Do you like Windows Vista only because of its newly revamped Graphical User Interface? It surely does have an attractive interface but many are still hesitant to upgrade. Some because of it’s massive system requirements, and some because of all the negative buzz around it. Whatever your reasons are, you still can get a Vista like look even on your Win XP system. Below are some of the better free tools that can help you to make your Windows XP look like Vista. Just make sure you got a bit of spare RAM on your system.
Vista Start Menu turns XP’s Start menu into one like on Vista. Not only do you get a better look but also many new features that are normally not there. These include: resizable start menu, zoom in/out, program launcher, desktop search, power buttons, tabs, and more. Another noteworthy aspect, Vista Start Menu does not change your system settings, thus making it easy to install, as well as simple to remove.
VTP changes XP’s interface, including the Start menu, the Control Panel, system dialogs, icons, and more, to Vista style. Also includes a transparency function to mimic Vista’s Aero Glass functionality. It’s probably the most comprehensive package out of all, so be very careful with it. While I haven’t experienced any problems some folks reported difficulties in uninstalling it (see comments here). Here are some of the notable changes that will be made to your system.
[Update: Version 8 was released yesterday (Nov 28). It's seems to be better and much more stable. Read more here]
RocketDock is a portable, memory-friendly, smoothly animated, alpha blended application launcher that sits on your screen. It provides a nice clean interface to drop shortcuts on for easy access and organization. Some features that are worth looking at include: Minimize active windows to the dock, drag-n-drop interface, Dual-monitor support, Auto-hide and Popup on mouse over, and Running application indicators. Check it out in action in the video below
VistaMizer modifies about 400 of your system files, and when you reboot your system after installation you won’t remember how your old desktop looked like. It’s highly customizable and changes lots of stuff. What’s really good about is that it will keep backup of all the changes (so that you can easily revert it) and won’t replace/overwrite anything that would risk destabilizing your system.
WindowsBlinds is not a program specifically designed to Vistalize your system. It’s more a tool for applying different visual theme on your entire current Windows environment: changing overall look and feel, title bars, push buttons, start bar, start menu and more. Similar to the above RocketDock, it claims to be memory-friendly, so it shouldn’t slow down your system. Once installed, you can either apply one of the default visual themes or download one from the WindowsBlinds gallery (over 1000 themes). WindowsBlinds comes both in a free and paid version. Although the free version lacks some of the additional features it still does the job.
Share you thoughts in comments!
Filed Under: Cool Software Apps ¦ Lists of tools ¦ Windows
Tags: desktop enhancements, docks, How-To, start menu, transformation pack, Vista, windows tips, XP
Nice to see you here John. Thanks, some interesting tools you got over here. Going to check them out …
Thanks Kaly,
I will be waiting to bookmark your posts too..
I use BricoPack Vista Inspirat Ultimate 2 ( a screenshot here ) and Desktop Sidebar with BLN_Vista_III skin to achieve my Vista look.
It seems like Transformation Pack has gotten their act together and I think I’ll give them a try
Hi R3dd0g,
Thanks for adding that wonderful tool to this list..
Hi there,
I found this is another nice tech blog. I like your posts..
Cheers,
James
[...] ganzer Artikel auf makeuseof. [...]
[...] Fonte: MakeUseOf.com [...]
great post. everything people need to turn their xp to look like a vista is right here in this post.
we got plenty of other good posts, check them out at Recommended Articles
Vista Transformation Pack has gotten much better, more refined and mature (albeit a bit more bloated). I’ve been using it since it was Longhorn, and it’s come a long way. However, if you want to achieve the window border transparency, you’ll need Windowblinds.. I think maybe even the paid version to get it. Overall, good set of tools here aimed at a very specific audience - I don’t doubt a large one, either =) Many people think Vista is pretty, but that’s all it has to offer, and that includes me.
I don’t agree with the author of this Article!!!
1. TrueTransparency 0.8.5
2. WinFlip 0.42
3. QT Address Bar 0.9.5
This is how i like it better…
Are they free?
what is point?
Seems that you’re article’s already a bit out of date. ;P
Vista Transformation Pack 8.0 was just released a little while ago. Link: http://www.jcxp.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=23824
Yeah, you’re right here. I think it was released within 24 hours after we published this post.
[...] Source here… This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 at 7:12 pm and is filed under le Chat Marchet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]
And why would you want to make XP look like vista again?
So you don’t have to look at the clunky ‘Early Learning Center’ My First OS look that XP sports, or indeed the bastardized classic view.
Personally I think WindowBlinds is the way forward. I used to use VTP but it was an absolute hassle. Plus, with WB you can choose from a plethora of different themes, not just Vista =]
Just to make it look better.
P.S. Of course you need to have enough RAM as well.
Or you could quit wasting your time with windows and get a real operating system by upgrading to OSX Leopard…
[...] 5 Tools to Make Windows XP Look Like Vista [makeuseof.com] via [digg] [...]
An OS is merely platform to start the applications I actually use. While a minimum aesthetic is necessary, caring what an OS looks like is tantamount to feeling passionate about interior design in a parking garage. What an OS does is far more important than how it looks.
Agree… But if you spend half of your day in front of the screen why not to make it look like something you would enjoy looking at.
I am not sure why anyone would do such a thing!
Sorry guys but all the information here is nothing but rehashes of posts that were made back at the beginning of the year. While I give you an A for effort, I give you an F for reusing the content.
Great post, TechDune!
A lot of research there!
Besides that…you always have some of
the “best looking” posts around!
Great job!
~Linda~
Why would you want to do that? Vista looks horrible!
Great post and pictures! This is very enticing!
Vista Drive Icon can be used to replace the Windows XP drive icons to look like Vista icons, including the little bar which shows the available free space. Red more abt it here.
These are great tools..^^…I tried using WindowBlinds before..^^..and it was really nice..^^
[...] jamais vu. Je ne suis pas convaincu du titre de ce livre! Mauvaise idée de cadeau de Noel 5 outils pour transformer Windows XP en Windows Vista Les meilleures fins de jeux vidéos de tous les [...]
Zune desktop theme - excellent skin for XP:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=75078
[...] Make your Windows XP look like Vista Here we go… [...]
[...] It has been quite some time since the launch of the windows version Vista. Of course there have been many reviews about the functionalities of vista and they have been both positive and negative. Some may wantedly have not upgraded to Vista but for many of the people around it is mainly because of the cost involved or their system configuration would not support Vista. For all those peeps check out 5 tools to make XP look like Vista. [...]
[...] 5 Tools to Make Windows XP Look Like Vista [...]
[...] 5- WindowBlinds - O WindowBlinds permite modificar completamente a aparência do Windows com o uso de skins. O programa modifica os temas, papéis de parede, ícones, animações e outros itens do sistema. O WindowBlinds possui uma versão paga e outra gratuita, embora a gratuita tenha algumas limitações em sua funcionalidade. Para fazer o download dos programas clique nos seus nomes onde esta escrito em Vermelho Fonte:MakeUseOf.com [...]
[...] Windows XP’le, meeldib kindlasti uus Vista Transformation pack 8.0.1. Muide, XP saab ka teiste vahenditega lahedaks [...]
[...] 5 Tools to Make Windows XP Look Like Vista [makeuseof.com] [...]
Is there any performance issue faced after installing This particular Transformation Pack.
[...] have already covered how to make XP look like Vista or any other popular Operating System. This time, we want to focus only on Windows Start Menu and [...]
major props to RocketDock for using Run Lola Run in their example of minimizing video content.
that doesnt look like Mac OS X….*sarcasm*
http://www.everydaysale.co.uk is also very good for find voucher codes in uk
Hi!…I just installed Vista Transformation Pack 7 but don’t have the screensavers, sidebar or the transparency function to mimic Vista’s Aero Glass…what do I need to do to get these? Anyone have any ideas????? Thanx!
[...] Want to use your motion screensaver as a wallpaper? Using Animated Desktop you can emulate the functionality of Vista Ultimate DreamScene (video screensaver) both on Windows XP and Vista Home edition. If you’re planning on getting it, I highly recommend to use it together with the previously mentioned Rocketdock. [...]
I wish I could use Window Blinds, but it won’t install (sigh) and no help section on their website. Not a good start!
[...] Recomendamos antes de instalar este paquete hacerle un Back- up a tu computadora para que así tengas todos los archivos seguros y no te tengas que preocupar ya que algunos usuarios han reportado problemas, procedan con cuidado. [Makeuseof] [...]
very very informative .. thanks …
very good program
[...] read more | digg story [...]
[...] 5 Tools to Make Windows XP Look Like Vista [...]
please tell me how to use rar files
I do not like the looks of Windows Vista, unless of course you count out the Basic theme.
I find Aero to be incompleted, and it does not melt in with the rest of the interface.
I have Windows Vista, and none of the tools will make Windows act like it.
Vista is smooth, even on older systems, like my own.
Many people talk how Vista is crap and none of their programs work.
Guess why?
They are numskulls, thats why.
I am a computer programmer (Look at my site if you dont belive me).
I know over 20 programming languages, including the most basic like C#/C++.
There is no problem with Vista if you use it fr what it is meant for. Doing stuff that matters.
My computer specs are:
256MB RAM
800MHz CPU
32MB GPU
160GB HDD
And of cource, a broken motherboard.
Hi TechDune! nice post!
Thanks for this post, I had my WinXp like Vista now ^^
this is an ok guide and help to making Xp look like vista. but what if your computer isn’t compatible with VTP 7 (vista transformation pack). mine can’t but i would say all you need is VIstart , vistamizer and transbar.
VIstart = the start menu of vista
vistamizer = the looks, sounds app’s and everything of vista
Transbar = the transparency of your taskbar
Hey guys,
Do you know any program which can make your xp look like Mac OSX?Vista is way too boring for me :p
Try flyakite os x, it bulks down your computer a lot, but it doesnt look bad. It makes it look like OS X Tiger or well the fourth version i forgot witch one that is…
Vista transformation pack doesn’t work for me, does it only work for 64 bit versions of windows or pro edition of windows xp????
it is very beautyful