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

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

Desktop Calendar XP is a simple and cost effective way of beautifying the calendar on your desktop. It is a lightweight tool which will not clobber your system and its interface is very easy on the eye. The calendar covers two hundred years. It meets all your needs without much difficulty in setup or maintenance. It enhances the functionality of your calendar as it comes with a beautiful Real-time Desktop Clock and other useful inbuilt utilities such as MP3 Player, Wallpaper Manager, System Date & Time Changer, Date Calculator, Alarm, etc.

It has also a Talking Buddy which will give some fun in the Desktop. Desktop Calendar XP comes with an Image Pack containing twelve beautiful images. That is not all. There are about 90+ Image Packs (90 x 12 = 1080 pictures) are available for download in the web site. You can install and see all these Image Packs in the Premium Edition. If you have a Premium Edition, you can download 90+ Image Packs, ask for image packs on special themes or you can add your own pictures to the Calendar.

Features at a glance :

• Calendar for 200 years
• Stylish Skins
• Real-time Desktop Clock
• Feature-rich Wallpaper Manager
• Mini Desktop Calendar
• Date Calculator
• System Date & Time Changer
• MP3 Player
• Year Overview
• Easy access from the System Tray
• Talking Buddy
• Automatically changing Images
• Downloadable Image Packs

Download Desktop Calendar XP 5.05 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

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 Transofrmation 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 8.01 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

Some time ago Microsoft launched Royale Theme for Windows XP, a slick, elegant blueish theme that many people adopted immediately. A new Royale theme appeared after that, this time in a very elegant black. However, this dark Royale was apparently not finished and you could tell it clearly needed some polishing. The same happened with the Zune theme created by Microsoft to celebrate the launch of their MP3 player. It seemed someone had leaked them without having tested them properly.

Bearing that in mind, an independent designer has finished the job on his own and now presents Royale Remixed, a theme for Windows XP that fixes all the bugs in the Noir and Zune themes and adds everything the original themes lacked.

Royale Remixed will not only change your desktop wallpaper and windows appearance, but it will also replace your system icons, mouse cursors and system sounds with new files. The result looks like a completely new system with a really attractive design.

That said, note that Royale Remixed is not as easy to install as it seems. If you have problems installing it, it's probably because you need to patch a DLL file (see Notes). I had this issue and it took me some time and a few Google queries to find out what was happening. Also, if you want to customize the shutdown window to match the rest of the system, you'll have to modify another couple of DLL files. Fortunately, this process is very clearly explained in a TXT document included in the program's ZIP file.

Customize Windows XP with this shiny, elegant black design.

Download Royale Remixed Theme 1.47 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

Aston replaces the standard Windows Desktop and provides you with a host of new features, such as Sidebars, clock, weather monitor, animated buttons, transparency effects and much more.

Aston also supports Themes, which allow you to change its appearance and functionality according to your mood and needs. No matter what visual style you like: XP, Aqua or something else; you can always download hundreds of Themes, created by professional designers or amateurs from Aston's homepage or one of numerous other skin sites.

Aston features a powerful and user friendly interface, which lets you change your new desktop's appearance and behavior in few seconds. No need to learn complicated configuration files, everything can be configured in a simple graphical interface.

Download Aston 1.9.5 in Softonic

You can sometimes get tired of the default Windows theme and if you don’t have enough money to dish out for Vista, how about using a theme customizer? TopThemes XP allows you to create your own themes and give your PC a fresh new look.

The first time you launch TopThemes XP, you can choose between loading a theme and creating a new one. You can download a theme from dowthemes.com and automatically set it if you don’t want to be bothered with creating one. Otherwise, move on to the central part of the program, to create and customize your own theme. The tabs at the bottom of the interface make it easy to quickly personalize elements like style, wallpaper or sound events.

The theme creation process is fairly straightforward. After adding a title to your theme, you are able to set a style. You can customize your style by modifying colours and font size but can only choose between two styles, Luna and Royale Type. With 12 different possibilities, changing the start button seems more promising. However we were left unconvinced when we realized most of the Start buttons were of poor quality and looked like they were pasted onto the toolbar. Once you’ve decided on a style for your theme, you can choose a style from your window shells from the 11 different options available. Just like for the theme you can change the colour of your window shells.

The next step is to adjust your wallpaper, but TopThemes XP merely lets you browse for an image and set it as centred, tiled or stretch: nothing you can’t do in the Windows display control panel. Similarly, setting desktop icons and sound events is limited to browsing in your PC for new icons or sound files.

We only really enjoyed three features in TopThemes XP. The boot logo can be customized with an image of your choice and you can set the positioning of the progress bar on the window. TopThemes XP also lets you personalize your logon UI, by adding a background image, positioning the icon and adding colored frames at the top and bottom. Once you’re through just click “create theme” to finish off. The schedule manager is also very easy to use and can randomly set how your wallpapers or themes appear and when they change.

Once you’ve created a theme the supposedly exciting part is seeing what it looks like on your PC. Unfortunately we never managed to make this work with either of the different themes we created. We even downloaded some themes from dowthemes.com, but TopThemes XP refused to load these too.

TopThemes XP seems like a very exciting and simple to use application but its general feel leaves much to be desired. The fact that you can’t load themes is already fairly alarming, add to that the multiple spelling mistakes in the program ("adavanced", sound “evenes” instead of events) and you start to wonder how finished the application really is. The theme creation tools are easy to use, but most of them are already available in the Windows Control Panel. TopThemes seems like a promising application, and we hope that future releases will correct these shortcomings.

Download TopThemes XP 2.8 in Softonic

Providing one of the easiest ways to change Windows into a fully skinnable OS, TopThemes manager allows you to apply popular desktop themes that can completely change the appearance of Windows, especially Windows XP Service Pack-2. It changes the wallpaper, appearance, icons, cursor, sound, logo, logon UI and screensaver much more with just one click.

Top features:

• Replaces, deletes & makes the desktop themes for Microsoft Plus
• Support for free desktop themes from TopThemes.com
• Supports automatic installation & uninstallation of desktop themes
• Create and edit a desktop themes package with just a few mouse clicks

Download TopThemes Manager 2.0.0 in Softonic

Animated cursors are animated mouse pointers that can replace the default arrow cursor in Microsoft Windows. Such animated cursor files are given the .ani extension and are recognized by Windows and any application that handles cursors. You can get more information about the animated cursor format here.

AniTuner makes the creation and edition of these animated cursors easy: everyone can create his/her own animated cursors in a snap. You can use animated cursors not only to customize the appearance of Windows (desktop themes) but also to produce animations for your Web pages, e-mails, documents, manuals or even applications...

Features:

• Open and display any animated cursor
• Convert animated GIF and AVI into animated cursors (ANI)
• Import existing image files (BMP, GIF, PNG, PSD, ICO, CUR...) to turn them into cursors or animated cursors
• Export frames from your animated cursors to several image formats
• Modify existing animated cursors and change their color depth or size
• Convert animated cursors into animated GIF, AVI, static bitmaps or even Macromedia Flash SWF movies
• Edit frames, change their duration, modify them in your favorite image editor and save changes back to the animated cursor
• AniTuner handles all cursor sizes (not only 32x32) & color depths (from 1bpp to 32bpp)
• Special support for 32-bit cursors with a 8-bit alpha channel (partial transparency for Windows 2000/XP)
• Turn your old 16 or 256-color animated cursors into 32-bit animated cursors with a semi-transparent shadow for Windows XP
• Export (and import) animated cursors as a series of PNG files (with alpha channel optionally) for easy editing
• Create animated GIFs, small Flash movies using the Frame editor and the Import/Export functions
• Browse for animated cursors on your computer and easily preview them

Download AniTuner 1.1 in Softonic

If you’re one of those people who spends most of their free time tinkering with your mobile phone ringtone or reorganizing your bedroom, then StyleXP could become your new favorite toy. The application promises to expand the customizability of Windows XP and gives you the power to install new themes that break the mould of the existing XP shell.

The program works by patching your operating system to accept unassigned styles, scores of which are available for download from the web. Once you’ve applied a style you can tweak virtually any aspect of the appearance, including the font size, screensaver, colours, menu transparency, or even the boot screen. What’s more, if you’re particularly artistically minded you can create your own elements in a graphics editor and apply them to the skin.

Although the developer has made strides towards making the interface as simple as possible, there are so many customization options that it can be a little daunting for new users to the program.

There’s no doubt that the temptation to make Windows look like OSX or apply a ‘Windows Pirate Edition’ boot screen is pretty appealing, but pimping your OS in this way does come with a risk. It’s worth bearing in mind that because of the way the application writes files to your System Folder you could end up doing damage to your machine, especially if you install a patch or a new service pack.

Having said this, we’ve experienced no problems yet (touch wood) and also found that it runs pretty smoothly without sucking too much RAM. You can choose to keep Style XP locked in the System Tray, or release it so that it uses no resources, which is a refreshing thing to see from a developer. With so many themes and customization options available, Style XP is well worth a look if you fancy a change of scenery on your desktop, but keep in mind the risks involved in using a patching program such as this.

Download Style XP 3.19 Men in Softonic

If you’re one of those people who spends most of their free time tinkering with your mobile phone ringtone or reorganizing your bedroom, then StyleXP could become your new favorite toy. The application promises to expand the customizability of Windows XP and gives you the power to install new themes that break the mould of the existing XP shell.

The program works by patching your operating system to accept unassigned styles, scores of which are available for download from the web. Once you’ve applied a style you can tweak virtually any aspect of the appearance, including the font size, screensaver, colours, menu transparency, or even the boot screen. What’s more, if you’re particularly artistically minded you can create your own elements in a graphics editor and apply them to the skin.

Although the developer has made strides towards making the interface as simple as possible, there are so many customization options that it can be a little daunting for new users.

There’s no doubt that the temptation to make Windows look like OSX or apply a ‘Windows Pirate Edition’ boot screen is pretty appealing, but pimping your OS in this way does come with a risk. It’s worth bearing in mind that because of the way the application writes files to your System Folder you could end up doing damage to your machine, especially if you install a patch or a new service pack.

Having said this, we’ve experienced no problems yet (touch wood) and also found that it runs pretty smoothly without sucking too much RAM. You can choose to keep Style XP locked in the System Tray, or release it so that it uses no resources, which is a refreshing thing to see from a developer. With so many themes and customization options available, Style XP is well worth a look if you fancy a change of scenery on your desktop, but keep in mind the risks involved in using a patching program such as this.

Download Style XP 3.19 Ladies in Softonic

For the first time in Windows XP, Microsoft introduced the Theme Manager component that enables users to customize the visual appearance of all applications that run in Windows. You can customize literally all visual attributes, including colors, icons, fonts, headings, borders, buttons style and so on.

StarSkin allows you to change the view and appearence of your Windows XP box with the use of publicly-available themes.

Key features of the program include:

• Quickly change the visual appearance of the Windows
• Select custom styles, icons, fonts, colors and themes for Windows desktop
• Change boot screen
• Change log-on screen
• Enable themes support for older applications

Download StarSkin 2.5.2.5 in Softonic

If you’re yearning to experience the dapper new Windows Vista interface but don’t fancy splashing out for an upgrade yet, then VistaXP is the perfect antidote. There’s no doubt that the XP styling is well past its sell-by date and this Visual Style provides a classy alternative modelled on the new OS.

Although VistaXP takes a bit longer to apply than most Visual Styles, you’re rewarded with a very accurate recreation of Vista’s window bars, taskbar and Start Menu. The style applies a sleek gun metal shell to your windows and program icons in the taskbar glow a brilliant deep blue when rolled over. Likewise the Start button turns a gorgeous green when you hover over it.

Unfortunately the visual style doesn’t include a Vista background or any of the innovative new desktop features of Microsoft’s latest operating system. However, by installing the Vista wallpaper and Vista Sidebar, you can get a true feel for the OS. Of course, you won’t get access to the fancy new file management tools, but it’s sure to raise a few eyebrows when your friends and colleagues pass your computer.

Download VistaXP V3 WB 3.1 in Softonic

FrontMotion Login is a next generation logon interface for Windows NT, 2000 and Windows XP. It goes beyond the normal Microsoft Windows logon and offers more interactivity and functionality through the use of Macromedia Flash. No DLL hacking is needed and no system files are replaced.

Core features:

• User reconfigurable logon interface
• Interactive Macromedia Flash Themes
• Remote Desktop support in Windows XP and Terminal Services support
• Fast User Switching support in Windows XP (Standalone and Domain Mode)
• Configurable Windows 2000 or Windows XP security behavior
• Screen Rotation support
• Windows XP Password Reset Wizard support
• Built-in 'recovery mode'

Download FrontMotion Login 1.1.5.293 in Softonic

SmartBarXP is a bar that runs down the side of your screen, and can be configured to display interactive panels known as 'panes'. These panes include media players, slideshow and image viewing panes, a virtual desktop manager, and live news, weather and stock feeds, to mention but a few.

The panes can be repositioned on the bar, and scrolled if the bar becomes too full. The bar can also host extra sections, including a recycle bin, Explorer shortcuts, and taskbar replacement sections (start button, taskbar buttons and system tray sections).

SmartBarXP can be fully customizable in almost every aspect you can think of. Every pane has extensive options and can be tweaked to look and work just the way you want it to. The bar itself can be customized too, with options for positioning, auto hiding, pane scrolling, fading and translucency effects, and changing the language and regional settings.

You can also select the theme the bar takes on, to match your current Windows XP theme, the Classic Windows theme, or even use a third party SmartBarXP theme. This helps give you scope to transform the panel into anything you want it to be.

Download SmartBarXP 1.0.201 in Softonic

For decades, gamers have embarked upon journeys through the unforgettable worlds of the Final Fantasy games. Alone, they fought heroic battles and saved the world countless times. Now these players can unite from around the world in the exploration of a new fantasy experience online in Final Fantasy XI for Windows.

This Final Fantasy XI theme for Windows XP users will make it easy to immerse yourself in the fantasy today. To install the program follow the steps in the Installer Wizard to install the theme onto your machine.

Download Final Fantasy XI for Windows Desktop Theme in Softonic

DameK UltraBlue was designed to make Your WinXp theme alike the Longhorn beta versions. Naturally the visual style itself doesn't match the Longhorn design but the desktop is much the same. This is another version of DameK UltraBlue theme.

In this pack you will find:

• VS file
• Shellstyle.dll-new design of SideBar (Explorer Bar)
• Desktop Sidebar application - sidebar which is similar to the one used in Longhorn beta
• Aqua Dock application
• Y'z Toolbar application
• 5 wallpapers (with 2 Longhorn style)

Download DameK UltraBlue 1.9 Visual Style in Softonic