up utilities Suite – A complete System Cleaning, Repairing, Accelerating, and Customizing Suite. It doesn't have a huge community of theme designers but it's a good deal as it comes with a suite of system utilities and doesn't need to be purchased separately. Apart from changing Xp themes it can also change Logon Screens (Xp Welcome Screen), Boot Screen (Xp Loading Screen). It can even change System Icons. Once installed you can download Visual Styles, Boot Screens, Logon Screens, and Icon Packages from vendor's site. It has a nice & growing collection of Visual Styles, Boot Screens, and Logons & Icon Packs.
  

  Tuneup Styler2 Screenshot-
  
  

   
  

• BricoPacks (Freeware) - Offered by Crystalxp.net Community, Bricopacks are complete PC Transformation packs. It completely transforms the UI- Visual Style (Theme with multiple variations), Wallpaper, Change the Color of Folders, Docks, Logon Screen, Some Common Windows, and Cursors. Bricopacks typically are a bunch of softwares packed and scripted in as ingle Pack so that they apply the transformation without any input from user. Each software component changes separate UI Elements. It consists of Components/Softwares like – Rocket Dock (Dock Program), iColorFolder, UberIcon etc The Installation is very flexible it allows you to choose what degree of customization you want. Installation is also a breeze, it allows you to turn off or disable the components. Make sure you have uninstalled any previous packs before installing a new one. Some of the most popular packs are – Vista Inspirat 2 (Make your XP UI feel like Vista UI), Crystal Clear, Longhorn Inspirat.
  
  Screenshot-
  
  

  
  

• Alienware Theme Manager (Freeware)- This isn't unique theme software but it is designed by Stardock- the makers of Windows Blind and Skin Factory- Interface design company for Alineware. It currently has 4 different themes – Xenomorph, Invader, ALXMorph & Darkstar. Each theme has its own unique Wallpaper, icons, Media Player Skins and obviously the Appearance. Get one for your PC here
  

Xenomorph Theme-

Option 3-

User Made Visual Stlyes (.msstlyes) – You also have a choice to download user made Visual Styles (Themes). These are created by some talented Users, UI designers who share there work freely (some are paid too) on Xp Customization Sites/Communities. You are Welcome too to join their Community to design and share your own or just download. But first you have to prepare your xp for applying these beauties as said earlier Xp can only apply signed .msstlyle themes so you have to patch a system file called uxtheme.dll which enable you to apply these visual styles. Don't worry there's readymade softwares available on net to do that for you in a single click. One of them is Uxtheme Multi-patcher 5.5 it supports both Windows XP /SP1/SP2 and Windows 2003 All you have to do is to visit the site register yourself if required and download the Visual Style of your choice they have tons of it. Usually it comes as a Zip File and you have to manually extract it to the themes directory (%windir%\Resources\Themes) and apply it from Control Panel >Display Settings > Themes. If you want a lot of themes for free than this is the best option as Bricopacks, Microsoft themes, Alienware themes are all have limited no of themes.

So here are the links to get both commercial/free themes, Wallpapers, Icons, Cursor Sets, Logon Screens, Boot Screens, Docket Icons, Screensavers, Media Player Skins etc–

• http://www.skinbase.org
  
• http://www.wincustomize.com/ Has got all the Stuff well categorized check out its wiki too http://wiki.wincustomize.com/wiki/Main_Page. Apart from above it has got Screensavers, Popular Media Player Skins, Sound Schemes, Object Docks etc.
  
• http://www.crystalxp.net/ - Home of Bricopacks, Icon Packs, Visual Styles, Docket icons etc
  
• http://customize.org/ -
  
• http://www.guichamps.com/ - Site for Theme Design Competition
  
• http://skinz.org/ - Has got Skins for Browsers, Skins of Nearly all Media Players, Wallpapers, Utilities, Mobile Wallpapers etc.
  
• http://www.themexp.org/- Xp Visual Styles obviously, Cursor Sets
• http://www.deviantart.com
• http://www.belchfire.net/
• http://getskinned.org/
• http://www.softpedia.com/ - You can download all Microsoft Made themes (Royale, Zune, Royale Noir etc) here
• Download Directly- Uxtheme Multi-patcher 5.5
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Happy Theming !