desktop themes

win98se had this feature in its control panel.

is there a way to get same feature in the control panel of my windows xp?

i never realized how much i like and relied on that feature to personalize my computer.

is there something i can download or something to get it?

i liked having desktop themes

 

I run XP-pro and classic desktop so you might not have exactly the same options - or you may have.

Right-click on the desktop, properties, and Desktop Themes is one of the tabs.

 

Kitten ...

It's Control Panel > Display (but Newt's suggestion works just as well).

 

Actullay, Kit, it is 'Control Panel' > 'Appearance and Themes' > 'Display'.

 

Not to split hairs, Bruce, but I think it depends on whether one is using the Windows Classic look, as I do, or the XP default "luna" (short for lunatic, I'm sure) look.

Do it Newt's way, Kitten, and you can't go wrong.

 

Hi, Jim ~

You are correct, but the reality is most regular users and nearly all of new users facilitate the XP visual style, so the classic path always confuses them without such clarification.

 

Hi Bruce,

You're absolutely right, and I would have clarified it in my post had I been aware of it. I've never used the luna interface, and didn't know about the difference until you mentioned it.

Something I wrote in another thread, just yesterday:

• "Too many users new to the PC don't even know that the GUI can be configured differently from the way the Gnomes of Redmond present it right out of the box. Or, if they do, they're afraid to experiment. I'm sure there will be those who disagree with me, but I think the "luna" interface (the XP default) is absolutely dreadful, and is a terrible disservice to new users, particularly in the way the Start menu is configured. But, I suppose, with enough time one can get used to anything. "

The only documentation that Micro$oft provides with an OEM installation, which is how most new PC users first experience XP, is a 32 page booklet with lots of white space. It contains only a few brief lines about Classic Windows (this is from the one for XP Pro, but I assume it's the same in the one for XP Home):

• "Can I reset my Start menu and desktop to the Classic Windows style?
  
  "The Windows XP Professional Start menu was designed to centralize tasks and clean up the desktop. However, if you prefer the Classic Windows style for your desktop and Start menu, you can reset it by doing the following:
  
  "Right-click Start, and then click Properties > Classic Start menu > OK. "

To continue the thought in my quote from yesterday, I think the XP GUI designers really dropped the ball ... they went for a cutesy look that's hard on the eyes, and is even harder to work with because it's confusing. And, if it's confusing to me, a Windows user for the past six years, think how intimidating it must be for the newbie.

I realize that this boils down to a difference of opinions, and that I'm probably in the minority. For me, though, "Better the devil you know than the one you don't ".

 

I don't quite understand the confusion or the not knowing.

No matter which style of GUI used, the start menu shows the Control Panel. So just a few minutes of exploring will get you to any of the functions that 9X had.

Kitten,

I don't mean to be insulting, but wouldn't you think that "appearance and themes" would have something to do with "desktop themes "? When you went in there, what did you find?

Regards - Charles

 

Hi Charles,

Yeah, I guess I got on a roll and digressed from the Control Panel aspect of the thread.

I think your comment to Kitten proves my point, though.

 

to JSS3RD

Jim,

I find the XP new-look confusing, too, but I wonder if that's because we are used to the "classic" look? I remember when I first used Win98 and thought "What is all this stuff? How am I supposed to figure out where to go for what? This is NOT intuitive or user-friendly at all!!!" Let's face it, at the beginning we all had to LEARN how to navigate in Windows. So, if you're a newbie right now and your first computer has WinXP then who's to say it's not an improvement on the older look?

Regards

 

Hi, Jim ~

You certainly have a valid point and I agree on most parts, but that stands from our perspective as old users and I think Gauch hit the nail on the head.....we are used to that which we are introduced and become familiar with using. To new users, it is no more confusing than 95 or 98 was to us initially.

You are also dating us through our growing conservatism. I know I sure seem to like things the way they are more with each passing day. I bet you are like me and don't listen to current genres of music with near the same frequency we do the tunes we hold dear of yesteryear, am I correct?