Windows XP Themes

For years I was using Windows XP with the standard look and feel but the other day I came across some cool new themes.

While these have been tested and work fine on Windows XP including SP1 and SP2, I see that SP3 may try to replace the default themes and render updated themes, er, broken. Before you install Windows XP Service Pack 3, uninstall or patch any non- standard or third party themes.

For Microsoft themes like the digially signed ones presented here, you can remove them using Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs before you install SP3. For third party themes and themes that are not digially signed, use the patch method.

Classic

Let's review the built-in themes before we get to the really cool stuff. Below, is the "Windows Classic" theme otherwise known as the Windows 2000 look. This theme is built into Windows so you can test it out any time.

Windows Classic

Luna

OK, that's boring, the next one is the Windows XP "Luna" theme otherwise known as the Windows XP standard look. Although you need a video card with at least 64Mb of RAM to see this one correctly, most machines can handle it OK. This theme is also built into Windows so you can test it out any time.

Luna

Royale

Next up is one of the new ones you can download here and it's called the "Royale" theme and was originally intended for use with Windows XP Media Center Edition but works fine on standard versions of Windows XP. It makes the windows look more "reflective" with a glossy glass-like effect in blue.

Royale

Zune

Next up is also a new theme you can download here called the "Zune" theme and was originally distributed with the Zune portable music player and also works fine on standard versions of Windows XP. This is my personal favourite that has a similar effect to Royale but uses cooler darker colours.

Zune

Royale Noir

Quoted from Softpedia..."During Royale's development (the XP Media Center theme), the graphic artists also produced a black version of the skin, sans the overused "glass" effect. The result was an aesthetic black skin that was named Royale Noir and that even works with Office 2003. Since the skin was never released (or reached final adjustments) there are a few issues with it: some of the colors don't meet the overall "feel" (they're too purple-ish compared to the greys of the bitmaps) and the inactive titlebars are a little too dark.

"This mod grew from a finishing Royale Noir project to encompass Zune bug fixing as well. If you are a fan of Microsoft's Royale, this is the only Royale theme you will ever need. The theme now consists of 3 color schemes, Royale, Royale Noir and Royale Zune. For Royale Noir, Microsoft came 50% of the way, and I went the other 50%, a lot of work and bugfixes was done to finish the theme. For Zune, work was done to better the distasteful orange and many bugfixes implemented that Microsoft messed up."

Because this is not an official desktop theme made by Microsoft, a modified uxtheme.dll system file is needed to use this theme. Simply follow the link here to download the Uxtheme Multi-Patcher 5.0 or Universal Theme Patcher 2.1, run it and follow the instructions to guide you through the process.

Conclusion

To install the new ones, just run the file from the download links above, the theme will be active without rebooting and you can go back to your current theme or customise these ones to use your own personal background and screen savers in conjunction with them. Feel free to experiment.