The Royale Theme is a slick black theme for Windows XP which originally leaked out of Microsoft and onto the web in 2005.

There's no way to know but it seems to have come out of the new version of Windows Media Centre that Microsoft developed for XP. The Royale theme is remarkably similar to XP's default "Luna" theme but is a much sleeker shade of black. If you are tired of the default theme then you'll surely find something that appeals in Royale. It's also a remarkably small download at 2MB so there's no need to worry that it's going to slow down your machine although it does take up slightly more RAM so if you're on a slow machine, you might want to think twice before installing it. The installation is very simple - simply download the theme and run the EXE and it will ask you automatically where you want to install it. If you choose C:\WINDOWS path the files will automatically be placed in the Resources Folder on your computer. Once it's installed, you'll still need to activate the theme by right-clicking on you desktop, selecting Properties, then Appearance and finally Windows and Buttons. Select the Media Center Style option and click apply and the screen may go black while the theme is applied.

If you're bored with XP's default theme, this is an excellent free way to spice up your desktop and Windows itself.

Download Royale Theme for Win XP in Softonic

The Crystal Clear pack integrates a visual style which will bring some freshness to your Windows. In order to answer all your desires, several versions of this style are proposed. So, you have the choice between an Aero style or a Classic one, a Tux or a Windows button, a normal taskbar and a thin taskbar.

The aim of Bricopacks is to make your desktop more beautiful, but also more practical.
So Crystal Clear Bricopack brings some additional software. For example, you will be able to change the colour of your folders so you can locate an important folder easier.

The Crystal Clear Bricopack also has a new control panel! You decide which software you activate or not, and if you want to restore your old Windows XP, uninstalling the pack will bring everything back!d

Download Crystal Clear Bricopack 1.0 in Softonic

Ever wanted to add a touch of originality to your desktop? With this wallpaper your computer will look very modern and fresh. The vivid colors and blurry effect make it look really great.

Download Abstract Wallpaper in Softonic

IcoFX is an award winning freeware icon editor. It is an all-in-one solution for icon creation, extraction and editing. It is designed to work with Windows XP and Windows Vista icons supporting transparency.

With a wealth of tools and more than 40 effects at your fingertips, there’s virtually no limit to the icons you can create. You can convert your favorite images into icons, or icons into images. With IcoFX you can extract icons from other files, including Windows Vista files. You can easily work with multiple files using the batch processing capability of IcoFX.

This is what IcoFX has to offer:

• Support for transparency (alpha channel)
• Batch processing for import, export and extract
• More than 40 effects + custom filter
• Resolutions up to 256x256
• Data types: 2, 16, 256, True Color, True Color + Alpha
• Extract icons from 32 bit exe and dll
• Import and export images
• Transparent, Brighten/Darken, Blur/Sharpen tools

Download IcoFX 1.63 in Softonic

Icon creation has evolved. Use the industry standard to create, extract, convert, manage Windows icons. It supports all existing icon formats up to Windows XP. Use drag & drop to easily compose icons from various images in seconds. Features a Photoshop transfer plug-in. Hundreds of features allow you to produce high-quality icons using a fully integrated workspace.

Download Axialis IconWorkshop 6.30 in Softonic

If you'd like to switch to Mac but haven't made up your mind yet, you can have a sneak peek at the operating system with the LeopardXP BricoPack.

LeopardXP BricoPack is a visual theme for Windows XP that completely transforms your old Microsoft OS into the brand new Apple system in just a couple of clicks. Unlike other visual themes that need certain libraries and drivers, or require you to install third-party apps on your own, LeopardXP BricoPack includes everything you need and is incredibly easy to install: click on the Next button a few times, wait for a while, restart and that's it.

LeopardXP BricoPack is obviously not like the real thing but it does quite a good job in trying to make Windows XP look like the Leopard OS. Not only does it install new skins, wallpapers and icons, but it also adds new functionalities such as a Mac OS style dock bar, a Spotlight clone (which by the way doesn't seem to work properly), a top toolbar and a similar file explorer. All of these are included in LeopardXP BricoPack as extra tools and you can choose not to install them. Also, LeopardXP works fine even in systems with low resources.

On the downside, there are still a few areas in which LeopardXP BricoPack could be improved: for example, there are some Windows icons that the theme doesn't replace and don't really fit in, like the Windows logon and switch off screens.

LeopardXP BricoPack is an attractive visual theme that completely transforms Windows XP into Mac OS Leopard. It includes everything you need and is extremely easy to install and uninstall.

Download LeopardXP Bricopack 1.0 in Softonic

Tired of boring wallpapers on your desktop? Want to try something new? Want to have an adjustable calendar highlighning holidays, birthdays and other important dates on your desktop? Want to download regularly new high-quality wallpapers from the Internet? Then Active Multiwallpaper Changer is designed just for you.

Using Active Multiwallpaper Changer you can:

• Place the flexible adjustable calendar on your desktop
• Download new high-quality wallpapers within categories
• Change wallpapers using hotkeys
• Change wallpapers within the time interval
• Choose one of six methods to set a picture as a desktop wallpaper
• Specify picture background color
• Specify picture scaling quality level
• Automatically scan your folders for new images
• Vary your wallpapers collection using the high-quality graphical filters
• Make desktop icons text transparent
• Show a frame around wallpaper
• Use most popular graphical files formats as wallpapers without enabling Active Desktop

Download Active Multiwallpaper Changer 3.8.1.117 in Softonic

When there are only a few hours left for the release of Grand Theft Auto IV the hype can't get any further. Now it's time for you to get in the mood, and the quickest way to do it is by customizing your PC with GTA IV material.

This wallpaper pack includes a selection of six GTA IV wallpapers chosen by the Softonic team among all the desktop wallpapers available on the game's official website. They include pictures of the game's main characters and locations, and also the game's cover and the GTA IV logo.

All six wallpapers are scaled to a 1600x1200 resolution so you won't have problems in making them fit your monitor. Choose the one you like most and let everybody know you're a GTA IV fan, while counting down the hours to the game's release.

A special selection of official GTA IV desktop wallpapers brought to you Softonic.

Download GTA IV Wallpaper Pack in Softonic

iTunes is not always the best option to manage your iPod's content –or at least not for everyone. Luckily there are some alternatives like Winamp iPod Plugin, which is probably one of the most original iPod managers we've found so far.

This tool is, as its name clearly states, a plugin for the Winamp player. So far so good. What it does is integrate your iPod's content into the Winamp Library, so that you can easily manage it from Winamp. You can browse through artists and songs, rate them, delete them from the iPod and, of course, synchronize content between the iPod and the PC.

Winamp iPod Plugin worked very well during our tests; in fact, the only flaw I can think of is an error message I got when trying to unplug the iPod, but that was probably due to another application using it.

If you're already a Winamp user, you're going to find Winamp iPod Plugin very useful.

Download iPod Plug-in for Winamp 3.04 in Softonic

With Screensaver Factory 3 you can create screensavers for yourself or unlimited royalty-free distribution. You can make screensavers from any combination of images, video and flash animation, adding background music and over 100 smooth picture transition effects. Screensaver Factory is very easy to use and it generates standalone screensaver file; you can also make self-installing screensaver for easy distribution.

You can make screensavers for sale using special features for shareware authors - registration keys, functionality limitations, customizable nag-screen, readme information file and license agreement. With Screensaver Factory you can start your very own screensaver business right now.

Download Screensaver Factory 4.7 Professional in Softonic

So you want to have Windows Vista, but you don't want to give up Windows XP yet and – of course - you don't want to spend a single cent on it. Believe it or not, we have the solution!

The answer to your prayers is called Vistamizer and it's a complete theme that will transform your current Windows XP system into a brand new Vista with all the 3D effects, transparencies, shiny icons and other eye candy. Don't worry, Vistamizer is just a Vista disguise for XP; the system core files and backbone will still be XP.

After trying a few Vista themes for XP, I was really glad to find Vistamizer, just because it's so easy to install! Unlike other similar tools, which demand external applications, third-party libraries and other strange elements, Vistamizer includes just about everything you need to have it up and running in no time. Installing it is a question of pressing on the "Next" button a few times, rebooting and you're done. Uninstallation is also very easy: as the program creates a restoration point, you won't have any problems to go back to the good ol' XP if you ever grow tired of Vista's style.

Vistamizer lets you select exactly which elements to install and which ones not. The list includes not only Vista graphical elements, but also some extra apps that reproduce Vista's features such as the sidebar, the toolbat tooltips or the 3D effect to switch between running applications. Note that if you want to uninstall any of these later on, you'll have to open the Control Panel and start the Vistamizer uninstalling process, as there's no visual interface from which to manage installed components.

On the downside, I noticed some icons don't show properly, for instance in the Start menu and My Documents folder. But in my opinion these are just minor flaws in a full featured theme that can transform Windows XP into Vista in a couple of clicks.

Vistamizer is one of the best Vista themes for Windows XP available today: it's very easy to install, lets you choose what elements and apps should be included and the final output is pretty much the closest you can get to Vista in Windows XP.

Download VistaMizer 2.2.10 in Softonic

Webshots Desktop 2.2 is a free photo management application that combines wallpaper and screensaver functionality with tools for managing and sharing your own personal photos. The latest version makes managing all your photos much easier right from your desktop software. Now you can drag-and-drop photos to Webshots from Windows, search your Webshots collection, and update your albums in a flash.

Webshots members can browse the world's largest photo network and use the Web's best photo search. Webshots provides consumers with a variety of ways to enjoy and share photos on computer desktops, TVs, and mobile phones. Only Webshots enables its members to share photos with family and friends through unique features such as Photo Messages TM, moblogging, online photo albums, and custom prints and gifts.

Download Webshots Desktop 3.0.0.7231 in Softonic

ml_ipod is a plugin for Winamp 2.9x/5.x which allows you to manage your iPod using the Winamp Media Library.

It features advanced media managment with an Artist-Album display, full playlist support,
intelligent syncronisation with your Winamp library and the ability to copy songs from your iPod to your hard disk.

Now you can manage your favourite musical device from your favourite music player!

Download ml_iPod 3.02 in Softonic

This popular customization program allows you to add skins, toolbars, and interfaces to fine tune your computer. While the trial version of Window Blinds offers a restricted number of skins, you can easily choose from the thousands available from wincustomize.com and Deviant Art, which load directly into WindowBlinds. The program barely takes any space in your hard drive and loads new themes or skins rather quickly. It is quick to install and very stable. Window Blinds also gives you a preview shot of what the design would look like.

The trial version is a bit limited as it does not allow you to use the in-depth SkinStudio, with which you can normally customize your skins by changing color, size, and background. If you’re feeling particularly creative, you can also create your own from scratch. Thanks to the new blurred glass effect you can make pretty original skins. We also found it quite easy to handle animations in the skins you created.

Window Blinds is great to create original skins of excellent quality for your desktop.

Download WindowBlinds 6.01 in Softonic

Magentic enables you to download free wallpapers and screensavers from the Internet and use them to easily renew your desktop's appearance. In a way, it reminds me of the popular Webshots Desktop, as it works in a very similar way.

After installing Magentic you'll be presented with a sample collection of pictures with which you can use to familiarize yourself with the program's functions, namely browsing wallpapers and screensavers, besides downloading new ones from the Magentic website and adding your own pictures to the wallpaper gallery. During these first moments of usage the program tends to behave a bit obtrusively by displaying some message windows and notice pop-ups but both can be easily disabled.

Magentic displays a clear, fresh interface divided into two main sections, one for wallpapers and one for screensavers. You can freely expand your collection with new downloads but it would have been nice to have this download feature directly built-in into the program, instead of using your web browser.

Download Magentic 1310524 in Softonic

This Bioshock wallpaper will probably be more suited to sci-fi and violent video games fans. This wallpaper shows a "Big Daddy" character protecting one of the "Little Sisters", the only characters in the game that can recover the precious substance. When you play the game you'll often have to decide between killing a "Little Sister", to recover the substance, or protecting them from Splicers, the thugs roaming the city.

This wallpaper is of great quality and perfectly demonstrates the theme and atmosphere present throughout Bioshock. Both characters and the gloomy environment make for an original image on your desktop.

Download Bioshock Wallpaper in Softonic

XPize is a GUI enhancer for Windows XP and above. It replaces most of the non-XP icons, AVIs and BMPs that Microsoft has always overlooked. The installer simply automates the process of replacing resources in critical system files, making your XP's look better. It also includes some extras and a reloader, which you can use after visiting Windows Update.

Download XPize 4.7 Beta in Softonic

Spice up your PC desktop with Visual Styler. Redesign some of the desktop icons or replace icons with one of the developer's icon packs.

You can replace about 80 system icons, including "Desktop", "My Computer" or even icons for WinZip, Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel files. The program contains a powerful Package Editor, where you can create your own icon collections and even distribute them over the Internet. You can change the icon of any file and any folder, including items in the Start menu and the Favorites

This program will awaken your inner designer with the inspiring range of Windows XP themes and welcome screens.

Download Visual Styler 3.0.10.131 in Softonic

With VistaMizer you can give a new, fresh Vista look to your XP computer. Now, with this wallpaper pack, you can add the final touch to your desktop.

The pack contains more than two dozens of images with beautiful landscape and abstract designs to illustrate your desktop background. All of them come in very generous resolutions like 1920x1440 and 1920x1200.

As the file is compressed in 7z format, you'll need an appropriate compressor to open it, such as 7-Zip.

Download VistaMizer Windows Vista Wallpaper Pack in Softonic

IconTweaker is a freeware application that allows you to customize all your Windows icons. Icons are one of main parts of the Windows interface. Customizing them can make your desktop look better and can also improve the usability, because you can make it easier to recognize items.

Using the IconTweaker theme system, designers can share their icons with other people. IconTweaker has an open XML-based theme format that can be extended using plug-ins. If you created an IconTweaker theme for your icons, you can be sure they can be used by everyone. Many themes with beautiful icons are already included and ready to use.

Download IconTweaker 1.12 in Softonic