So I'm running WinXP now for the sole reason that everyone keeps telling me I'll elminate alot of my computer problems by doing that. I hardly buy it, but meh, worth a shot for a bit.

So now I'm looking for themes, because I dislike looking at the stock classic shell, and the XP default BLOWS.

Basically, I'm looking for anything that's simple, clean, smallish (BULKY IS BAD.... The size of the titlebars in the Classic theme is 18ish. Something close to that is good.), but is still cool to look at. Neutral colors are best I think. White is ok, but I prefer that the whole theme not be excessively white. I just like more mute colors.

I dunno. That's a bit for you guys to work with, see what you can dredge up and we'll go from there. I've combed through some of DA by most faved, and didn't find much I liked right off. But that's also because those tumbnails are a PAIN to make out.

[url]www.google.com[/url]

I jjust use the windows classic theme on XP.

Yes. Because a list of websites that carry WinXP themes REALLY answers my question as to what's good and worth having.

Click website, read, become enlightened.

Most people call this Research.

I use styleXP. You google it.

Experiment. Don't make us your workhorses because you're too lazy.

Seriously.

I think a lot of you guys miss the point of a community. It's a mutual thing.

I have NO IDEA what mine is, so I can't help you, sorry. It's probably just what you're looking for, though! Small, simple, greyish in color...sorry, I'm not helping. I guess I miss the point of a community, too.

Get WindowBlinds, and some of the themes here. I can't name any for you though.

He's not asking us to look up information for him, he's asking us to share our experiences with Windows XP themes. Seriously.

I used WindowBlinds and StyleXP for a while, but found them to not be my liking. They had issues blending will with all applications, at least in the versions ago when I used it with whatever themes I used.

I suggest you check out Freshmeat for themes for WindowBlinds, StyleXP, the default Windows theme engine and many others.

could try this theme called Plex, its what I've run now for nearly 2 years...

This is the silver verison which you might like...




However I normally run this...



other than that just check out all the other links people have posted, its mostly going to be personal perference in the end.

personally I use styleXP, its got better with the newer versions and I don't find many programs where it clashes...well, none at the moment. Haven't tried the others mind.

Windowblinds themes that are awesome are Opulence and Vectorcell both by b0se. Although at the moment I'm running Litestep (the sexy) with a theme called non|step (which is still > you).

All are teh secks.

Oh come on people, let's just all drop it and breakdance.


...


Okay any of them free? I don't want to pay $10 bucks for it

stylexp uses the windows xp theme engine anyway, windowblinds is an extension to the engine.

you can get the uxtheme.dll patcher from neowin which hacks the windows protection against unofficial skins.

at the moment I use CodeOpusC. Sustenance is pretty good for a cartooney one. There are some reworks of luna which look good too; Blue Turquesa, Olive Verde, Silver Gris and Reluna.

[url]www.themexp.org[/url]
And then get a dll hack that allows you to use non-licenced themes. So its all free instead of wasting your money on evil programs.

http://themes.belchfire.net/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=8990
Here you can download the patcher for the uxtheme.dll file which restricts your themes to microsoft lisenced themes. It is free, so there are no evil programs that you have to pay for.

Hmm, this thread is actually semi hlepful. I'll keep it in mind .... assuming I ever get an XP in the next 2 years.

What is that exactly?

uxtheme.dll = patched now. I spent about two hours today poking around looking at sites you guys suggested and downloading themes.

I actually USED to use a good portion of the Object Desktop suite. WindowBlinds, WindowFX, ObjectDock and IconPackager being the major ones. I need to reinstall IconPackager at some point so I can sexify my icons again....

Speaking of ObjectDock..... I have a shortcut to my internet connection sitting out on the desktop... ObjectDock will let it be dropped in there like normal, but no matter how many times I click it, NOTHING will happen. It's like as soon as it gets placed there, it becomes a defunct shortcut. Any ideas why? Didn't do this under Win2k.

And I spent about 45 minutes altering the Logon Screen... Me likey now. I'd like it a bit more though if I could figure out how to change the User Name font with the program I have.... Oh, and it of course looks sexier in person... jpg compression+resized and all.

I'm VERY happy with my litestep setup. It's small, simple, and anybody that tries to use my computer is lost within a second. The great thing about litestep is that instead of just reskinning Windows's taskbar and stuff, it replaces it. If you're not up to learning a little bit since it's not user friendly, just use StyleXP or something. Otherwise, I recomend you give it a chance.

http://bb4win.sourceforge.net/bblean/

Totally.

I have Blackbox and I've played with it a bit off and on.... I dunno. I like it, but I can't ever see myself using it all the time. And the few times I played with LiteStep I hated it because it sucked more memory than Explorer did and I couldn't figure anything out easily.

I'm also not out for a radical desktop shift like some of you guys are. I'm not saying it's bad, I just don't like it. Mine end up usually being a mix of Windows and Mac influences. I have the taskbar at the top of the screen, which is a slight influence from Mac OS. My Icon setup has ALWAYS been very much Mac OS influenced, from where things are placed, to how few icons I generally have up there. I'm using a tabbed ObjectDock as a replacement for my Quicklaunch. I LOVE that thing. Awhile back I realized I was shoving literally everything I used frequently into the Quicklaunch, which was making it impossible to manage since I wanted to see most things at once. ObjectDock allowed me to split that mess up into several pieces and shove it into a corner of my screen. So that's an influence from both Windows and Mac OS. The way I work with windows (actual windows, not the system) was determined more by Windows than Mac OS, so when I work on either system I usually end up working with things in the same places.

Long story short, I like a more conventional look and feel, that's been heavily tweaked to suit personal preference. =P

Blackbox is actually a lot like Explorer, excluding the desktop and taskbar.