Why? Because of the Windows Personalization Gallery and the steady stream of new themes it provides.

Today I would like to look at Winter and Christmas themes. While it may be a bit early in the year, considering that we are still in the Autumn period, I still think that some readers may enjoy the overview.

The themes are limited to users of the Windows 7 operating systems. The wallpapers on the other hand can be used on other operating systems as well. Just extract the .themepack themes on your computer with a program like 7-zip. All wallpapers are located in the DesktopBackground folder.

Czech Winter theme

The beauty of the Czech winter, from the rooftops of Prague to tracks in the country snow leading to pine forests and other scenes of natural beauty.

Holiday Lights

Brighten up your desktop with sparkling images of holiday celebration and winter wonder in this free Windows 7 theme.

Snow Sports theme

Powder power: Catch air with the dramatic mountain skiing and snowboarding photos in this free Windows 7 theme.

Winter Sports theme from Samsung

Go for the gold with this high-energy, high-altitude free Windows 7 theme from Samsung, a proud sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team. Capture the excitement of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games!

Winter Theme

Serene scenes of snowy landscapes grace this seasonal free Windows 7 theme.

Arctic Theme

Enjoy the frozen beauty of the Arctic Circle and its wildlife—no frostbite necessary—in this free Windows 7 theme.

Dogs in Winter theme

The grass and foliage may have faded, but not the playful spirits of the doggies in this free theme for Windows 7. Enjoy them playing in leaves, running madly over the snow, chewing on stuff, and getting frost all over their whiskers.

Snow Angels

Snowflakes fall as delicately as angel wings in this free wintry Windows 7 theme.

The Windows Personalization Gallery is not the only place where you can get themes for free. One great location for hundreds if not thousands of themes is Deviant Art.

That in itself is problematic if you want to run the same advanced theme on all of your computers running a version of Windows. For that, you had to repeat the sometimes taxing installation procedures on all additional systems.

That’s however no longer necessary with the release of the Skin Pack Installer System for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows. Windows users who are thinking of installing the program need to pay special attention to the installation process, as it tries to make potentially unwanted system changes (new homepage, search).

The program basically provides the options to create a skin pack with a few clicks to distribute it to other Windows systems.

Skin Pack Installer System lists the various elements and options in the interface. A click on an element opens a file browser to add a custom file to the skin pack. The elements are loosely sorted into the groups dll files, exe files and theme & installer. It is for instance possible to replace shell32.dll, explorerframe.dll, explorer.exe or notepad.exe in the dll and exe files.

The theme & installer group offers options to pick a wallpaper, cursor, visual style or media.

Once you are finished replacing the original files with custom ones, you can start creating the setup file. A click on Create Setup creates an executable that can then be run on other computer systems to install the customizations on that system.

The developer has added a resource hacker, extractor, renamer and png to bmp tool to the application which may come in handy during the preparation and creation.

It might take a bit longer to create the theme pack, but it is well worth that time considering that you can install the exact same theme then on other Windows PCs with a few clicks. Plus, it is possible to offer the theme pack as a download on the Internet or a network.

Interested users can download both the 32-bit and 64-bit version from the developer’s Deviant Art page. (via)

But users do not only get themes from the official Windows 7 Personalization site, they can create and distribute themes as well if they like. Sites like Windows 7 News have a large themes repository that offers official and custom themes for download.

Still, if you go down that route, you are working with individual themes only. The Windows 7 Theme manager changes this by offering a tool to browser, download and manage themes in its interface.

The program pulls the latest theme information from the Internet whenever it is started. Themes are displayed in groups on the left side. Available for selection are for instance TV Series, Celebrities, Animals, Cars or Games.

A click on a group opens the available themes on the right side in preview mode. Each theme is listed with its name and a preview image. A click on a theme in the list downloads it to the computer where it is opened with the default program, usually the theme engine. The selected theme is directly installed in this case. There is no other option to download themes without installation at this point in time, which also means that you can only select one theme for installation which will block the application window until it is installed on the system.

All installed themes are displayed in the program interface and the default Windows personalization control panel. Themes can be deleted from the program, but it is not possible to switch between downloaded themes there directly. Users need to open the Personalization menu of Windows to do that.

Regardless of those limitations, it is fair to say that Windows 7 Theme Manager offers an alternative to Microsoft’s Personalization gallery on the Internet. Then again, the limitations mean that it is as easy to download and install themes from the Internet than it is using the software, provided that you know where to find themes for Windows 7.

Interested users can download the Windows 7 Theme Manager from the Deviant Art page of the developer. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7.

Windows 7 for instance ships with four high contrast themes, and while they take some time getting used to, they are usually the best option when it comes to working in bad lighting or visibility conditions.

The majority of users probably does not know that there is an easier way to enable and disable high contrast themes in Windows. The keyboard shortcut Shift-Alt-Print displays a prompt that can be used to enable or disable a high contrast theme in the operating system. The choices are yes and no with yes being the active key which means that is is possible to press enter to activate the theme.

It is usually easier to use the hotkey to activate and deactivate the high contrast mode in Windows, considering that all other configuration options require some form of navigation.

Themepack files on the other hand are nothing more than archives that can be unpacked with a suitable unpacker, such as 7-Zip. The Windows 7 has published a guide on How To Use Windows 7 Themes On XP And Vista PCs.

Back to the two themes. The first themepack released is a lightning theme for Windows 7, perfectly suited for the autumn season.

The theme offers 14 different lightning wallpaper images taken in various locations of the world. You find screenshots and separate downloads of all wallpapers at Microsoft Releases Lightning Theme For Windows 7. The theme with a size of 5.7 Megabytes can be downloaded from this Microsoft server.

The second theme is a Halloween theme for for that one special day in October, the the night before All Hallows Day. This theme is more advanced, as it offers not only wallpaper images, but also sounds which most official themes do not offer. The theme offers 15 wallpaper images and 12 system sounds. This raises the size of the wallpaper themepack to more than 10 Megabytes.

You can take a look at all wallpaper images of the theme over at the Halloween Theme for Windows post, or download the theme right away from Microsoft.

Microsoft is pushing out new themes for Windows 7 on a regular basis, which is an effective strategy to offer new contents for the system. These kind of themes are quickly created, but provide lots of value for that.

If you are using Windows 7, have you downloaded new themes for the operating system? Let us know in the comments.

But, changing some colors and desktop backgrounds is not really enough for them either. That’s where third party programs like Moo0 TransparentMenu come into play. The free software for Windows adds options to change the transparency and design of menus in the operating system.

themed menu

The program is controlled via its system tray icon. A right-click on the icon displays the context menu with options to change the transparency of all menus, and a new design for the menus. The transparency is changed for most menus, including Windows Explorer but also Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird or the start menu. Some programs on the other hand are not affected by the new transparency settings, including Google’s Chrome browser.

transparent menu

Probably more interesting than changing the transparency of the menus, is to change their appearance in the operating system. The software offers more than twenty different menu themes to chose from. Most users probably want to pick a design that matches their Windows theme, and the availability of different color schemes makes that possible.

The selected color scheme becomes immediately available, albeit only in Windows Explorer, and not in third party applications.

settings

Moo0 TransparentMenu needs to be running in the background, and the program offers an option to start it with the operating system. The reason for running the application are likely aesthetic, as it does not add a lot in terms of functionality.

The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. Downloads are provided at the developer website. (via Beatmasters)

Is it something that you would like to use on your system? Let us know in the comments.

Third party themes, those that change many aspects of the operating system including the system fonts, taskbar, graphics, icons and basically any other element, can only be installed after system files are patched in the operating system. These system files lock the core elements of the operating system so that no unsigned themes can be installed.

The Windows Themes Installer for Windows 7 and Windows Vista changes this. The comfortable software program can be used to install and manage third party themes in the supported operating systems.

The software program will automatically patch the system files that block third party themes from being installed during the theme installation. It comes with an option to restore the original files if the user decides to go back to one of the original themes of the operating system.

New themes can be installed by selecting them from the list of installed themes and clicking on the Apply Theme button. It is furthermore possible to select a theme file from the local computer system with additional options to load a modified explorer.exe, oobeFldr.dll, ExplorerFrame.dll and Shell32.dll. New themes sometimes provide access to these additional files as well. A click on the Install Theme button will install that theme and add it to the list of installed themes in the program.

Windows Theme Installer offers an absolutely easy and foolproof way of installing third party themes in Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Windows users can download the program from The Windows Club website. Windows 7 themes can for instance be found at Deviant Art.

Two aspects play a role. There is the new and improved theme engine in Windows 7 that makes it much easier to create and share themes. Anyone can do it as a new theme is automatically created when a user changes the wallpaper of the system. It is possible to add additional wallpapers to the theme and change the colors, sounds and other elements.

The second reason for this seems to be a change in strategy. Microsoft seems to have realized that these things make a lot of users happy. That in turn is good for Microsoft as it changes the perception of Microsoft.

The four new themes have been released at the Personalization website over at Microsoft. All themes can be downloaded from that website free of charge. Themes can be installed on the operating system with a simple double-click on the downloaded file.

The themes as you can see consist of a dog, cat, summit and Christmas theme. Check out our Windows 7 themes collection over at our Windows 7 website for more themes not only for Windows 7 but also previous Microsoft operating systems.

The only way to enable third party theme support in the Windows operating system is to patch system files. The number of files depends largely on the operating system. Windows XP users for example only need to patch one file while Windows Vista and Windows 7 users need to patch three files to be able to add custom Windows themes.

Universal Theme Patcher is the solution for all users. It can patch system files of 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and even those of Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. The program is fully portable and can be executed right after downloading and unpacking it. Users of 32-bit editions of Windows need to execute UniversalThemePatcher-x86.exe while those that run 64-bit editions need to run UniversalThemePatcher-x64.exe instead.

The Windows theme patcher will display information if files need to be patched on the computer system after selecting the interface language. A click on Yes will lead to a detailed screen that is displaying the system files that lock the custom theme selection in Windows. Information included are the file version, platform, checksum and if the file is patched. Each system file can be patched and restored individually in that menu.

The program will automatically create a backup before patching the system files. Windows Vista and Windows 7 users need to run the application as administrators to be able to patch or restore the system files. The computer system needs to be restarted for the changes to take effect. It is possible to patch silently by using the -silent argument.

It is then possible to add custom themes to the operating system. Take a look at available Windows 7 themes for various Microsoft operating systems for a start.

But even those users who rely on the Windows Start Menu won’t have that many difficulties accommodating because Start Killer, the name of the application, removes the Start button only for the time it is running in the background. It furthermore provides keyboard shortcuts to display the Windows Start Menu even while running.

Start Killer will automatically remove the Windows Start Menu button from the Windows Taskbar once it is running. It works with every taskbar orientation possible which should make users happy who run the Windows Taskbar on the left or right side of the screen.

Windows Taskbar:

Windows Taskbar with Start Killer running:

A few things need to be explained. The Windows Start Menu can be displayed with the keyboard shortcuts [Windows] or [CTRL+ESC]. That opens the Windows Start Menu at the usual position and hides it again once the user has finished the task at hand.

Start Killer adds an icon to the Windows System Tray which provides access to several settings after right-clicking it. The application can be set to load on system startup. It is furthermore possible to disable the System Tray icon in the options.

Computer memory usage of Start Killer is at the low end with about 2.5 Megabytes and barely any virtual memory.

Thousands of skins are available, ranging from Star Trek-themed ones, to OS X-themed ones and even to superhero-inspired ones! Whilst changing the appearance of Windows has little functunional benefit, it makes a computer feel less impersonal and companies can use skins to reinforce their identity.

WindowsBlinds works on all versions of Windows since 98, although only older ‘Classsic’ versions of WindowsBlinds work on 98, ME and 2000.

The software does have its disadvantages. Firstly, it takes up system resources (Stardock claims that the system it runs on must have 256MB RAM at minimum), secondly, some skins are terribly buggy and thirdly, it is not free.

The software’s most basic package costs $19.95 (about £11 or €14) but Object Desktop Ultimate, a complete solution which also includes several other tools and free upgrades for a year costs $69.95 (about £30 or €50).

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.

The uxtheme.dll patcher that I had installed on my previous system was not working anymore because Microsoft seemed to have replaced the uxtheme.dll file with a newer version which had the result that the patch failed. A quick research on the Internet brought me to Rafael’s website that offered a patched uxtheme.dll that was compatible with the English Windows XP Service Pack 3 final.

I then used the small application Replacer to replace the existing uxtheme.dll in c:\windows\system32 with the patched one. Replacer displays a command window upon execution and all that needs to be done is to drag and drop the original file and then the new file into the window. Everything else will be done by replacer.

I was able to change the theme after the next reboot.

Most of the downloads link to Javier’s page at Deviant Art where they can be downloaded. Wallpapers are usually available in different sizes. The visual styles can be downloaded in MS style or Windowblinds format. You do need a patched uxtheme.dll to use visual styles on your computer. I did explain the procedure in the article linked above. The icons are icon packs that can be simply used. They are available for Windows and Mac.

Javier explains exactly how users can apply the new visual styles, wallpapers and icons to their system. He links to various free programs that make it easier to change the icons or visual themes. Javier is also offering skins on his website for various applications like Winamp to match the visual styles for the system.

It was funny to realize that Javier actually created the Thallos visual style that I’m using on my system currently. It’s an amazing style.

Five Alienware themes are available after installation which can transform the Windows graphical user interface into futuristic looking interfaces. By default every aspect of the interface is changed which includes the background image, the system icons, color schemes, fonts and menu layout.

A click on the advanced link during setup gives the user the option to prevent elements from being installed. He could for instance opt out of installing the wallpaper image or the icon set. Usage itself is pretty straightforward. All five themes are available after installation.

A click on a theme loads a preview of it in the right pane. If you want to apply it click the apply button which will load another window with the advanced options I have mentioned earlier on. If you like Sci-Fi this could be something you definitely would want to try out. The icons and color schemes are top notch although I prefer lighter colors over dark ones used by the themes. Only the wallpapers seem to fall behind but it is not a problem to add your own custom wallpaper after applying the theme.

Update: The Alienware theme manager does not appear to be available anymore on the Alienware website. The web page redirects to the main company homepage with no apparent option to bring it back up.

The theme manager and pack is still available for download on third party websites such as Softpedia. Please note that the program may not be compatible with all versions of the Windows operating system, especially if they have been released after the last version of AlienGuise has been released.

First you download Samurize from the homepage, then you decide which additional files you want. Categories include language files, graphics and skins (like new icons, images) and scripts & plugins (headlines, weather module, system information, visual plugins and the like).

This way you build your own custom system based on the files provided. You are free to create your own scripts and plugins, add your own background images and icons and the like. Very flexible system which needs some time to understand the relations. Once you get the hang you are free to create a customized system.