After an open testing period with two versions of Windows 7 – beta and RC – available for download, Microsoft has at last released the final version of their highly-anticipated new operating system: Windows 7.

Behind this odd name (believe it or not, this is actually the seventh version of Windows), Microsoft's new OS includes a bunch of new features that try to make the computer easier and more enjoyable to use. Honestly, after the Vista fiasco this wasn't a hard task to do, and I have to admit that Windows 7 has left a very good taste in my mouth.

Microsoft has made the migration to the new OS as easy as possible. With Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor you can check if your computer is compatible with Windows 7, and if you're upgrading from Windows XP, you can use Windows 7 Easy Tranfer to copy documents, files, user accounts and settings to your new system. After a surprisingly quick installation process, Windows 7 launches in a very Vista-like environment. Similar desktop backgrounds, an almost identical Start menu, similar window theme as well... It even keeps the Aero effects and the popular Vista gadgets, though this time they're not limited to the sidebar. The whole system works very smoothly, without hogging system resources.

Besides these obvious Vista comparisons, Windows 7 also includes all the new features announced by Microsoft over the last few months: fully revamped versions of Wordpad and Paint that have turned them into really powerful apps now; a new toolbar with enhanced functionality (icons now launch programs and also let you switch among them); the so called Jump List that improve access to recently used documents and apps: the all-new Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 12; and a generally enhanced user interface that makes Windows easier to use (no more UAC messages, hooray!).

Obviously you can't decide whether you like a new operating system just after a few hours of usage. But like I said, this new Windows 7 is really promising and it's really worth a try, especially if your XP needs a complete overhaul or you're simply too tired of Vista's little annoyances.

Windows 7 is the latest version of Microsoft's popular operating system. Though not exactly revolutionary in terms of design, it does include some nice new features and enhancements that will make your system faster, more stable and easier to use. It is definitely the true heir to Windows XP, and the long awaited-for replacement for Vista.

Click here to read more articles about Windows 7 on our blog.

Download Windows 7 in Softonic

If there's something positive about Vista, that's its visual appearance. The Aero style, packed with jaw-dropping 3D effects and transparent windows, makes an eye-catching operating system. And now you can add that style to Firefox too!

Simply install this theme and select it from the Tools - Add-ons menu, and you'll tweak the browser's interface so that it perfectly matches the Vista design. In fact, the skin uses IE7 buttons, which I must admit suits Firefox well. However, I didn't like having all those extra Favorite buttons on the tab bar and not being able to remove them.

Needless to say, you can use this theme even if you don't have Vista, but it doesn't look quite as nice.

Download Vista-aero Theme 3.0.0.61 in Softonic

One of the most eye-catching elements in Vista's design is the Aero interface, which makes your windows transparent and applies a glass-like effect. Now with VistaGlazz you can make it even more attractive.

VistaGlazz is a simple app that patches certain files in the Windows system to allow you to tweak the Aero style and also use third-party themes that otherwise wouldn't work on Windows Vista.

The tweaks that VistaGlazz will enable you to do are using Aero in maximized windows and also in the toolbar, which is only transparent when you go to the Windows desktop.

VistaGlazz is dead simple to use: run the program, select the appropriate patch you want to apply and restart the system. That's all!

Want to tweak the Aero interface in Vista and use third-party themes? VistaGlazz is the app you need.

Download VistaGlazz 1.2 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 3.3.0.0 in Softonic

Even if you don't have Vista, the Inspirat Bricopack will make your PC look like it’s been fitted with Microsoft’s latest Operating System. Not limiting itself to one visual style, Universal Vista Inspirat is a bulky (483 MB) yet complete theme pack made up of wallpapers, icons and appearances that will give your PC a complete makeover.

We were impressed by this Vista theme pack. Not only do you get the sleek dark menu bar characteristic of Vista, but the theme also sets up a Mac-like dock where you can nest icons of your favourite applications. They even magnify when you roll over them. With the Ubericon feature you can get that magnifying touch for every item you double click. Y’s Shadow is another feature that separates Universal Vista Inspirat from other simple Vista Themes. This feature gives a cool drop shadow to your windows, which you can easily increase or decrease and even apply to your taskbar.

Universal Vista Inspirat ingeniously improves the feel of your XP menu yet we felt a little more skeptical about the cosmetic changes it applies to other Microsoft applications. Word and Outlook are given a fresher, whiter look, but we were unimpressed by how Windows Media Player appeared, with a dubious purplish hue replacing the default sleek dark feel.

Universal Vista Inspirat is an impressive theme pack filled with original features that definitely separates it from typical Vista themes. Despite a slightly lengthy installation process and bulky file size, this theme is probably the closest you’ll get to Vista without dishing out $200.

Download Universal Vista Inspirat BricoPack 2.1 in Softonic

For many people, the only reason worth upgrading to Vista if for the look since the functionality and basic framework really don't differ that much from XP.

If you think the same way, then you'll be more than happy with Vista Transformation Pack. Once installed, the program makes superficial changes to XP that give it the Vista look. The main changes are that it "Vistarises" your start-up screen, cursors, sounds, screen-savers, tool bars, clock, etc. The transparent effect in Vista is hard to emulate on XP machines but by combining with Windows Blinds, Vista Transformation Pack does a surprisingly impressive job. Be warned however that some users have complained the program changes driver DLLs in XP which make it difficult to remove, or at least, it leaves problems behind when you do so.

To be fair to them, the developers advise you to view their user discussion board before installing to be warned of any potential problems as they readily admit that they are not aware of all the bugs it may cause. Note that if you're simply updating Vista Transformation Pack, there's no need to uninstall the original - just install the patch. They've also added a user selection feature whereby if you log onto your PC as a different user, you can select whether you want to transform your XP desktop to Vista.

This is probably one of the best transformation packs out there although be warned that it's likely that you'll suffer conflicts with programs from time to time, and may have problems with XP when it's uninstalled.

Download Vista Transformation Pack 9.01 in Softonic

Luna Element 5 is a Windows XP visual style based on the default theme Luna. The developer has modified it to add a few other touches of class but the basic outline is the Luna theme.

The combination is a little bit from the old Windows Vista GUI with a few additions from the new one. It's a nice combination of old and new and can be activated simply by selecting Display Properties, Appearance, Windows and Buttons.

There are four general visual styles to choose from namely, Blue, Blue Compact, Black and Black Compact. The compact options have been designed to optimize your desktop space. The disappointing thing is the resolution however - 800×600 pixels will definitely under use some of the capabilities of most modern monitors although it still doesn't look too bad.

If you're one of the many that don't like Vista but want a more elegant look for XP, then Luna Element could be your best bet.

Download Luna Element 5.0.5 in Softonic

Creating the look of Vista on XP has become something of a cottage industry, mainly because most people know that Vista IS XP just with a few fancy skins on.

VistaXP v2 VS is an excellent Vista skin for XP which gives you all the benefits of the Vista look, without paying hundreds of dollars for the upgrade. The package is inspired by the original Windows Vista look (Codename Longhorn) and the package contains two Visual Styles - Black and Silver. The Start menu (which incidentally I hate in Vista) is very realistic and manages to compact all your programs into a shorter Star menu bar than you usually get with XP. There are only 3 different fonts to choose from which surely could have been increased although fonts are not the most important thing when it comes to the look and feel of your operating system. However, it does feature the original Segoe UI font although the wallpaper is limited to the now rather dated Vista Beta 1 wallpaper. It's a shame the developer chose not to include any widgets in this pack as that would really have made it much more realistic but combined with another Vista skin pack, this could make a really impressive Vista look.

A very good Vista skin for XP although it lacks realism in some aspects but for free, you can't complain.

Download VistaXP v2 VS in Softonic

Aero Fox is a theme for your Firefox browser which I am sure many of you will like. It adds a black, glossy style to your favourite browser, but apart from the main navigation bar and icons, it doesn’t change the way menus look.

This theme will probably look great with a Vista PC given the colours’ resemblance, but in computers with Windows XP installed, the blue bar at the bottom and at the top will not match at all.

What I also found strange is that when moving the cursor over an icon, instead of becoming brighter, as if you where ‘activating’ it, it becomes very dark, as if in some way you were switching it off – a counter-intuitive behaviour. Furthermore, if you have many bookmarks saved in your toolbar, you will have trouble finding the arrow which brings you to the links that don’t fit in the bar. That said, many users like it and it has become one of the most downloaded themes, so why not give it a try?

Aero Fox brings a black shiny look to your Firefox, and fits perfectly with Vista PC, but not necessarily with Windows XP’s bright blue style.

Download Aero Fox 1.0.5 in Softonic

Anyway you can cut down on launching programs is valuable time saved during your working day.

XStart is one of the simplest program launchers you'll ever use that at the same time speeds up your launch time without being fussy to setup. XStart is a solid alternative to Windows Start Menu although due to improvements in Vista, it's probably more useful to XP users. The program provides a convenient access point to reach all of your favourite programs, shortcuts, folders, documents and websites. You can create custom groups which means you can create groups of programs that you use according to type e.g. work, social, media etc. There are a limited but attractive number of themes to choose from and you'll notice a distinct decrease in the amount of time it takes you to open and close programs. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that programs will always start quickly - if you've got too many temporary files or you haven't defragged your drive, you won't notice much difference.

If you're looking for an easy way to increase your productivity and program startup times, then XStart is limited but easy option.

Download XStart 2.4.1 in Softonic

If you’ve had enough bad experiences upgrading your Microsoft products, you’re too poor to upgrade to Vista or you just refuse on principle, you can always customise Windows XP to make it look like Vista. The Windows Vista customisation pack gives you all the flashy features of Vista without having to shell-out a few hundred dollars for the original. It’s certainly proved a hit with Softonic users so far who have made this pack one of the site’s most popular downloads.

The pack includes a booty of Vista features including transparency of the windows, 3D Vista style icons, mouse cursors, boot screen, login screen, and a whole host of Vista themes to name a few. After installing the pack, you’ll be asked to restart, when you’ll find that your system has been through an impressive transformation although the fact that Windows Vista isn’t actually that radically different from XP, shouldn’t be held against this pack.

Amongst the major differences you will notice are some jazzy changes to your systems icons, skins and toolbars as well as new enhancements to your desktop such as a dock bar or if you prefer, a totally different system tray clock. Transfer file progress dialogs are transformed with swanky new 3D graphics and the sounds scheme has been beefed up to blow you out of your chair. Microsoft certainly spent lots of time designing these features. It was recently reported that they spent a year and a half just coming up with the start-up music alone.

Other changes include Windows Media Player which also receives a facelift although nothing worth getting excited about. The colours have been changed to a metallic-blue and the drop down menus have been replaced by an invisible menu which pops up when the mouse is waved over it. However, this feature actually becomes increasingly annoying with regular use and is best deactivated.

Whilst initially impressive, after a while these changes can cause problems. Users have reported that the new schemes not only slows down their PC’s but also cause it to crash randomly. It can also be a pain whenever there’s a problem with your PC. Since you are running a somewhat modified version of XP, normal troubleshooting guides may not work. You’ll subsequently have to uninstall the pack to make sure that it isn’t causing the problem. Fortunately however, the pack comes with an uninstaller that makes reverting back to XP simple although in time honoured Windows style, you’ll have to restart the computer.

For anyone who doesn’t add or remove programs regularly, we’d recommend this pack as it does an impressive job at emulating the $200+ Vista look. However, for those that make regular changes to their PC, the pack can end up being more hassle than its worth as the changes made can conflict with interfaces of other programs.

Download Vista Customization Pack 3.6 in Softonic

If you're not content with Windows Vista standard appearance and want to customize it in detail, this program is for you.

Vista Visual Master lets you do loads of changes to Microsoft's new operating system, mainly referring to its visual appearance and graphic design. Tweaks are organized in different categories to make them easier to find and apply. You'll find tools to customize desktop and system icons, change logon screen and boot picture and personalize the OEM information (that is, the PC owner's name) among others. There's also a special tool to patch Windows theme DLL file, in order to be able to use third-party visual themes. The program includes a restoration function as well, in case any tweak doesn't have the desired effect or you simply want to go back to the standard configuration.

What I didn't like about Vista Visual Master is the inclusion of links to other programs under the Vista Extras tab. I felt like they were trying to fool me, while I know this is clearly ads. But then again, at least they're hidden under a tab and don't disturb the program's functionality.

With Vista Visual Master you can customize every single aspect in Windows Vista, from logon screens to desktop icons, in just a couple clicks.

Download Vista Visual Master 1.0.2.0 in Softonic

If you are one of the many that's been left unimpressed with Vista but like the look of it, Vista Buttons is for you. It helps you create Vista/XP/Win98 and Mac style rollover buttons and drop down menus with relative ease.

The interface requires 4 simple steps to create your buttons. You can create your own base on the program although if you import one of your own images as a base, you'll get the job done a lot quicker. The developers claim the program features more than 500 buttons, 100 submenu designs, 50 ready-made samples. This is certainly more than enough to create a really cool looking website menu or desktop buttons although some of the designs are a bit dull. The styles available include Vista, XP, Win98, Mac, Aqua buttons, round, glossy, metallic, 3D styles, tab and drop down menus.

The best thing about this program is that it's aimed at complete novices. You don't require any programming knowledge such as in HTML, JavaScript or CSS to create some really professional looking results. Vista Buttons generates all necessary images, html, javascript and css styles automatically. There's also a theme editor but unfortunately, it's not accessible in the free version.

This is a really excellent design utility and there is little to fault it except it would have been nice to have had a few wizards to take you through the first few attempts.

Download Vista Buttons 2.45 in Softonic

If you like the new graphical interface of Windows Vista, but prefer to continue with the friendliness of your XP, Transform XP to Vista is a good solution to get you going.

It's a simple package containing a desktop with the look of Vista and many of the applications you'll find in Vista Start Menu and Yahoo! Widgets. It's easy to install, you can choose the three main components of the package or any of them, and if you get tired of Transform XP to Vista, you can uninstall it with equal ease. The package also includes Yahoo widgets which is basically a collection of small and useful desktop assistants. This includes anything from a PC temperature gauge to mini games. The Vista Start Menu is modified not only in appearance but also in functionality. You'll find a few new tools on there that aren't in XP and it's basically a lot more accessible although some things, like "Communication Centre" have been renamed.

A cool little package that will save you a packet on Vista's hefty price tag but won't leave you with all the compatibility problems associated with it.

Download Transform XP to Vista 1.2 in Softonic

The Vista sidebar was one of the most popular new features included in Microsoft's operating system, and it still remains as a very attractive way to display information bits in the shape of customizable gadgets. Now, with Windows Sidebar Styler, you can customize it even more and take advantage of all its possibilities.

This neat tool includes several skins (called "styles") to change the sidebar's appearance, as long as the ability to freely resize it. It will also allow you to run more gadgets because it supports WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation).

Windows Sidebar Styler is easy to install, but I had some problems while testing it. The styles didn't seem to work, the program displayed a "installation successful" message but nothing changed. After reading the develeoper's blog, I found out that you may have to change permissions in the folder AppData\Windows Sidebar Styler directory and make it writable, or just restart your sidebar completely.

Customize your Vista sidebar with styles and more powerful gadgets.

Download Windows Sidebar Styler 2.0.6 in Softonic

Windows Vista has some really nice eyecandy that I wouldn't mind having on my computer as well - that is, if that didn't imply changing my operating system. As long as there are apps like Vista Drive Icons, I can have some of that Vista graphic treats while keeping Windows XP.

In this case, Vista Drive Icons replaces XP drive standard icons with Vista-themed icons, including a nice blue progress bar, which enables you to see how much space you're using - and how much you have left - at a glance. It's really useful to get an idea of space management without having to open the Properties dialog.

Pity this tool doesn't work with networked drives. It will only display the bar for your local hard drives.

Add a Vista-like progress bar to your hard drive icon and see how space is being used.

Download Vista Drive Icons 1.3 in Softonic

Vista Toolbar Icons is a set of splendid stock icons carried out in the style of MS Windows Vista. Icons are thoroughly designed and shine with superb quality so they will indeed ornament your interface and make it look up-to-date and respectable.

With Vista Toolbar Icons you'll give your interface a new, fresh look and put an emphasis on reliability of your enterprise. For your convenience icons are delivered in different color depth and sizes.

Download Vista Toolbar Icons 2007.7 in Softonic

You may not like the way Vista works, but you have to admit it does have some nice features. One of them is the new Start menu with an embedded search field that enables you to open any file or application by just typing the first few letters of its name.

This convenient function has now been replicated for Windows XP in Vistart, a small app that requires no installation and emulates Vista's Start menu in Windows XP. Vistart is perfectly integrated in XP and works very well, although we missed some other Vista features such as the ability to move up and down the menu with arrow keys or having support for right clicking.

Try it in combination with any of the Vista-inspired visual themes available at Softonic and you'll be able to enjoy a fully Vista themed Windows XP.

Download ViStart build 2489 in Softonic

This pack includes more than a hundred different files to replace your old icons with these bright new Vista-inspired ones in a very easy, quick way. The pack is specially designed to be installed with IconPackager and will change basically most of your system icons and give your PC a fresher, nicer aspect.

Download Vista Ultimate Icons 1.2 (IconPackager) in Softonic

IconShock Vusta Incons is a pack of 6 Vista style icons with different styles ideal for you to integrate in your web applications, software, catalogs, games, printing media and much more. Sizes range from from 16px to 256px.

The developer speciliases in sets of Vista, Mac, XP icons entirely compatible with web and development environments such as VisualStudio, Java, Swing, Delphi, Dreamweaver and more.

Download IconShock Free Vista Icons 1.0 in Softonic