Microsoft Visual Styles

[Kashim]

Okay, so you can't load any unsigned visual styles unless your UxTheme.Dll is hacked. So where do I get styles which *are* signed by Microsoft? I tried Google and came up empty. Then I tried Microsoft's maze of a site, which I truly hate. A search for "vistual styles" yields a couple hundred thousand results, none of which are related to what I want. I heard you can get some extra themes with the Microsoft Plus Pack, but that costs money. Did Microsoft release _any_ extra styles for XP that doesn't cost money? And if so, where the heck are they?

[Witt3439]

About the only one I remember them releasing is the "Royale" and possibly a Zune theme.

The rest require a patch, which is very simple to use and in fact, a lot of theme packs such as XPize patch the file automatically.

[leadboots5]

royale noir does:

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20061029/royale-noir/

i believe there is a plain royale which is close to the default luna as well. and as the person above stated possible a zune....

[spacesurfer]

Being able to use various themes is a promise that MS never fulfilled (kind of like Windows Vista Extras promised with the ultimate edition).

anyway, that void by MS is fulfilled by third party software companies and by users who like to skin.

You don't need stylexp. You can use a patched uxtheme.dll to apply your own themes.