How-To Geek
Make Your PC Look Like Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7 offers a unique and exciting UI that displays lots of information efficiently on the screen. And with a simple Rainmeter theme, you can have the same UI and content directly on your Windows 7 desktop.
Turn your Desktop into a Windows Phone 7 lookalike
To give your Windows 7 desktop a Windows Phone 7 makeover, first you need to have the free Rainmeter application installed. If you do not have it installed, download it from the link below and run the setup. Accept the license agreement, and install it with the default settings.
By default Rainmeter will automatically run when you start your computer. If you do not want this, you can uncheck the box during the setup.
Now, download the Omnimo UI theme for Rainmeter (link below). You will need to unzip the folder first.
This theme uses the Segoe UI and the Segoe UI Light font, so Windows Vista users need to install the segoeuil.ttf font first, and XP users need to install both the segoeui.ttf and the segoeuil.ttf font first. Copy the appropriate fonts to C:\Windows\Fonts, or in Vista double-click on the font and select Install.
Now, run the Rainmeter theme setup. Double-click on the Rainstaller.exe in the Omnimo folder.
Click Express install to add the theme and skin to Rainmeter.
Click Finish, and by default Rainmeter will open with your new theme.
When the new theme opens the first time, you will be asked to read the readme, or simply go to the gallery.
When you open the gallery, you can choose from a wide variety of tiles and gadgets to place on your desktop. You can also choose a different color scheme for your tiles.
Once you’re done, click the X in the top right hand corner to close the Gallery. Welcome to your Windows Phone 7 desktop! Many of the gadgets are dynamic, and you can change the settings for most of them. The only thing missing is the transition animations that Windows Phone 7 shows when you launch an application.
To make it look even more like Windows Phone 7, you can change your background to black. This makes the desktop theme really dramatic.
And, if you want to add gadgets or change the color scheme, simply click on the + logo on the top.
Windows Phone 7 Desktop Wallpapers
If you’d prefer to simply change your background, My Microsoft Life has several very nice Windows Phone 7 wallpapers available for free. Click the link below to download these and other Microsoft-centric wallpapers.
If you can’t wait to get the new Windows phone 7, this is a great way to start experiencing the beauty of the phone UI on your desktop.
Links
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Comments (15)
Matthew digs up tasty bytes about Windows, Virtualization, and the cloud, and serves them up for all to enjoy!
- Published 04/1/10
I once saw someone on a page (don’t know if i may mention it, just to be safe, i won’t) who built a touchscreen monitor into the wall in his kitchen, with wich he was able to view mails, surf the internet, watch tv, listen to radio etc. For this, he made his own html-page. I think THIS would be perfect for a kitchen computer too!
Kaweni: That’s exactly what I’m using it on! I have a 15″ touchscreen mounted in my kitchen with an Atom based PC, and this really is perfect. Finger friendly, lightweight, and beautiful! Now if only the skinning was more in depth (like Sense for WinMo, etc). Highly recommended for touch computers with limited use.
@Joe – Awesome! That sounds like a great way to use this.
This is awesome BUT how do i keep the block aligned, while adding / moving the blocks it’s hard to align them correctly (with the same seperation between the blocks, on the same line)?
Hey Guys,
I helped creating this product and I can all teel you:
version 2 is coming up!
with many new features such as:
Structural changes
Added language support
Default languages:
English, Russian, German, French, Finnish, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch
Optimized panel snapping
Moved panel icons to the inside of the panel
Removed most of the About icons
Removed “cut-off” text (not compatible with new snapping)
Added new configuration applet, features:
Nicer UI, no Enigma branding, less buttons, autorefresh on close.
Other optimizations and enhancements
Panel changes
Added new panels:
System Tools
Adobe
Alarm clock
BinaryClock
Fruit Clock large
Flipclock
Internet shortcuts
Interfacelift
Media Center
Piano
secuNotes
Weather forecast
Weather alt
Quadcore meter
Several easteregg panels
New panels in bonuspack:
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Control Panel
Garfield minus Garfield
uTorrent
Digg
Flickr
National Geographic
Changes in panels:
Modified Slideshow panel
Removed Zune rolover
Fixes in other panels
Other changes
Added 3 more readers
Fixed Notes
Added lots of Day variations with customizable size and color
Updated gallery
Updated Intro window with instructions
@Giblet – sounds exciting, and thanks for your great work already :)
I followed your steps TO THE LETTER and nothing. I have installed the fonts, copied the files to their correct locations and i have nothing to show for it. please help.
vista HP, 32bit sp2.
it’s also looking in the D drive for the skin. How can i change this to C?
I’ve been wanting something like this for years. Thank you so much. :)
if I want to change it back to normal windows computer, do I just right click on the desktop and change the them like normal?
Version 3 is out now, with a marketplace and other stuff
#topicrevival
#typelikeitstwitter
Rainmeter is – to a large extent – a really good way to customise the desktop but the creator/s seem to be lacking the knowledge required in presenting simple IMPORTANT information to newbie users of the product who have no prior knowledge of HTML or using Rainmeter whatsoever. For instance, one poor soul (not me I might add) has changed his background to ‘click-thru’ as recommended by the omnimo panel setup, and has now come stuck because he doesn’t know how to change it back. Why? Cause it’s click-thru you CAN’T click on it and get a sub-context menu.
I’m wondering if he found the solution to that.
Nice prog, I d/l-ed a less functions freeware prog ‘Right Click Enhancer’ and got rid of unwanted left-overs/links 2 parts of my computer I no longer use/need, basic GUI, had a ‘God-mode’ (too much tweak 4 me!) and cleaned up my R-click mouse shell menu fine, small footprint, malware clean.
I d/l-ed & stored Rainmeter for a cyber-bad-hair-day just in case my mouse escapes!
Cheers,
R D
how to add google chrome shortcut ?????
@Aldi
Add an internet explorer icon, and keep licking the little arrow that appears when you highlight it to cycle through different browsers.
Or, rightclick on the internet explorer icon, highlight variants, and choose google chrome.