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Customizing the Appearance of the Windows Interface

Already you may know about how to customize little parts of the operating system starting with the boot screen, logon screen, which led to customizing the Start panel/menu, how to customize the taskbar and the desktop.

Now, let us see how to customize the appearance of windows interface by changing theme or visual style.

Working with Themes

Themes have been a part of Windows for a very long time. Ever since Windows 95 was released, themes made it possible to save the configuration of the fonts, colors, visual style, wallpaper, mouse cursors, and even the sounds that are used. Throughout the years, not a lot has changed in the theme world. Originally, you had to have Microsoft Plus to use themes, but now, the ability to use themes is included in all of the latest Microsoft operating systems. Additionally, when themes were first developed, they did not keep track of visual styles, just because they didn’t exist. Now, the theme format has expanded to allow for the new Windows feature.

Why are themes still important to talk about even though they have been around so long? Because they provide a unique way to save all of your computer’s visual settings as well as audio settings so that you can easily change all of them at once. You don’t have to customize each of the different elements of the windows such as the font and colors every time you use them. Themes make your life easier. These next few sections are going to show you how you can use themes and make your own so that you too can benefit from the convenience they offer.

Changing the current theme

When you install Windows XP, Microsoft includes two themes: Windows XP and the Windows Classic theme. By changing the themes, you can turn on and off the new Windows XP look. Also, remember that you can make your own themes, which I will get to in the next section, so that you can easily switch between your own themes sets. When you do so, after you spend time customizing the look of XP, making changes to window metrics, sounds, visual style, cursors, wallpaper and so on, they can be saved to a theme file so that you will never lose your changes. Changing the themes is actually pretty simple. It is all done through the Display Properties Control Panel applet. To change themes, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the desktop and select Properties.

2. Display Properties will then load and will be displaying the Themes tab.

3. Next, just expand the drop-down box under Themes , and select the theme that you want to use.

4. When you have selected the theme, click OK to save your changes.

Once you have hit the OK button, the new theme will be applied. This process may take a few seconds while the changes are being made.

Now that you know how to change a theme, it is time to make your own.

Making your own themes

Making your own theme will allow you to easily back up your visual changes to XP so that you can distribute your settings to other computers or on the Internet. Making your own theme is actually just like changing the theme. The most difficult part of the process is customizing all of the little aspects of the visual elements that make up the user interface. The next few sections will walk you through the process of fine-tuning the user interface and will then show you how to save your changes and make your own theme file.

Modifying the window metrics and fonts

What are window metrics? Well, it is the fancy way of talking about how big everything is. There is actually a whole lot that you can adjust that will affect the size of user interface elements such as the title bar of a window and other window elements such as buttons. Almost everything on a window has a size that can be adjusted. This section will show you how to alter your visual style or classic Windows interface look by fine-tuning the different components of the window.



FIGURE 4-1: Changing the active theme.

Another possibility is to fine-tune the fonts that are used. You can change the size of the font displayed, the style, and even the actual font that is used. To get started, you will be using Display Properties again to make the changes:

1. Right-click the desktop and select Properties.

2. Click the Appearance tab and hit the Advanced button located on the bottom-right of the window.

3. The Advanced Appearance window will show up. This location is where you can change the size as well as the font for all of the different aspects of a window. You can make changes in two different ways. The first way is to use the Item drop-down box. Just expand it and select the item that you want to modify. The other way is to click the object that you want to customize on the Preview picture. This will automatically select the item from the Item drop-down box for you. Either way, select an item that you want to change. For purposes of demonstration, I suggest that you click or select Active Title Bar.

4. Once you have selected an object that you want to change, use the Size, Font, and Color settings to customize your window, as shown in Figure 4-2. The Active Title Bar is a good item to experiment with the size.

5. When you are finished changing the sizes of the window items, try changing the fonts and colors as well. If you are using the new Windows XP look, then adjusting the colors on this screen will not matter, because visual styles ignore these color settings and use their own that are built into the visual style file. However, if you are using the classic Windows XP look, then these color settings are critical to customizing the look of Windows XP because this is where the classic look gets its color information. Once you are done, click OK to save your changes.

6. You will have to click OK once more to activate your changes and close the Display Properties window.



FIGURE 4-2: Customizing the sizes and fonts of the user interface.

You can do a lot of interesting things to make your computer look unique. One thing I always like to do is decrease the size of the Active Title Bar so that it is as small as it will allow me to make it. Doing so makes the Maximize, Minimize, and Close buttons smaller too. It is a nice look that makes your windows look like they have lost some weight. Of course, you could increase the size as well and make the buttons so big you could operate your computer 10 feet away from your monitor.


Modifying the system sounds

The sound file Windows plays when you log in, log out, minimize and maximize a window are saved inside a theme file. Because I am taking you through all of the different things that a theme file will save the settings for, I will go over how to change the settings for the sounds that Windows XP uses so that you can customize this aspect of your computer as well.

Changing the event sounds is very simple. Just follow these steps to launch and configure the Sound Properties:

1. Click the Start Menu and select Run.

2. Type mmsys.cpl in the box and click OK to launch the system Sounds and Audio Devices Properties.

3. Once the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties loads, click the Sounds tab.

4. Next, to adjust the sound clip for a specific event, click the event that you want to modify, as shown in Figure 4-3, by navigating though the Program Events box.

5. Once you have an event selected, the Sounds drop-down list will become enabled and you will be able to select the sound clip that you want to use. You can select (None) from the top of the list if you do not want to use a sound for a specific program event. If you cannot find a sound that you like on the list, you can use the Browse button to pick a specific sound file on your computer to use.

6. When you are finished with your changes, just click OK to save your work.

You are now finished with customizing the sound events on your computer. The next step is to customize the cursors of the mouse so that they too will be included in your theme file.

Customizing the mouse cursors

The mouse cursors are yet another item that is saved in the Theme file. Many different pointer schemes are included with Windows XP. Although not all of them may be the nicest-looking cursors, they can really help out in some situations. Additionally, Windows XP includes special large mouse cursors so that the cursors will be easier on the eyes of some people.

To get your cursors set perfectly for your Theme file, do the following:

1. Click the Start button and select Run.

2. Type main.cpl and click OK to open up Mouse Properties.



FIGURE 4-3: Modifying the sound for the Start Windows event.

3. Next, click the Pointers tab.

4. Once you are there, you have two options to customize the cursors: You can use the drop-down Scheme box to change all of the pointers at once to different styles, by selecting a different cursor scheme from the list shown in Figure 4-4. When you select the different schemes, all of the cursors will change automatically. Alternatively, if you do not like the cursor schemes, you can individually select a cursor from the customize box list by scrolling through the list and selecting the cursor you want to change. Then, hit the Browse button to change it.

5. When you are finished customizing your cursors, just hit the OK button and you are finished.

Now you are ready to move on to customizing the visual style that the theme will be using.



FIGURE 4-4: Changing the pointer scheme.

Choosing the visual style the theme will use

Windows XP introduces the new way of skinning the Windows interface (applying a new skin/look to the interface) with files called visual styles. The visual style files are like one file with all of the different images in it that make up the way the interface looks. Windows XP only includes one visual style, which is called the Windows XP style.

Each visual style usually contains different color schemes. The Windows XP style that comes with Windows XP has three: Blue, Olive Green, and Silver. The color schemes of the Windows XP style do not change the shape of the windows, just the color, since this is what a color scheme is designed to do. Unlike the classic windows interface, changing the colors of the window elements is not as simple as selecting a new color. Instead, a visual style has to have a whole new set of graphics created and then imported into the file. Because of that, each of the different color scheme options of a visual style are actually completely separate visual styles. Because each of the color scheme options of a visual style require a whole new set of graphics, authors of visual styles on the Web often use the color scheme settings to store slightly different versions of their visual style. Not only do the different versions often have new colors, but they also have minor physical tweaks and differences.

Now that you know the basics of the visual style, it’s time to tweak the visual style settings so that when you make your Theme file in the next sections, it will be included with your sound and mouse settings:

1. Right-click the desktop and select Properties to bring up the Display Properties window.

2. When this is displayed, click the Appearance tab.

3. In the bottom half of the window, you should see the Windows and Buttons drop-down list. This will include all of the visual styles properly installed on your computer. By default, with a new Windows XP install, you will have two choices: Windows XP Style and Windows Classic Style, as shown in Figure 4-5.

4. Once you have your visual style picked out, play around with the color schemes and see which one you like best. Remember, if you have already installed some visual styles that you downloaded from the Web, changing the color scheme may reveal different variations of a visual style that can look completely different from one another.

5. The font size settings are also fun to play with, but most users have little use for them because the author of a visual style usually picked what looks best with the style of the skin. However, if you do not like the author’s choices, this is where you can customize the look to suit your taste. When you are finished customizing your visual style settings, click OK to save your changes.

Changing the wallpaper

You all know how to change wallpaper on your desktop, but I am going to show you a great little trick that you can do to change your wallpaper even faster and also one that will allow you to easily change it on multiple computers without having to go to Display Properties all the time. Just create a registry file that you can import into the registry that will overwrite your current wallpaper information. Doing so is actually very easy; just follow these steps to create your very own file:

1. Open up Notepad (located in Start Menu in the Accessories folder).

2. Type in the following code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
“Wallpaper” “C:\\windows\\MyWallpaper.bmp”
“WallpaperStyle” “1”

3. You will want to replace the C:\\windows\\... with the path and filename to the bitmap that you want to use. Note that in the path, wherever there is a \, you have to put two of them in the registry file you are creating because the registry editor requires all paths to be in that format. You can change the wallpaperstyle property that will allow you to control how the bitmap image is displayed on your computer. Setting the value equal to 0 will center the image on the screen. Setting the value to 1 will display the image as if it was tiled or repeated across the entire screen. Setting the wallpaperstyle value to 2 will stretch the image to fit the entire screen.



FIGURE 4-5: Adjusting the window style.

4. When you have the text in Notepad looking like the code in Step 2 but with your changes included, you are ready to save the file. Go to the File menu bar item and select Save As, then select Save As Type. In the File Name box, type wallpaper.reg. Keep in mind: You need to have the .reg at the end of the filename so your computer knows to import the file into your registry using the Registry Editor.

5. Once you save the file, just go to the location where you saved it, and double-click the file. A screen will come up asking you if you want to import the file into the registry; click yes. Then, you will be presented with a confirmation screen informing you if the update was successful.

You will have to log out and log back in if you want to see your changes take effect.


Saving your changes to a theme file

You have now customized all of the aspects for which the Theme file will keep track. Now you will be able to make your own theme file, one that you can use as a backup or give to other people so that they can replicate your changes. Before I go any further, I want to make it clear what exactly the theme file saves. The theme file will save the configuration of all of the different parts of Windows XP that you just modified; however, it will not save the actual files that you used. For example, if you decide to change the sounds of a program event on your computer, then you will also have to include that sound clip to anyone or any computer to which you want to apply the theme file that you made. A theme file just saves the settings, nothing else.

Making your own theme file is just as easy as changing one. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the desktop and select Properties to get to the Display Properties.

2. On the Themes tab, you will see that it now says the name of the original theme that you started along with “(modified)” attached to it. To save your new theme, just hit the Save As button located to the right of the theme drop-down box.

3. Enter in the name that you want to save the theme file as and the destination. By default, you will be pointed to your My Documents folder. That location is a good place to store your theme files so that you can easily access them later to delete or distribute them to other users.

You have now created a backup of your theme so that you can easily change back to it when you customize the user interface. Now it’s time for you to explore the world of visual styles.

Modifying the Visual Styles

Windows XP includes a new skinning engine built into the operating system, which it uses to display its own skin format, known as visual styles. Visual styles are responsible for transforming the boring old Windows classic look into the colorful and visually pleasing Windows XP look. Unfortunately, Microsoft has decided to keep the format of visual styles secret and built the skinning engine to only accept Visual styles that are digitally signed by Microsoft. This decision puts a big roadblock in the path of creating your own visual styles. On top of that, Microsoft decided that they were not going to release any more visual styles, so we are all stuck with the default Windows XP look.

This presented a problem to the Windows XP tweaking community. Everyone wanted to take advantage of the new visual styles engine that was built into Windows XP and create his or her own visual styles. When I first started to use Windows XP, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to create my own visual styles. I tried using Resource Hacker on the visual style file that came with Windows XP to replace the bitmaps inside the file. I was sure that this attempt would work, but when I tried to view the visual style in Display Properties, the rendering was very strange in the Preview window, and when I tried to apply it, the computer would revert to the classic Windows interface. After spending some time browsing the Web and reading forums, I found out that the reason why my new visual style was not working was because the file was not digitally signed by Microsoft. Apparently, even if you modify a file that was signed by Microsoft, the signature is broken because the checksum of the file changed when you replaced the bitmaps. What would be the next step? Well there were two options: either try to fake a digital signature on the theme file or just remove the digital signature requirement from the visual style engine. Faking a digital signature is very difficult, if not impossible, so removing the digital signature requirement was the only plausible choice. This was the limit of my skills. I had no clue how to remove the requirement other than opening the file up in the hex editor and starting to delete random bytes.

Thankfully, someone else figured it out. A company called TGT Soft (TGTSoft Home) released a program called Style XP, as well as a free patch that you could use. All you would have to do is run the patcher on your computer and let it go loose on your uxtheme.dll file, which is the heart of the visual style engine, and it would remove the digital signature requirement.

The development of Style XP and its runaround of the Windows XP signatures created shockwaves in the skinning community. It would now be possible to use different visual styles to take advantage of the new skinning engine. Sites such as ThemeXP.org sprung up, offering hundreds of visual styles that XP users all over the world made. Everyone was happy, except for Microsoft.

Eventually, TGT Soft found itself in a little trouble when Microsoft found out that they released a program that bypassed the requirement. Microsoft could have blown this company out of the water, but they were very generous and allowed TGT Soft to continue to develop its product and helped them write a service that ran in the background so that they would no longer have to hack the system file.

Nowadays things have changed a little bit. TGT Soft still offers its Style XP application that can be used to unsign visual styles, but it is still shareware. Thankfully, there is an application called the UXTheme Multi-Patcher, which will patch the skinning engine just like the old TGT Soft patch.

It is a little unclear what Microsoft thinks about users of Windows XP bypassing its digital signature requirement for the visual style engine, using applications such as UXTheme Multi-Patcher. Taking a look at the whole situation, they really do not have a reason to be upset because it is not like the Multi-Patcher is contributing to software piracy. Additionally, the ability to use thousands of visual styles available on the Web with the fast native visual style engine is a great reason to upgrade to Windows XP. It would make users of Windows XP happier because they would be able to customize their computers easier.

These next few sections will show you how to install and use new visual styles on your computer to completely transform the way the user interface looks.

Installing new visual styles

Currently, you can use new visual styles on XP in two different ways. Both options work around the requirement that visual style files must be signed. First, I am going to explain how to use, as well as the benefits of using, TGT Soft’s Style XP to use new visual styles. Then, I am going to show you how to use patcher XP as well as the benefits of using it. But first, I am going to show you where to download visual styles that can be used on your computer.

Downloading visual styles

Many cool sites on the Web offer thousands of visual styles to download. Unlike boot and logon screens, you do not need to worry about the version of a visual style because they are not system-critical files and their format does not change when service packs are released. This capability makes downloading them even easier, because you don’t have to worry about screwing up your computer. Check out the following list of my favorite sites from which to download visual styles. I think you will find them very helpful.

ThemeXP.org (XP Themes, Vista Themes, XP Logins, XP Boot Screens, Desktop Themes, Wallpapers, Screensavers) offers well over 1,100 visual styles for Windows XP. It is, by far, the leader in the XP visual style world.

XPTheme (XP themes & visual styles for Windows XP :: wallpapers, desktop themes and more...) offers over 300 visual styles.

NeoWin (Neowin Forums) offers a great theme forum that has a lot of quality visual styles.

deviantART (browse.deviantart.com/skins/windows/visualstyle/) is another good site for visual styles that has an easy to use navigation system that shows 24 thumbnails of visual styles at once.

TSS2000 (TSS2000.NL - XP Wallpapers - Mobile Wallpapers - XP Themes - XP Icons - XP Logonscreens) is a great site from which to get quality visual styles. Although they require you to register on their site to download a visual style, this requirement is worth it. They also have a large collection of Apple OS X-looking visual styles.



FIGURE 4-6: Changing the look of Windows XP by using the iBar 4 visual style created by Dartbra, which gives the desktop a nice gray metal look with light blue accents.

I personally like the look of the Apple OS X visual styles but do not like trying to make my PC look like a Mac. My favorite visual style is called iBar 4 set on the WinFlag color scheme, which is shown in
Figure 4-6. It is a nice blend between the OS X look and a Windows visual style. The iBar 4 visual style can be downloaded from deviantART: where ART meets application!.

Many more sites are available from which you can download visual styles, but the sites mentioned previously will give you plenty of styles, more than you are likely to ever go through or use. Once you have downloaded a few visual styles that you would like to use from the Web, you are ready to extract them and place them in the appropriate place on your hard drive. Windows stores the default Windows XP-style visual style at C:\Windows\Resources\Themes on your hard drive. This is also where you should extract all of your visual styles that you downloaded inside a folder that has the same name as the .msstyles file. If the folder is not named correctly, Windows XP may not recognize the visual style. Also, you will find that when you extract some ZIP files where there was a visual style, there may be a folder called shell. This folder contains other visual style data and should be put in the same folder as the visual style file. If you also have a .theme file included with the visual style download, you should place that in the themes folder instead of inside the visual style folder. When you have finished installing all the visual styles that you have downloaded to the themes folder, you are ready to set up your computer so that you can use the visual styles. The next two sections will show you how to install them using the two different approaches already mentioned: using the shareware Style XP and using freeware patches such as UXTheme Multi-Patcher.

Using Style XP to use non-Microsoft visual styles

Style XP, which is made by TGT Soft, was the first program that allowed Windows XP users to use non-Microsoft visual styles. Style XP and the free patch that TGT Soft also released are responsible for creating the visual style world on the Web. In this section, I am going to show you how to use this interesting app to install and use all of the thousands of visual styles available on the Web to transform the way Windows XP works.

Style XP 2.0 offers a lot of new features, such as icon packages, as well as logon and boot screen management. However, we are just going to focus on the visual style feature because that is what made this program famous. To get started, you will need to get a copy of Style XP 2.0 from TGT Soft. Visit TGTSoft Downloads to get a copy of Style XP. Once you are on their site, you will notice that they offer a couple of different download packages. Make sure that you download Style XP 2.0 full install. They offer two different versions of this install, one for men and one for women. The two versions are the exact same version of Style XP except they have different visual styles included as a convenience if you have not already downloaded other visual styles. But because you have already downloaded some visual styles, you don’t really have to worry about that.

Once you have Style XP 2.0 downloaded and installed, you are ready to get started using it. Follow these steps to get Style XP up and running:

1. Click the Start button and navigate to All Programs, then look at the top of your Start Menu when all programs are expanded by Windows Update. Expand TGT Soft to run Style XP.

2. When Style XP loads, click the Visual Styles button and Style XP will search your Theme folder for new visual styles.

3. You will see a list of all of the different visual styles on your computer in the middle of the window. A preview will be shown when you click the different visual style names.

4. Once you find the visual style that you want to use for the whole user interface, click the Apply Style to Current Theme button, as shown in Figure 4-7.

5. Your new visual style will now be applied. If you are satisfied with the new look, close Style XP and you are finished. If you’re not satisfied, go back to Step 3 and start over.



FIGURE 4-7: Using Style XP 2.0 to change the visual style.


As you can see, Style XP provides a very easy mechanism to change the current visual style that the Windows XP skinning engine is using. If you decide to download more visual styles, just install them and restart Style XP so that it can detect the new visual style. Then you will be able to change the visual style just as you have done previously.

Using UXTheme Multi-Patcher to enable use of non-Microsoft visual styles

Style XP 2.0 is not a free program. It provides an easy way to change the visual style, as well as a bunch of other features such as the ability to use visual styles without having to modify any skinning engine to accept non-Microsoft signed visual style files. With this convenience comes a price that you have to pay, if you want to use the program for more than 30 days.

If you would like a free solution to using non-Microsoft signed visual styles, then the best option is a program called the UXTheme Multi-Patcher, which will allow you to patch the visual style engine. This patch will remove the code in the engine that checks for a Microsoft signed file, which will then allow you to use any visual style that you want. Another program that will also patch the visual style engine is known as Patch XP. However, there are various versions of XP, such as Original, Service Pack 1, and Service Pack2. Each of these versions has a slightly different visual style engine, and that requires a program to be written for each specific version. I like to use the Multi-Patcher because it can patch different versions of Windows XP, unlike Patch XP, which requires a specific version for each Windows XP version.

UXTheme Multi-Patcher is developed by an XP user known as Windows X and can be downloaded at their Web site located, at Windowsx.org - Windowsx Resources and Information.. Download a copy now and perform the following steps to patch and change the visual styles on your computer without having to use Style XP:

1. Once you have downloaded the latest copy of the Multi-Patcher, double-click the Exe to start up the program.

2. When the Patcher loads, you will see the main program screen. Hit the Patch button, as shown in Figure 4-8.

3. The OS Detection screen will pop up, asking you to confirm the Windows XP version that you are running. If the information is correct, click OK to continue.

4. When the patch is complete, you will be prompted with a screen asking you if you want to restart. Click Restart, if you want to restart now, or you can always restart at a later time. However, the visual style engine needs to be reloaded in order to accept non-Microsoft visual styles.

5. Shortly after the restart screen is shown, a Windows File Protection window may show up. Windows XP has detected the change in the system file and wants to replace the system file with an unpatched version. Click the Cancel button so that Windows XP does not replace the patched file with the original file. Windows will make you confirm your decision by popping up another window; click Yes so that you keep the patched version of the file.



FIGURE 4-8: Using UXTheme Multi-Patcher to patch the visual style engine.



FIGURE 4-9: Changing the visual style.


6. Once you reboot, you will be running the patched version of the visual style engine. To change the active visual style, right-click the desktop and select Properties.

7. Then, click the Appearance tab and adjust the visual style by changing the Windows and Buttons dropdown box, as shown in Figure 4-9.

8. After you change the visual style, also consider adjusting the color scheme. Many of the visual styles that you download have different versions stored as different color schemes.

9. Once you are finished changing the visual style, just hit the OK button to save your changes and view the new visual style.

If you have problems with the UXTheme Multi-Patcher after running the patch, you can always revert to your original system file by running the Multi-Patcher again. Doing so will display an option that allows you to revert to the original visual style engine file.


Tweaking the visual styles

Now that you have finished changing the visual styles using one of the two methods that I described, you can customize the look of your computer a little more by tweaking the visual style. One thing that I always like to customize after I change the visual style is the title bar height. You can easily do so by changing the window metrics:

1. Right-click the desktop and select Properties.

2. Then, click the Advanced button on the Appearance tab.

3. Click either the active or inactive title bar of the preview image and then adjust the Size setting next to the Item drop-down box.

4. While you are changing the size, you might want to also customize the fonts. You can do so by clicking the text for which you want to change the font, and then selecting the font.

5. Click OK to save your changes.

6. Click OK once more to close Display Properties and activate the new changes.

Customizing the way a visual style looks is always refreshing. Usually when you install any system, you find a few things that you wish were just a little different.


Making your own visual styles

You now know how to install and use custom-made visual styles, but did you ever wonder how other people make visual styles? This next section will take you through the process of creating your own visual style as well as the history of how people started making them.

It all began before people could actually use the visual styles. Curious users snooping around their Windows XP files discovered that Windows XP had a skinning engine just like many other applications that had the whole look of the operating stores in a file on the hard drive in the themes folder called luna.msstyles. This file contains all of the data for the new Windows XP look. Then, just as with the boot and logon screens, people started to use resource hacking tools such as Resource Hacker to open up luna.msstyles and replace the bitmaps stored within the file with image files they made. Additionally, you could use programs like Resource Hacker to edit the settings files stored within the visual style as well to edit all of the sizes of the different Windows components. The possibilities that applications such as Resource Hacker gave users were unlimited, except for the fact that there still was no way to test and use the new user-made visual styles because they were not digitally signed by Microsoft. Eventually, that all changed, as you know from the last few sections, and users were able to use their own visual styles.

Now there are several different ways that you can make your own visual style. You can use the Resource Hacker approach and manually open up your luna.msstyles file and replace bitmaps in the file with ones you made yourself. This process can be a very long and difficult one when you are trying to design a completely different visual style. This method would really only make sense to use if you just wanted to replace one part of a visual style, such as the green Start button. If for some reason you just don’t like the green Start button, then you can open up the file in Resource Hacker and look for the bitmap on which to work. First, you will probably want to extract the bitmap from the file so that you can work on it in your favorite image editing program. Then, once you are finished, just replace the bitmap in the file with your modified version. Hit Save As, give the file a new name, and you are finished once you create a new folder for the name of the visual style.

If you want to make a completely new visual style with a new look or modify an existing one beyond changing one little component, then using a commercial editor is a must. TGT Soft, the company that brought you Style XP and the first patch for the visual style engine, has come out with an editor known as StyleBuilder. StyleBuilder is an amazing program that TGT Soft created after they found out how the visual style file was compiled. It provides the user with an easy-to-use visual front for editing the visual style files. Instead of using a resource hacker and searching for a specific bitmap to replace, you can just navigate through the menus and click the object that you want to replace within the editor. This saves a lot of time and makes it feasible to create a whole visual style from scratch.

To get started, download a copy of StyleBuilder from TGT Soft’s Web site, located at TGTSoft Downloads. Sometimes, the best way to learn something is to start by modifying a visual style. Once you download and install a copy of StyleBuilder, perform the following steps to learn how to import an existing visual style, make changes to it, and then save it for use on your computer and distribution on the Internet:

1. Start up StyleBuilder by navigating though the TGT Soft folder in the Start Menu and selecting StyleBuilder.

2. Say that you’d like to import the iBar 4 visual style that you use on your computer and want to make some changes to it. When StyleBuilder is starting up, click the File Menu-bar item and select the Import .msstyle file.

3. Next, you will have to fill in the two boxes on the import window. Specify the .msstyles file of the visual style that you want to import to modify. Then specify the folder that you want all of the settings and images to be extracted to so that StyleBuilder can edit the files.

4. When you are finished filling in the two boxes, hit the OK button to start the import process.

5. After a few seconds, the import should be done and you will be notified if the import has been successful or not. If it has, you will have the option to open up the newly created StyleBuilder files to edit the visual style. Click the Yes button so that you can edit the files.

6. StyleBuilder will now open up the imported visual style for editing. First, get familiar with the interface. Figure 4-10 is what the StyleBuilder interface looks like when you have a visual style open for editing. On the left-hand side of the screen are the buttons that you use for navigating between different parts of the visual style to edit, such as the Task Bar, User Pane, and Tracker & Progress. Also, you will see different section header buttons that indicate the current color scheme of the visual style that you are editing. In Figure 4-10, those buttons are labeled Home, Home2, Apple, Apple2, and so on.



FIGURE 4-10: Using StyleBuilder to modify a visual style from the Web.


7. Editing the different settings and images is easy with StyleBuilder. Just click the object that you want to edit with your mouse in the preview window. Alternatively, you can navigate through the setting tree to easily get to specific items settings.

8. To edit an image, just right-click it and select Edit. If you want to use a specific program, you will have to set up your graphic editors in StyleBuilder by right-clicking an image and selecting Edit With from the menu. Additionally, you can specify a different image file by clicking the Image File entry on the list and then hitting the Choose button, as shown in Figure 4-11.



FIGURE 4-11: Changing the image of an object in a visual style using StyleBuilder.


9. Once you have your images replaced, you can play around with the settings for the visual style, such as the object sizes, borders, and fonts. All of these settings can be adjusted by selecting an object from the list on the Properties tab and editing the values on the right in the textboxes.

10. As you are working on your visual style, you may want to test it to see how it looks, as the Preview window doesn’t always give you an accurate depiction of how it will look on your computer. You can do so by clicking the Apply button on the toolbar. Included is also a cool test feature that will allow you to view the current visual style applied on a window that has every possible window object that you can think of so that you can see how your visual style will look in all varieties of applications.

11. When you have finished modifying a visual style, and have created your own custom style, you are ready to compile it and, if you want, export it for distribution on the Web. Click the Actions menu bar item and select Compile. You will be asked to name your visual style; once you name it, it will be compiled and placed in your documents folder. If you would like to distribute your visual style on the Web to share with your friends or the rest of the world, click the ZIP file from the toolbar on the top and specify what you want to include and click OK. Then, you can e-mail your friends this ZIP file, which, by default, is saved in your documents folder, or you can submit it to Web sites such as themexp.org.

Making your own visual style from scratch requires a lot of graphical and artistic skills. But if you just want to tweak your favorite visual style, then you will have no problem doing so with the help of StyleBuilder.

You have now mastered the world of visual styles. You have discovered how you can make your system accept non-Microsoft visual styles so that you can take advantage of the new skinning engine built into Windows XP. And now you also know how to modify and make your own visual styles.

Visual Style Alternatives

Before visual styles were a part of Windows, only one way existed to change the way Windows looked. That was accomplished by using a program called WindowBlinds, which is made by Stardock (Stardock.com - Your Edge In Software). WindowsBlinds is a classic Windows program. Back when it first came out, it transformed the boring gray interface of Windows into an attractive and colorful experience. Now that Windows XP includes its own skinning engine, products like WindowBlinds, which have their own skinning engine, become less necessary. So why am I even mentioning this application? Because there are some things that it brings to the table that visual styles do not. Because WindowBlinds is a completely independent skinning engine from the Microsoft visual style engine, it has some features that the native engine does not have. One of these features is the ability to skin parts of the operating system that the native skinning engine cannot. The most talked about application that has this problem is the Command prompt in Windows. For some reason, Microsoft’s engine just does not apply visual styles to this window. Instead, it is displayed using the classic Windows interface. WindowBlinds will allow you to skin this app as well.

WindowBlinds has a very strong skin base. A lot of very talented people have created XP skins for WindowBlinds that just look great. One benefit of using WindowBlinds to change the way your computer looks is the set of additional features that it provides, one of which is the ability to “roll up” a window so that just its title bar is shown. This is a great feature that can be activated by just double-clicking the title bar on skins that support the feature.

Another benefit of using WindowBlinds is its ability to skin applications that were not made to be skinned. This is a nice feature, but can also result in some applications looking a little strange because their buttons and other visual elements are replaced, which often throws off the spacing and placement of controls.

The one controversial topic about WindowBlinds is its effect on system performance. Because it runs on top of your computer’s visual system and uses special system calls to change the way the computer looks, it takes up more system resources compared to the native visual style engine. Some users have a fast experience with WindowBlinds, although others do not. It really depends on your computer’s hardware. My personal experience with WindowBlinds has not indicated that they have set any record setting speeds. I have run WindowBlinds on my computer a lot and have only noticed a decrease of performance in certain situations when I have used it with slower hardware. But my experience does not mean that you too will notice a slowdown. The speed of its operation seems to depend a lot on the specific hardware configuration of your computer, such as your video card and CPU. Also, even if you do notice a slowdown, it might be worth it if you find a really cool skin for WindowBlinds. Either way, I suggest that you give WindowBlinds a shot.

Using WindowBlinds to change the way Windows XP looks

WindowBlinds 4.2 is the latest version of this skinning app that will help you change the way Windows XP looks. Follow these steps to get that version of WindowBlinds set up on your computer so that you can start experimenting with it:

1. Visit Stardock.com - Your Edge In Software or download.com.com/3001-2326-10251037.html for a direct link to download a copy of WindowBlinds. Proceed to step 2, when you have finished installing it.

2. The best way to get to WindowBlinds is by right-clicking the desktop and clicking the Appearance tab when Display Properties loads. Then, click the WindowBlinds button.

3. The WindowBlinds Advanced Configuration will load, as shown in Figure 4-12. In this window, you can change the active skin. Browse through the skins that came with WindowBlinds when you installed it by scrolling the horizontal scrollbar. Click a skin to see it in the Preview box.

4. Just like visual styles for the native skinning engine, WindowBlinds skins include slight variations of a specific skin in one file. This can be thought of as the different color schemes that you worked with earlier. Not all WindowsBlinds skins have different versions included, but those that do can be changed by selecting the version from the drop-down box, as shown in Figure 4-13.

5. Once you are satisfied with a particular skin, click the Apply This Skin Now button.

6. WindowBlinds will then load the skin and apply it to the whole user interface. If you are happy with the way it looks, close the configuration editor and you are finished. Otherwise, select a different skin and try it again.

WindowBlinds may be a good alternative to the built-in visual style engine if you like the skins better and the extra features that it adds. Stardock has a more advanced version of WindowBlinds, called WindowBlinds Enhanced, which offers even more features and control over the themes. However, that version is not freeware, so the decision as to whether or not to use it is up to you. The question really boils down to whether or not you would use the extra features that WindowBlinds Enhanced provides. If you ever decide that WindowBlinds is not for you, just go to the Control Panel and select Add Or Remove Programs. Then uninstall WindowBlinds by selecting it from the drop-down list that appears. This method provides an easy way to completely remove WindowBlinds from your computer if you decide that it is just not working out for you.



FIGURE 4-12: Using the WindowBlinds Advanced Configuration editor.



FIGURE 4-13: Selecting different subversions of a particular skin.



Installing additional Windows XP skins for WindowBlinds

One of the benefits of using WindowBlinds is how easy it is to add and use additional skins. Stardock operates an excellent Web site for thousands of WindowBlinds skins called WinCustomize, located at WinCustomize: Your home for Vista and XP themes, skins, wallpapers, dreamscenes, icons and everything you need to customize your pc.. To get started, open up your Web browser and visit WinCustomize: Your home for Vista and XP themes, skins, wallpapers, dreamscenes, icons and everything you need to customize your pc. for a list of all of the skins available.

Once you see the list of skins, to install one just hit the Download link and it should automatically start to download. When it is finished, WindowBlinds will automatically load it and will prompt you by asking if you would like to apply it. Once the skin is installed, you will be able to go back into the Advanced Configuration Editor to browse through the different versions and colors of the skin (assuming, of course, that the skin has multiple versions).