Windows XP users have not really seen a lot of love theme-wise from Microsoft since the release of the operating system. A measly handful of official themes have been released by Microsoft and the trend seems to continue for Windows Vista users. There is not really a reason to not to supply customers with fresh themes for their operating systems. If you look on the Internet you find many resources that cater to the needs of users who want to change the default themes.
Official themes on the other hand have the advantage of being signed meaning that there is no need to tamper with the uxtheme.dll file that protects the operating system from unofficial themes. Vishal over at Ask VG discovered a new signed Windows XP theme that is also compatible with Windows Server 2003 that can be installed without changing system files.
He discovered the theme in the Windows Embedded Standard CTP Refresh distribution and provided download links to it. The theme is supplied as a self extracting executable that installs the theme in the right location in Windows. The theme can then be selected from the Themes tab in the Display Properties.
The main benefit of this theme is that it is signed. Many users will probably still prefer unsigned themes because of the choice of thousands of themes instead of the handful of signed ones. Take a look at my Windows Vista Theme Customization article for information about applying custom themes to Windows Vista or the Windows XP Theme Royal Noir which is also signed.
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Windows Vista Theme CustomizationWindows XP Zune Theme
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Ha ha ha. I just finished patching the necessary files to give me full glass on Vista.
Scratch that. They do have VistaGlazz for SP1!
I had written that Code Gazer hadn’t come up with VistaGlazz for SP1. Goes to show you how long it’s been since I last bothered to check their site.
I patched all my files manually and I didn’t have to!
Ow, noyce!
well now, that’s interesting! this actually doesn’t look too bad. most of the graphics are from Luna, but many are slightly updated – they are overall just a bit shinier, somehow more Vista-like. the color is a bit much, but this could be a fun one to mod :)