I'm going to be honest with you. I've only played around with Windows Vista a tiny bit, but we can all agree that it's pretty. Until I can upgrade to a new PC, I'll have to settle with the eye-candy of unofficial, third-party, Windows Vista themes for XP.

All of these Vista themes are free, and can be loaded onto your system once you have installed the Ux Theme Multi-Patcher. Please note that if you have upgraded XP to Service Pack 3, you must use the Patcher program linked here instead.

Installation instructions are included in each theme's archive file. ZIP archives can be opened by Windows directly, RAR archives can be opened by 7-Zip which is also free. I've looked at lots of themes, and I'm sure that these are the best of the best.

Vista Live Pack

I'm a fan of blue themes, and the Vista Live Pack fits in well alongside any Windows Live software. It's bright without being childish, and comes with a simple but elegant gradient wallpaper.

Razor Vista

I like blue, but I love dark themes. They're hard to pull off well, but the latest version of Razor Vista looks very slick. I like how the corner buttons are just slightly separated.

Vista Inspirat 2 [No Longer Available]

From the glossy black finish on the compact Taskbar, to the Explorer "Tasks" panel which has been turned horizontal, to the multiple Start Menu options, to the crystal-white glass finish on the windows, I am in love with this theme. It's the best and most Vista-like I've seen yet.

If I've missed any gems, please let us know in the comments.