There is however a second possibility. Third party software that can load themes into Windows Vista. These programs usually patch the files themselves. One of those software programs that can install Vista themes automatically is Style Selector.

Style Selector is a free 200 Kilobyte portable application that runs on 32-bit editions of Windows Vista. New Vista themes have to be moved into the Styles folder. The Vista theme has to make use of a .styles file to be recognized by the software program.

Vista themes that have been moved into the folder are automatically recognized by the application. Selecting the Vista theme in the list of available themes and clicking on the Apply button will load that theme into Windows Vista.

The Startup box can be checked to apply the Vista theme during startup so that the new theme will be available even after a reboot of the system. The same preferences allow to pick a default font and font size which will then be used as the standard font in Windows Vista.

Update: Style Selector is no longer available. The developer website returns an error and no download portal seems to carry the download.

The Windows Vista theme customization application Vista Visual Master changes that. It is a all in one solution for everyone who wants to customize the Windows Vista theme and appearance. The application can be divided into two sections. The first deals directly with the Windows Vista theme while the second takes care of system settings that relate to the visual appearance of Windows Vista.

One of the most important aspects of Windows Vista theme customization is patching the uxtheme.dll file in Windows Vista to be able to apply custom themes to the operating system. This option is available in Vista Visual Master. The same menu contains an option to change the Windows Vista theme directly to another one.

Other options that relate to the visual appearance of Windows Vista are the abilities to change Windows vista icons, logon pictures and the vista boot screen. All options are easily accessible and there is always an option to restore to defaults with should ease the minds of users who feel uncomfortable about changing system files in Windows Vista.

The second section is just the usual Windows Vista tweaker with the only difference that the available settings relate to visual effects on the system. It is for instance possible to remove icons from the computer deskop, remove shortcut arrows and to disable the changing of wallpapers in Windows Vista.

The main use of the tool is to customize the Windows Vista theme. It works flawlessly and creates backups of the most important files which come in handy if something goes wrong along the way.

The Vista Live Shell Pack for Windows XP is a collection of three shell packs for Windows XP that turn the visuals of Windows XP into a Windows Vista looking interface. The three packs distinguish themselves only by color from each other. They are available in baby blue, gray and pink (gosh) (via Techyard).

Changes to Windows XP require the patching of the file uxtheme.dll. This file refuses changes otherwise and does not allow the installation of any themes that have not been officially released by Microsoft. Vista Live Shell Pack comes with an installer that includes the uxtheme.dll patcher making it very easy to install the new themes.

The installer provides a list of files that will be installed on the system. It turns out that the pack installs and modifies lots of files on the system, especially those with icons and other graphic information in them.

Many other files get updated as well if the user chooses so. Some noteworthy ones are the boot logo, logon screen, screensaver, the installation of Windows Vista fonts, the skin and some applications (ViOrb, TaskSwitchXP and RebIC). Everything can be unchecked in the installer. The installer can create a system restore point which is important to do in case something goes wrong during installation.

The Mac OS X theme can be installed on all 32-bit editions of Windows Vista and is fully Service Pack 1 compatible. UAC has to be disabled before installation, it will fail otherwise. The user is asked during installation to check the elements that he wants to install. He can choose eight elements in total that include Screensavers, Wallpapers, the Visual Style or the Dock.

I suggest you check all of them to make sure you get the full OS X design. Minimalists will have to check at least the System Files and the Visual Style to be installed. The System Files contain the uxtheme patch which is necessary to apply the visual theme and additional new designs for the boot screen, welcome center, buttons and so on.

The Windows Vista OS X visual style comes with an uninstaller that completely removes the theme from the system again.

Windows XP users who love the Vista looks can easily change their XP theme to one that looks pretty much like Windows Vista. A software called VistaMizer does that automatically. VistaMizer replaces more than 380 files in Windows XP, mostly icons and graphics, and the result looks astonishingly well.

Below are two screenshots of how a Windows XP system looks like after using VistaMizer. Click on the image to get a bigger screenshot.

Please keep in mind that your language is not changed during the transformation which means that the above screenshots are from a German XP, an English XP would of course have English menus and such.

VistaMizer has a size of more than 22 Megabytes and can only be downloaded using Bittorrent.

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VistaMizer