Working with Themes

Working with Themes
Themes have been a part of Windows for a very long time. Ever since Windows 95 was released, themes made it possible to save the configuration of the fonts, colors, visual style, wallpaper, mouse cursors, and even the sounds that are used. Throughout the years, not a lot has changed in the theme world. Originally, you had to have Microsoft Plus to use themes, but now, the ability to use themes is included in all of the latest Microsoft operating systems. Additionally, when themes were first developed, they did not keep track of visual styles, just because they didn’t exist. Now, the theme format has expanded to allow for the new Windows feature.


Why are themes still important to talk about even though they have been around so long?
Because they provide a unique way to save all of your computer’s visual settings as well as audio settings so that you can easily change all of them at once. You don’t have to customize each of the different elements of the windows such as the font and colors every time you use them.Themes make your life easier. These next few sections are going to show you how you can use themes and make your own so that you too can benefit from the convenience they offer. Changing the current theme When you install Windows XP, Microsoft includes two themes: Windows XP and the Windows Classic theme. By changing the themes, you can turn on and off the new Windows XP look. Also, remember that you can make your own themes, which I will get to in the next section, so that you can easily switch between your own theme sets. When you do so, after you spend time customizing the look of XP, making changes to window metrics, sounds, visual style, cursors, wallpaper and so on, they can be saved to a theme file so that you will never lose your changes. Changing the themes is actually pretty simple. It is all done through the Display Properties Control Panel applet. To change themes, follow these steps: 1. Right-click the desktop and select Properties. 2. Display Properties will then load and will be displaying the Themes tab. 3. Next, just expand the drop-down box under Theme, as shown in Figure 4-1, and select the theme that you want to use. 4. When you have selected the theme, click OK to save your changes.

Once you have hit the OK button, the new theme will be applied. This process may take a few seconds while the changes are being made. Now that you know how to change a theme, it is time to make your own.