This is a collection of classic themes from Windows 2000 that I ported to Windows 8.1 and 10. I say "ported", because the themes rely on the new high contrast theme engine, and as such obviously are not the same as even the old high contrast themes from Windows 7 and earlier, which relied on the Windows Classic theme engine. Nevertheless, the colour values are taken directly from Windows 2000, so they should at least give you a similar feel (if not look) as the original themes.

At the moment, there are 18 classic themes in the package. Also, I have included inverted versions of each of them. Those keep the same colour contrast as the originals, and are usually dark, so they may be more suitable to use in dark environments. In addition, I have also added several of my own versions of the themes that have a few colour values tweaked for better readability (or personal liking ).

In fact, this whole idea started with a port of the Windows Standard theme for my personal use. After doing some research, I simply took the colour values from Windows 2000 and injected them into the High Contrast White theme from Windows 10. The theme worked surprisingly well, so I modified it a little bit further and renamed to Windows Standard (Warm). This theme is the one I am using on a daily basis, and while there are issues with some software, I still find it much much better and easier on my eyes than the default Windows 10 theme, whose colours and the overall darkish look can be tweaked only so much.

I have put everything on GitHub, so please check there for more technical explanation, and the theme files themselves.

https://github.com/tomasz1986/classic2000

Please also let me know what you think about the idea, or if you find any problems with the themes.

Edited September 14, 20196 yr by tomasz86

Great, much needed!

 

win2kreviver

Thank You!