Unofficial Windows XP Themes Created by Microsoft
Anybody who has ever tried to change the theme in Windows will already know that you have to hack the uxtheme file in order to install themes into XP that aren't digitally signed by Microsoft. If you would rather not or are unable to patch your system you might be interested in these unofficial themes created by Microsoft.
There might be other themes out there, but these are the ones I know about. Feel free to inform everybody in the comments if you know of any others.
Royale
This theme is really bright and blue… Just look at all that blue…
To install this theme you'll need to download, extract the zipfile, and then run the installer. When prompted for the location to save the files, leave it set to default.
Now you can go into your display settings and change the theme from the list.
Download Royale Theme from Softpedia
Royale Noir
This theme was supposed to be a darker version of the regular Royale theme, but it wasn't really finished before somebody from Microsoft published it, and it spread all over the web.
After downloading and extracting the zipfile, you'll need to copy the royale_noir folder into C:\Windows\Resources\Themes and then double-click on the Luna.msstyles file found in that directory and change the settings to match the above screenshot.
Download Royale Noir theme from istartedsomething.com
Zune Theme
This theme was released to celebrate the Zune launch, and you'll notice it's very similar to Royale Noir, except for the kinda ugly orange start button. Long time readers will note that we've mentioned this theme before.
Installing this theme is really simple… download and run the installer.
There are no others! At least, none signed by MS. Trust me, I've been looking for years. These are all there is and I can all but garauntee that these 3 will be it thanks to Vista. I really had wished that Microsoft would release more themes and never understood why they didn't. I was hoping this article had ones I haven't discoved but, alas…
Dozens of beatifull themes @ Tuneup Utilities.
the Royal Noir messed up my computer real bad :X
I wasn't aware of any themes made by Microsoft that were official, aside from the Energy Blue Media Center one, since it came with my computer. However, a program I like for themes can be found at AlienWare's website, named AlienGUIse. It comes with five (last I saw) themes, and it's free, even if you don't own an AlienWare.
Why not use window blinds(Stardock) more skins than a herd of cats and if you've got the patience you can make your own.
Been using it for a month or so no major problems depends on the skin.
I would use Window Blinds but it always seemed as though it cost money. AlienGUIse is actually based off of StarDock so I do know it works very well
There is another official theme called "Energy Blue" that is shipped with the Media Center and Tablet PC versions of Windows XP. I have no idea how you would get it if you have the vanilla XP version, though.
Look, you can have all the Stardock and AlienGUIse stuff you want. As far as MICROSOFT SIGNED THEMES (what this post is about), there aren't any others than the ones posted here. Stardock/Windowblinds use system resources - these, the ones posted, do not!
I just want some Microsoft signed XP themes. Does anybody know if there are any?
I tries stardock windowblinds. What a pack of bloatware, and I imagine quite a bit of spyware. Don't do it, windowblinds is not free.
[editors note: I would have deleted this comment except that it's been responded to already]
That's a theme for publicize Microsoft Zune… I've seen this theme for frist time about one year ago.
@ Tim…
You really shouldn't make comments like that without any information to back it up. I've used WindowBlinds on and off for years, they're practically (physically) my neighbors, and I've talked to them many times (as a registered user and not) via email and they're nice, genuine people. I usually use a unique email alias with companies that I'm not familiar with, and after many years with only Stardock knowing this alias I've never received any spam/junk at that address. Finally, one man's bloat is another man's feature. Yes, there's a lot of stuff to WIndowBlinds - options, config windows, but any "feature" that you don't want, you can turn off. The ONLY thing that's related that I'd personally consider "bloat" would be user-created themes. People that don't know how to optimize graphics and theme files can make it seem like the app is slow or bloated.
No - I'm not affiliated with them and not getting anything for writing this. I just don't like to see something/someone disrespected like that when the problem may just as easily be user error/ignorance.
That said, if you don't have the resources to run WindowBlinds or you're a gamer or performance computer user, you probably don't want to use up *any* resources just to make your windows look pretty.
I'll have to agree with Aaron here… Stardock is a good company that puts out quality products, not right to accuse them of spyware.
There is another unofficial microsoft signed theme. http://www.softpedia.com/get/D.....heme.shtml
Christmas theme.
@beginner2: Unfortunately that one is just a theme of wallpaper and few other things. It doesn't contain a new Window style like the ones in this article, it just uses the Luna Olive style included with XP.
I currently use Flyakite OS, which you can find by googling the name. make your PC look like a Mac. i find it to be better looking than most Windows themes.
I have all three on my laptop - Zune was the easiest to install since it is the most finalized one. Royale was not much harder but the real hard one was royale noir although it is by far the best. I got my version from http://www.istartedsomething.c.....yale-noir/ Download it and save it to an easy to access file. You can then start it up (the - luna.msstyles - folder and run it) This get you to the display proptieries screen where you can have a look at it on windows but on my laptop whenever I started it up I would have to redo this process since it reset to the classic theme.
Now if you have this problem what you have to do is open the readme file associated with the theme when you uncompressed it. This tells you to copy and paste the theme into
c:\windows\resources\themes
Now this is really technical (make it look like the other folders - this means copy and paste the luna.msstyles folder into c:\windows\resources\themes directly (rename this as luna1.theme)(since Luna is already taken up by the original royale theme it has to be called luna1 (no spaces)
Now make a new folder called Luna1 and in this put the Shell file and the oringinal Luna.msstyles folder and you should be ok.
I hope this has helped you please post follow ups i will try and reply within a couple of days
I have tried the Zune theme and I have tried the Royale Noir theme and I much prefer the Royale Noir theme. The ugly orange Start button had nothing to do with the preference but the black Start button in Royale Noir was a pleasant change. Royale Noir is very simple to install and the definition of the various windows with that theme is superior to the definition with Zune.