Monday, September 3, 2012

20 (most) beautiful themes for Windows XP

Do you know what I hate most about Windows XP? It's look. It's painful combination of blue and green. So one of the first thing I do after every Windows install is patch the Uxtheme file so that I can apply a visual style of my choice. I hope you are not using the default theme, are you?
The following is a list of some of the choicest visual styles that can give Windows XP a total makeover. Pick any!
Note: This list contains only shell styles that can be applied directly by patching Uxtheme or through StyleXP. No Window Blinds skins here.
Also see
Another 25 beautiful Windows XP themes (A fresh new collection)
25 beautiful Windows Vista themes (For Windows Vista users)
32 gorgeous and unique Windows 7 themes
25 beautiful icon sets for Windows
21 most beautiful mouse cursors for Windows
Watercolor Arrow - This theme looks so cool with a light colored taskbar, blue menu and funny hand-drawn type icons.
Watercolor_Arrow_by_pigmonkey2
download_button

Wood Visual Styles
- Transforms everything to wood! This theme is tested in Windows XP SP2. A few people reported problems with SP3. (This theme is no longer available. Sorry.)
Wood_Visual_Styles_for_WinXP_by_SaaanDp

Kupo XP 2.0
- A very minimalistic design available in 5 colors.
Kupo_XP_2_0_by_lassekongo83
 download_button

Luder
-  Another minimalistic theme with a clean green look.
Luder_for_XP_by_lassekongo83
 download_button

Aurum VS 1.1
- A bit of Vista's Aurora look.
Aurum_VS_1_1_by_GeorgeHarrison
 download_button

Delta VS
- A silver gray theme with mild colors.
Delta_VS_by_OmART
 download_button

DUO
- A mixture of Vista and Mac.
DUO_by_GensouRay
  download_button

Ubuntu XP
- This is the closest Windows XP can get to Ubuntu! Brilliantly done.
Ubuntu_XP_by_ShamusHand
  download_button

Simplebox
- This time it's Fedora. (This theme is no longer available)
Simplebox_by_JoJoMaMa

Clearlooks Gummy
- This theme pack gives a "Gnome" look to Windows XP. Available in 14 different colors!
Clearlooks_Gummy___Colors_by_WinGNOME_XP
  download_button

Cadoo Visual Style 1.0 - A smooth whitish theme that gives a great contrast to any icon set.
Cadoo_Visual_Style_1_0_by_icube001
  download_button


animus -  A Mac like blue and white theme that works great with Mac icon set.
animus_by_chiwou
download_button

OSX Tiger V
- Give Windows the Mac look. Very nicely done.
OSX_Tiger_V_visual_style_by_dobee
download_button

Leopard X
- Another Mac theme with a slightly darker look.
Leopard_X_by_kspudw
download_button

VistaPerfection X4
- One of the best looking Vista theme for Windows XP.
VistaPerfection_X4_Msstyles_by_kayeirene
download_button

Dream LH 1.0
- Another theme with the Vista look, but darkish and black  explorer window and task panel.
Dream_LH_1_0_by_deskmundo
download_button

EX2008 Visual Style
- A darkish theme with a tinge of green. Very minimalistic.
EX2008_Visual_Style_by_alocal
download_button

SlanXP 2.0
- Another dark theme for Windows XP.
SlanXP_2_0_by_lassekongo83
download_button

GAIA
- A very simple yet elegant theme with mild colors.
GAIA_VS_by_novoo
download_button

Greenius.VS
- Another beautiful green theme. (Green seems to be the preferred color for designers)
Greenius_VS_for_GAIA_1_1_by_aMADme
download_button
P.S: This is how to install the themes:

1. Download and install Uxtheme patcher. During install a message will be displayed that important Windows file are being replaced and will ask you to insert the windows CD to fix it. Just ignore and click "continue"

2. Download the theme pack and copy the folder containing .msstyles and shellstyle.dll (this is inside another folder) to C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes\
3. After this is done, right-click on desktop and click Properties. Now click on the Appearance tab. Under Windows and Buttons you will find the list of all the themes you installed. Select one from the list and click Apply.
Sometimes, the downloaded pack contains additional utilites like Styler and Rocketdock etc to bring other changes to Windows. It's up to you whether you want to install the additional stuff. You can visit the original page of the theme author for more instruction on how to use those.


Credit

No comments:

Post a Comment