haha! this is hilarious, because I just did this on Monday to my Vista machine. The problem I'm finding is that if you have Vista Basic (like me), some of the themes don't work right because they seem to bank on the Aero Glass feature being installed.

jquack

I did this months ago and I'm still using the Windows Classic theme.

Never seems to be any clean minimalistic styles. They're all annoying.

KillDeer

@cavalierex:

Personally the only use I find for WindowBlinds is to enable transparent glass effect on Windows XP.

The free Uxtheme.dll for Vista already supports that, so there's really no point in paying for the rest of the features.

And other than the paid WindowBlinds themes on WinCustomize, DeviantArt's Uxtheme-based visual styles selection tends to be of higher quality.

DarkMirage

@cavalierex:

..because it's not free?

spr33

@lauriek: "Vista is even worse than I thought, you can't even pick your own colour scheme."

Actually, Vista makes it very easy to change the color scheme. The post is talking about applying completely different visual styles, not merely changing the color of the window components (titlebars, etc.).

cavalierex

Why not just use Stardock's WindowBlinds, which works perfectly on Vista and doesn't require sneaky tactics. Just choose one of the hundreds of themes available on Wincustomize.com, activate it in WindowBlinds, and voilà... Vista, skinned.

WindowBlinds is available here: [www.stardock.com]

WindowBlind themes (aka visual styles or skins) are available here: [www.wincustomize.com]

By the way, the overhead of running WindowBlinds is really low, and generally on par with just running Vista Aero. In fact, some things (power consumption and battery life) are actually better with WindowBlinds than Vista Aero.

cavalierex

'kin ell, Vista is even worse than I thought, you can't even pick your own colour scheme. MS really does think it owns your computer now! (well I guess it does to some extent if you were stupid enough to put that 'os' on it).

lauriek

I actually use this, I bought Windowblinds sometime ago and used it and then uninstalled it.

Windowblinds is really great, but the quality theme selection is really limited for Vista users because some old and great themes doesn't support the new start menu and the new themes tend to look a lot like the default Aero theme.

I actually use the Skulls Visual Style by bubito at [bubito.deviantart.com] It's really great.

f0vela

XP users who installed SP3 will need to repatch their uxtheme.dll file as well.

I use replacer, pretty simple. WindowBlinds is a resource hog!
[www.winmatrix.com]

thewillum

VistaGlazz is a quick and easy way to patch the uxtheme.dll too!

[www.codegazer.com]

Chip Kohrman

@Chip Kohrman: VistaGlazz does not work correctly for SP1.

I've heard from a number of users that have had issues with the various patching tools out there... I find it's safest to manually patch the system yourself.

The How-To Geek

Also, Windowblinds is really broken on Vista x64, i used it for a while and the borders of windows would randomly disappear, im using this UXTheme patch now and it works perfectly.

CYG

@f0vela: You're right, many of the great XP WindowBlinds themes don't run perfectly on Vista. That's because Vista has a whole bunch of extra visual elements that didn't exist when the older skins were created.

But the good news is that the number of Vista-compatible skins is growing rapidly... and an increasing number of classic XP skins are being updated for use on Vista. (Consider, for example, StealthOS, one of my favorites.) The Wincustomize library lets you look at Vista-ready themes.

Vista-ready WB themes (which also work on XP, by the way): [www.wincustomize.com]

[skins7.wincustomize.com]
[skins2.wincustomize.com]
[skins7.wincustomize.com]
[skins2.wincustomize.com]
[skins7.wincustomize.com]

Most (99%) of the themes on WinCustomize are free. The "Master Themes" (which may cost $4) are so good they will make you salivate; but whether you buy it is up to you. There are plenty of free ones available. Even WindowBlinds has a free version to use (with some limited features).

cavalierex

@lauriek: > you can't even pick your own colour scheme

Actually, you can pick from a fraction over four billion colour schemes by default. 4,294,967,296 to be exact.

TFA is about widget theming; which certainly includes color schemes, but encompasses a lot more.

SEMW

@cavalierex: I tried windowblinds for all of 30 seconds and that was all I needed. The patched UXTheme is actually a Windows component with a little tweak to not be so picky. Works like a charm.

I've been using it on XP for years, and there isn't really a performance hit above enabling themes in the first place.

CaptainRoin

Problem with Vista visual styles right now is they're like all the same >.< You'll find like 1 out of 40 that isn't some "totally transparent glass" theme with a different colored start orb. It is rather annoying. I'm still waiting for more artistic visual styles to rise such as the one pictured above.
Anyways... all we need now is a better tool for extracting, putting back, and previewing resources on the spot, that's free! Using reshacker and resedit can be rather bothersome.... in fact it has detered me from making anymore themes for now.

SDreamer

I'm pretty sure that the nextlevel theme is by vanthax.

koalasthewise

I did this patch the other day on a new laptop (first Vista machine at home), All I really want is a nice clean theme, nothing fancy. I've been using "Black Messa v2" on XP for the longest time. I love it, but can't find anything even close for Vista. Where are all the clean simple themes?

wolfkabal

I'm actually quite happy with Vista's look when turned black. I used WindowBlinds back in my XP days and I didn't find it stable at all. Maybe it depended on the individual theme, but I always felt like I was teetering on the edge of BSOD using that program.

OX4

comment on uxtheme patches windows vista to allow custom themes ha the last time i tried to change anything in vista themes i downloaded osx theme for vista and it completely messed up my computer. it doesnt uninstall and even when i set my theme to vista(like it was before) there is still osx icons and splash screens left over all around the computer. NEVER AGAIN p.s. to the lifehacker writers, i love your blog but now i need support regarding the osx for vista theme. please help

VanceScorpion

That theme you're showing in the picture ALMOST....ALMOST!!! makes me want to upgrade from XP. But that's just too much trouble for something so little.

Nikral

I apparently had corrupt files but went ahead and patched with Vistaglazz and now I'm stuck with the default theme.
I've tried system restoring, but it won't restore to any point, it goes through the process and says there is an error. Then I tried to replace the original uxtheme files but I can't place files in my Windows folder.

HELP PLEASE!

malnourish

Sorry to repeat myself, but the theme in the screenshot is definitely by Vanthax. I'd appreciate it if the citing could be edited. Thanks!

koalasthewise

WindowBlinds is the best. Patched Vista themes are severely limited, that's why all you see is 100 variations of Aero.

[www.windowblinds.net]

sscott721

I definitely recommend WindowBlinds if you want to theme on Vista. UXTheme-based themes simply aren't there yet, unfortunately.

kylenalepa

@wolfkabal: I'm using "Smooth," a very clean and simple theme. Check it out here.

cpmccarthy

xp x64 anyone knows how to start using themes like on vista?
uxthemes multi pacher dasnt look like its doing something
plz, anyone knows somethig obout it?

intralexus

hi lads i have a xp x64, anyone knows how to do themes like on vista, today i've patched my uxthemes.dll with uxthemes multi patcher but that dasnt look like its changed something still can't aplly any themes
anyone ho knows about it?pls

intralexus

I tried VistaGlazz, but it broke my theme all the way back to Classic and then a bit more. Ended up having to replace the files myself anyways.

Blue_Mage