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Free or non-trial skins for XP?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
Does anyone know for any decent skins for XP which aren't trialware? I tired Windowblinds but that's a 30 day offer. I'm really after an Vista type theme.

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    This might do the trick for you.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hi CoolMe - that's a very informative page. I remember in 2001 that XP was marketed as a "skinnable Windows" but was dismayed to see the final product locked to the 3 bundled skins. I didn't realise that uxtheme.dll had to be changed.

    On a similar note, I used to use "Window Pictures" for Windows 95, which was similar to Window Blinds in that it allowed texturing on your toolbars.

    Also, did anyone mess around with shell replacements? Still going back to Windows 95 (year 1999), I tried something called Talisman. This gave a makeover for Windows, not only the bars but on functionality too. Without relying on Explorer, Windows was also more stable. Nowadays though, I believe that Talisman has changed from being freeware to shareware.
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    Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    I've tried some alternative shells for XP, but I couldn't find any that didn't (IMHO) suck.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I used to use WindowsBlinds for a while, but it slowed the computer down far too much (odd as i've a 2Xcore 3GHz AMD Athlon 4gb RAM), so I removed it and use Win98 style Start Menu.

    Only Mod i use now is RocketDock, which is awesome.
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    Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    Oh, what I do use on XP is a theme engine that gives it the look of GNOME's Clearlooks, and a thing that replaces system icons with GNOME system icons.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What you want to do is download a patched version of uxtheme.dll (http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=140707). This let's you use third party visual styles (ie, more than just the blue/silver that come as default). Window Blinds and similar programs tend to suck as the people making the skins are idiot children with no sense of what looks good, and as a result you end up with a computer looking like a cheap Matrix rip-off. Once you've patched the .dll, take a look at sites like customize.org and deviantart under the 'visual styles' section.

    Indrid: GNOME is horrible :razz: There's plenty of decent shell replacements out there, just be sure to avoid the shitty mainstream ones like Litestep.

    Here's my XP atm... if you want to know how to do anything here, give me a shout.

    http://i34.tinypic.com/21cse9y.jpg

    EDIT: Aaand there goes my habit of only reading the OP before replying. Sorry for the repeat of uxtheme.dll D:
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