How to Change Windows XP Appearance to Windows Vista Appearance

Windows Vista is the newest version of Windows. It does not only have more security features but also attracts users by its fancy appearance. If you are using Windows XP, you may feel that your Windows XP's appearance is old and not stylish.

It will cost you money to buy a Vista computer or Windows Vista CD. For me, Windows Vista is still very expensive. I can show you the way to change your Windows XP's appearance to Windows Vista's appearance.

The differences between Windows Vista and Windows XP are the start menu, the icon and screensaver. Therefore, you have to change the appearance of these features. At first, you have to download a few software. They all are free. These software will help you to change your computer's appearance from XP to Vista. After the transition, you can only find a few differences. Here is the list of software that you need. Click to follow the link of each software.

Vista Start Menu

Vista Screensaver Ported to XP

Folder Icon Changer

After downloading, you can start with your changing process. There are three steps:

Step 1: At first, download and install Vista Start Menu. It is only about 1MB. Besides changing your start menu to Vista style, this software helps to set up hotkeys for shut down and restart. You can also change the font size in start menu.

Step 2: Now, download Vista Screensaver zipped folder. In Windows Vista, there are four different screensaver styles: Aurora, Bubbles, Mystify and Ribbons. To use these screensavers, you have to unzip the downloaded folder (file type is .scr) to C:\Windows\System32 in your Window XP system. Right click on your desktop and choose "Properties". Choose "Screensaver" tab. Pick your Vista screensaver and click OK. You can also check file *.txt enclosed in the zipped folder to know how to make your screensaver work as you want.

Step 3: You have to find and download Window Vista's icons in the Internet. Then, download and install Folder Icon Changer. It is about 1.1 MB. Activate Folder Icon Changer and click "Get icons from a file". Locate the Windows Vista icons that you download. This program will change each hard drive icon of your Windows XP to Windows Vista's icons. Try to change as much XP icons to Vista as you can.

After finishing these three steps, it is great that you also use Windows Vista's wallpaper. You will find that your Windows XP looks exactly the same as Windows Vista. (Well! Actually, there are a few differences. We do not have the sidebar). You should be careful to choose the icons that match with Windows Vista. I hope you will transfer your Windows XP appearance to Windows Vista appearance successfully with my method.